Fired While the Ink Was Still Wet: Austrian Worker Wins €38,300 After Dismissal During Disability Assessment

A woman in Carinthia had spent 14 years with her employer when, in September 2025, she was handed her notice. What her company may not have fully reckoned with was the paperwork already in motion: her application for official recognition of disability was still sitting with the competent Social Ministry Service (Sozialministeriumservice) at the time.

That timing turned out to be decisive. The dispute ended not in a courtroom verdict but in an out-of-court settlement, under which the employee received a severance payment of ten monthly salaries totalling €38,300 gross, as reported by merkur.de on 25 October 2026.

Why a Pending File Freezes a Dismissal

Katharina Uran, district office head at the Chamber of Labour (AK), set out the legal mechanics behind the case. Formal membership of the group of persons with protected status, she explained, takes effect retroactively to the date the application was actually filed. In practical terms, a dismissal issued while the assessment is still underway has no legal force until the authority reaches a final, binding decision — it is suspended, or schwebend unwirksam, rather than valid.

Austria's Behinderteneinstellungsgesetz (Disabled Persons Employment Act) governs this special protection against dismissal. It applies once the authorities have certified a degree of disability of 50 percent. From that point, an employer cannot unilaterally end the employment relationship unless the responsible disability committee grants explicit prior approval.

Germany Draws a Similar Line

Neighbouring Germany imposes comparable hurdles. Under the Ninth Book of the Social Code (SGB IX), special dismissal protection covers people with severe disabilities from a degree of disability (GdB) of 50, and also applies to employees formally placed on an equal footing from a GdB of 30. The protection only kicks in once the employment relationship has lasted at least six months, and any dismissal requires the prior consent of the Integration Office (Integrationsamt).

Such rules matter most when illness is severe or drawn out. In Austria, an ordinary dismissal during an ongoing period of sick leave is legally permissible from day one — provided collective agreements or works council arrangements do not say otherwise. Recognised disability status, by contrast, shields a worker from losing their livelihood at short notice.

The Gap Between Treatment and Pay

Surveys in the health sector illustrate how precarious things can get for staff with chronic or serious conditions. Doris Kiefhaber, managing director of Krebshilfe, said the majority of patients advised by her organisation are unable to keep up their usual workload in full. Many, she added, conceal their health problems at work for fear of losing their job.

Cancer treatment typically takes six to twelve months on average. Austrian continued-pay law, meanwhile, provides for six to twelve weeks of salary during sick leave, depending on length of service. After that, sickness benefit runs for 26 to 52 weeks at 50 to 60 percent of the last salary.

For plenty of employees, then, securing recognised protected status remains a key tool for holding their legal position together through a health crisis.