Grants to Employers for Continued Payment of Wages during Major Damage/Rescue Operations - BGLD

The flat-rate grant supports companies in Burgenland with continued payment of wages when employees are involved as members of voluntary emergency organizations in major damage or mountain rescue operations. An amount of €200 per day of prevented work performance is granted to compensate for losses. The funding applies as soon as the deployment has a minimum duration of eight hours and was triggered by a major damage event within the meaning of the Disaster Fund Act 1996 or a mountain rescue operation. Refinancing is provided by the State of Burgenland with the help of federal funds. Companies can submit applications quarterly, at the latest by the end of the quarter following the deployment.

A prerequisite for receiving the grant is that the affected employees are subject to Austrian labor law, are members of a recognized emergency organization, and are not in an employment relationship with a local authority. The financial support exclusively covers the continued payment of wages for the entire working day. Eligible companies are those headquartered in Burgenland whose employees were engaged in the mentioned operations for at least eight consecutive hours. Timely application submission ensures reimbursement of lost wage costs and enables companies to reliably plan personnel despite unforeseen disaster deployments.