GENERAL CONTRACTORS ARE LIABLE IF THEIR SUBCONTRACTORS EMPLOY WORKERS ILLEGALLY.
08.08.2014
The Anti-Abuse Act, introduced in 1996, imposes strict control obligations on construction companies, mainly to counteract the illegal employment of workers on construction sites.
According to this law, general contractors are liable if their subcontractors employ workers illegally. The general contractor does not even have to be at fault for this liability! In order to be able to meet these control obligations more easily and in a more time-saving manner, many construction companies have voluntarily introduced an ID card requirement for all workers on their construction sites. This is a type of ID card with a photo, name and company name, which construction workers are required to carry with them on the construction site. This should make it easier and quicker to prove that the workers on the construction site have the necessary papers. So far, companies have pushed in vain for a legal regulation that would require workers on a construction site to carry an ID card. Such a regulation would make it much easier for general contractors to meet their extremely strict control obligations. The ÖGB has already called for such a legal regulation for certain construction sites. So far, however, only voluntary regulations have been made by the companies themselves, which can only inadequately ease the enormous burden of the strict control obligations.