The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that the Austrian remuneration and promotion schemes for civil servants and state contract agents remain incompatible with the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of age in a judgement delivered on Wednesday 8 May (cases C-24/17 and C-396/17).
The schemes at issue in this case previously excluded the taking into account of professional experience acquired before the age of eighteen.
In June 2009, the CJEU found for the first time that these schemes were contrary to European Union law on the grounds of unjustified discrimination on grounds of age. Austria then reformed these regimes in 2010, 2015 and 2016. Under the latest reform, which applies retroactively, serving officials and contract staff are transferred to a new pay and promotion scheme under which their first classification is determined on the basis of their last remuneration received under the previous scheme.
In the course of a dispute, the Austrian Supreme Court referred the matter to the Court for a preliminary ruling in order to determine whether or not these new regimes remain contrary to Union law.
The judges in Luxembourg answer this question in the affirmative. Indeed, according to them, these new regimes maintain a difference in treatment. The amount of remuneration received by persons who acquired experience before the age of eighteen remains lower than that of persons who obtained experience of the same nature and of a comparable duration after reaching that age. They should normally be in comparable situations.
The Court further points out that, if national law cannot be interpreted in accordance with a directive, then the court is required to provide the resulting legal protection for individuals, leaving national law inapplicable if necessary.
Thus, as long as national law has not been amended in this case, officials and contract staff should enjoy the same benefits in this specific case. And an official or contract staff member may request financial compensation from his employer if he has been harmed.
See the judgment: https://bit.ly/2WvwHHD. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)