Workers 45+ in Austria
“fit2work” business consulting is specifically addressed at enterprises which are looking for proactive measures to reduce health-related risks in the workplace, found the “fit2work” consulting program because of a relevant case in the enterprise, wish to anchor measures to maintain the ability to work and occupational re-integration preventatively in their company structure, are interested in occupational integration management.
All consulting activities in the framework of “fit2work”, the program geared to occupational (re-) integration management, are based on an analysis of the original situation; business operations are then given advice as to how they can initiate, take and coordinate suitable steps. From 2014 to 2020, measures under the “fit2work“ consulting programme for business operations are co-funded by the “European Social Fund” (ESF). The target group covers enterprises which in particular employ workers above the age of 45.
The “fit2work” project enhances (re-)integration of older workers in gainful employment in the following ways: offering support to overcome psychological stress and mental health, giving consulting opportunities to individuals and businesses on appropriate processes of reintegrating older workers.
The “fit2work”started in 2010 as a “low-threshold counseling programme”to reduce two health driven issues: (long-term) sick leaves and early withdrawal from the working life. Since 2013, the “fit2work” programme has been rolled out in all the federal states of Austria.
Keeping people healthy in employment requires age-appropriate workplaces. An amendment to the Austrian Health and Safety at Work Act (ASchG, 2013) reinforces the protection of mental health in the workplace by more attention to excessive psychological stress at work in job evaluations because early withdrawal from the labor market is primarily due to psychological reasons. Since 2013, the project “Invalidity in Transition II” (“Invalidität im Wandel II”) has focused on identifying problem solving strategies for the prevention of work-related mental illnesses
Older persons should be given the space and opportunities which corresponds to the diversity of their lives and enables them to take part in the knowledge-based society. Equal access of older persons to diverse and high-quality learning is a fundamental requirement for participation. In keeping with the Austrian Federal Plan for Senior Citizens and the Austrian Strategy for Lifelong Learning 2020, the Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection is seeking to achieve the goal “Enrichment of the quality of life via education in the post-employment phase”, by taking appropriate measures to increase participation in continuing education, to assure the quality of programmes, create counseling facilities for the post-employment phase and a low-threshold, close to-home educational infrastructure to ensure and enable participation of older persons.
The federal guideline “Motivation Consulting for Business Operations” (IBB, 2015-2017) governs consulting services of the public employment services for companies which i.a. include age appropriate working environments to assist businesses in the search for suitable workers and the adjustment of their workforce. Together with the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection is engaged in the “Healthy Workplaces for All Ages” campaign.
Any country can follow the guide in order to find similar problems experienced by elder people and address them accordingly. However, an individual approach to each region where it was applied, needs to be provided, in order to allocate the project resources in the most efficient way based on the local cultural and economic characteristics.
With the help of information campaigns and other means, awareness was raised among enterprises and social partners for demographic developments and the growing number of older workers, and especially since 2015 well-funded measures have been launched to drive employment.
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