BUAK

Guidelines for wage garnishment

Valid for direct payment of holiday remuneration

Pursuant to § 299a (3) EO, the Construction Workers’ Annual Leave and Severance Pay Fund [Bauarbeiter-Urlaubs- und Abfertigungskasse] (BUAK) can, as a third party, make the payments against the debt itself in cases of wage garnishment, according to the employer’s information and calculations. This provision is implemented in accordance with these guidelines.
 

Disclosure of additional information when submitting leave

1. In cases where the employment income of an employee subject to BUAG has been subjected to wage garnishment pursuant to § 290a ff EO, the company (the business subject to BUAG) must disclose the following information to BUAK for each leave submission, in addition to all other information requirements:

  • Notification that seizure pursuant to § 290a ff has been initiated against the worker
  • Type of seizure (normal garnishment, seizure of support payments pursuant to § 291 b EO)
  • Outstanding (remaining) amount owed
  • Support obligations (total; the employee is not included in the calculation)
  • The court authorising the seizure, as well as the identification code [E-Zahl] of that court. In the case of direct seizure by authorities, the name of the authority and its identification code
  • Information on creditors or their legal representatives (name(s) of the person(s) who are entitled to receive the seized amounts)
  • File number of the creditors or their legal representative
  • Bank account information of the creditor or their legal representative
  • Whether the employment contract started in the month when leave began, or whether the employment contract ends in the month when leave began, and the start/end date as appropriate.
  • Other important information (e.g. whether an instalment plan is in place, or whether a legal aggregation has been ordered pursuant to § 292 EO).

A template form is attached to these guidelines.


Consideration of non-garnishable exempt amounts

2.The monthly non-garnishable exempt amounts pursuant to § 291 a EO are considered as follows:

  • For current income (holiday/leave pay), the information provided by the employer is used to convert the amount into a number of days, using social security days as the basis for pro-rating.

  • In practice, leave compensation for a calendar year – also including the portion that is a holiday allowance and therefore a special payment – is paid in instalments, potentially spread out over several calendar months. Like current income (holiday/leave pay), the non-garnishable exempt amount that applies to the special payment is converted into a number of days.

Further guidelines

3. When settling the submitted leave, the exempt amounts from current income (holiday/leave pay) and special payment (holiday allowance) which are associated with the submitted leave days are paid to the employee. The garnishable portion is brought directly to the creditor or their legal representative for payment.

4. The part of the exempt amount pursuant to § 291 a EO that BUAK pays to the employee is listed separately in the leave statement provided to the company and the employee.

5. The amounts sent to the creditor or their legal representative for payment are also listed separately in the leave statement provided to the company and the employee.

6. The payments made by BUAK to the creditors or their legal representatives are fully credited against the debt both for the company (the business subject to BUAG) and for the employee.

7. The company (the business subject to BUAG) must take account of the payments made by BUAK and listed in the statements as per lits 4 and 5 of these guidelines, both in the wage slip and in the calculation of garnished amounts and amounts payable to the employee’s creditors.


The guidelines for wage garnishment do not apply to:

  • Settlements of holiday remuneration pursuant to BUAG § 10 (claim pursuant to § 299a (4) EO)
  • Severance pay pursuant to BUAG § 13 (claim pursuant to § 299a (4) EO)
  • Employers (businesses subject to BUAG) with escrow accounts

If you have questions or need more information, please contact ue@buak.at. Feel free to contact us by telephone at +43 (0)579 579 ext. 2115/2119.

Guidelines for wage garnishment of severance pay - now on the BUAK-BVK homepage

 

Contact

BUAK - Bauarbeiter-Urlaubs- und Abfertigungskasse
Kliebergasse 1a, 1050 Vienna

0579 579 5000
0579 579 95 0 99

kundendienst@buak.at

Mon to Thu 7.15 am to 4.00 pm
Fri 7.00 am to 1.00 pm