March 23 has been proclaimed ”month of action” at Austrian universities by the "Netzwerk Unterbau Wissenschaft" (NUWiss). The starting point for this “month of action” is a university working environment that is characterized - especially for academic staff members - by precarious employment models (specifically, temporary part-time employment). At WU, for example, around 80% of academic staff members are currently employed under fixed-term employment contracts, and more than 70% are in part-time employment. The situation at other Austrian universities is similar. The main demand of NUWiss is therefore an increased use of continuous career models that lead to permanent employment contracts for academic staff members at universities. From the point of view of the Academic Staff Council at WU, there is a need for continuous, predictable and transparent career models, in which those scientists who perform well can advance to the highest job group or are given equal opportunities. According to salary levels in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, this would be A1; according to personnel groups in the Universities Act, this would be full professors.

What is happening at WU regarding career models?

On the post-doc level, career models exist within the framework of a development agreement (DA) or a qualification agreement (QA). For a small part of this group, a further step was recently taken at WU by developing a so-called "full professor rank" model. This is again (as was the case with the DA) an in-house development of WU, which is not provided for in the Universities Act or the Collective Bargaining Agreement. In essence, it is an upgraded version of the QA model. For a detailed description of this new model, we refer to the article in this newsletter. So far, these in-house developments of WU do not meet the criteria of the Works Council for career models outlined above. There is neither mutual permeability nor complete equal opportunities under organizational and labour law (e.g., in terms of salary) at the end of these career ladders. At the same time, these models (QA, "full professor rank") are characterized by formalized evaluation mechanisms that do not exist for regular full professor appointments or the five-year evaluations of full professors. In addition, a large group of employees at WU is excluded from this career path (see below).

What alternatives would the Universities Act allow? And what would be necessary to meet the demand of continuous, predictable and transparent career models?

After successful completion of the qualification of a "QA-new" employment contract (QA concluded from October 1, 2016 onwards), employees are to be classified as full professors from the perspective of organizational regulations by virtue of the Universities Act. The current discrepancy lies in the fact that the Collective Bargaining Agreement has not implemented the same classification. Therefore, an additional regulation in the Collective Bargaining Agreement would be needed to transfer “QA-new” employees to the salary group A1 and to the job group of full professors (from the perspective of labour law) after successful completion of the qualification. Such a regulation could be the keystone of a continuous career model. The "full professor rank" model, on the other hand, does not result in full equal opportunities under labour law.

The Universities Act provides for a further career path to the group of full professors in § 99 (4). In contrast to the "full professor rank" model, this is open not only to "QA-new" employees but also to associate professors with "QA-old" (QA concluded before October 1, 2016) and to associate professors with civil servant status. This career model is described by the Federal Ministry as the "keystone of a continuous career model at Austrian universities". Although this model involves a competitive call for applications, it has the advantage that associate professors can be appointed as full professors in a simplified process and then enjoy full equal opportunities. Currently, 17 of Austria's 22 universities have already appointed staff members via this additional career path. The Rector's Council of WU has been reluctant to use § 99 (4) since its introduction in the 2015 amendment to the Universities Act. Nevertheless, the previous version of the Strategic Plan of WU mentioned the possibility of its use after the current Performance Agreement period. With the inclusion of the "full professor rank" model in the updated Strategic Plan, there is now no reference to Section 99 (4) of the Universities Act (although the two models could be used simultaneously). From the point of view of the wissBR, this is very regrettable and a step backwards. Not only because the important groups of associate professors with "QA-old" or civil servant status are not offered any career model at WU, but also because employees with "QA-new" are denied the possibility of full equal opportunities with appointed full professors (the “full professor rank” model does not achieve this!).

Furthermore, the demands of NUWiss mentioned at the beginning of this article show that academic staff members do not only strive for career models that lead to the highest job group. Career models should also be offered at other levels and with regard to other job profiles, such as senior scientists or senior lecturers. For such models, too, continuity, plannability and transparency are the essential criteria that would be necessary for a high level of acceptance and an improvement of the work situation. In addition, when comparing the lifetime income of these positions, which are classified in B1 in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, with, for example, high school teachers (AHS Lehrer), a more attractive remuneration scheme has to be adopted.

According to WU's personnel development plan, senior scientist positions are intended for employees who are "accepted for more than just a temporary scientific assignment”. In particular, employees, who work on externally funded projects and who are to receive permanent employment contracts due to their permanent use, are mentioned. In addition, the personnel development plan also addresses the possibility of creating a career perspective within the framework of the permanent senior scientist contract. To date, however, there is no career model at WU for obtaining permanent employment as a senior scientist, nor are there any development opportunities within the existing employment relationships. We strongly support the implementation of the measures addressed in the development plan.

With regard to senior lecturer positions, at least the post doc positions are listed as tenure track positions in the personnel development plan. In the past, these post doc positions were, therefore, explicitly advertised as tenure track positions in the job postings. However, WU has abandoned this practice and now advertises these positions - according to information from the Rector's Council for reasons of transparency - without a reference to the possibility of tenure.

For both job profiles, senior scientist and senior lecturer, there is a clear need for improvement at WU with regard to the above-mentioned criteria of continuity, predictability and transparency. In addition, however, further development opportunities should be provided within the employment relationships.

In the context of improving precarious employment relationships, the extent of employment regarding working hours is also an important factor. With the introduction of the Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2009, Austrian universities abandoned the practice of advertising full-time Prae Doc positions. Until then, Prae Doc employment contracts at WU included a maximum of 20 working hours for the university/institute and the remaining working hours, i.e. at least 20 hours for one's own dissertation. Since 2009, the exclusively reserved time for the dissertation has been reduced to 10 hours and positions are now only advertised with 30 hours. A return to full-time positions would mitigate the precariousness of the largest group of the academic staff, at least with regard to the working hours of employment.

^22.05.2023

back to the top