After there were massive security breaches at the Frequency Festival last year and numerous employees fled due to the financial police’s control, the financial police launched another key operation this year. Although there were fewer cases of misconduct this time, several cases of undeclared work were uncovered again. Inspections were also carried out around the Coldplay concerts in Vienna, during which violations were also discovered.
“Following the experience of the previous year, the financial police carried out checks this time too. She discovered that many companies still don’t take their employees’ registrations very seriously. Anyone who doesn’t follow the rules distorts competition to the detriment of honest businesses. Therefore, such priority actions are important and will continue to take place in the future to ensure fairness and order,” said Finance Minister Magnus Brunner.
Frequency Festival: undeclared work and 270,000 euros in debt seizures
At the Frequency Festival, 174 employees from the security, catering and cleaning industries were checked over three days in mid-August, as were employees setting up the stage. In 18 cases there were violations of the ASVG, i.e. these people were not registered at all or were not registered correctly. In four cases there is also suspicion of wage dumping. The security companies also practically did not keep mandatory working time records. In addition, the financial police collected more than 270,000 euros in seizures of debts.
Coldplay concert: moonlighting and missing cash registers
As part of the Coldplay concerts, the financial officers also carried out targeted checks, and the first figures are now available: A total of 154 people (mainly from the security industry) were checked, initially identifying eleven violations under the ASVG and one violation under the Foreigners Employment Act be determined. In many cases, however, investigations are still ongoing, so the number of violations may continue to rise.
One company had a tax arrears of 4,000 euros collected; in another case, there is suspicion of a sham company that is still being investigated. Mobile “food shop sellers” were found to have missing cash registers and advertisements were created accordingly.
Some of the employees checked also receive unemployment benefit, emergency assistance or minimum income, which is why some control notifications were also sent to the AMS. In all of these cases, there is a suspicion that the reporting requirements of the Unemployment Insurance Act have been violated and it is therefore possible that there could be social benefit fraud.
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