Vienna deletes training surcharge: 20 million euros savings annually!

Vienna deletes training surcharge: 20 million euros savings annually!

Wien, Österreich - in Vienna there is currently movement in social assistance. As reports news.at, the educational bonus for social welfare educators, which was introduced in 2024 under the turquoise-green government, will be abolished on June 15, 2025. This training surcharge, which was up to 300 euros per month for participating in longer training and further training measures of the AMS, is deleted from the Basic Social Welfare Act. In addition, the regulation does not apply that this surcharge is not counted towards social assistance.

Social City Councilor Peter Hacker (SPÖ) expresses itself skeptically about this decision and has triggered a consultation mechanism. He emphasizes that the increased training surcharge in parliament was brought in as a preliminary application, without sufficient possibility to assess. Vienna will be the first federal state to implement this deletion. From November 2024 to June 2025, the removed increased training surcharges caused additional costs of 9.7 million euros in Vienna, while the savings will be around 20 million euros annually by the abolition of the training surcharge.

the educational bonus and its effects

The educational bonus aimed to support minimum security recipients who take part in training measures of the labor market service (AMS). As part of this initiative, they received 150 euros per month for training at least four months and up to 300 euros for one -year programs. The measures were an attempt to enable a sustainable qualification of this group of people and to better add them into the labor market, as the parliament also explains: parlament.gv.at.

The criticism of the amendment to the law could not be ignored. SPÖ and NEOS voted against the suggestions and pointed out the need to adapt the amount of the educational bonus to inflation. The original funding was not taken into account here, which led to a mismatch in the amounts. For example, the training surcharge for four -month measures was adjusted from EUR 136.2 to 149.4 euros, while annual training courses were increased from 272.4 euros to EUR 298.8.

The reaction of politics

The ÖVP MP Gödl sees a positive effect on employment in the bonus, while Neos fears that rising services for social welfare educators could lead to a reduced work recording. In the course of this amendment to the law, the decision on the Home Pener Act and the Social Work Desermination Act 2024 also came to the table, which is intended to protect the title "Social Worker" and "Social Patient".

The new regulations are part of a comprehensive strategy that also wants to see how labor market policy reacts to changed framework conditions. According to [Social Ministry.GV.at] (https://www.social ministerium.gv.at/themen/arbeit/arbeitsmarkt/arbeitsmarktfoerderungen/Arbeitsmarktpolitische-initiatives.html), developments with temporary initiatives are responded. The training surcharge was only introduced on January 1, 2024, and other measures to promote employment, such as the skilled worker scholarship, are also on the agenda.

The discussions about the educational bonus and the effects of the deletion will be continued, since many aspect of social security and the qualification of minimum security relationships are to be tested.