Austrian Court of Audit criticizes disability employment fund

A report by the Austrian Court of Audit has criticized the Ausgleichstaxfonds (ATF) for failing to meet its goal of increasing the employment rate of people with disabilities. Despite a 42.4 percent increase in inflation-adjusted spending since 2010, the employment gap between people with and without disabilities has widened from 3.3 percentage points in 2010 to 15 percentage points in 2024.

The current system requires companies with at least 25 employees to hire at least one person with a disability or pay an equalization tax. However, the Court of Audit noted that only 2.9 percent of Austrian companies are subject to this obligation, and 75 percent of those affected did not meet the requirement during the audit period. A significant challenge cited is the mismatch between supply and demand: while there were approximately 40,600 open mandatory positions, there were only about 4,300 registered unemployed people with disabilities available to fill them.

The Austrian Disability Council has called for a long-term restructuring of the fund to ensure sustainable financing and better incentives. They argue that the current system is contradictory, as more companies fulfilling their obligations results in less revenue for the fund. The Council is advocating for a model that rewards inclusive hiring practices rather than making it more financially attractive to simply pay the tax.