Jufa Hotels Sets New Standard in Tourism Industry with Improved Collective Agreement

The world of work is changing and the industry has to change if a company wants to be fit for the future for new working and living models,” says Gerhard Wendl, CEO of the Jufa Hotels with origin and headquarters in Graz. The hotel group with 50 houses across Austria, a good half of them in Styria, has agreed on a new collective agreement with the vida trade union.

The vida sees this as an “important signal for the tourism industry” and hopes that others will follow this example: “Because only if the supply on the labor market is right will the demand from the employees also be right.” The shortage of staff is known to be particularly great.

Better pay and extra vacation days

The new “future collective agreement for tourism” of the Jufa hotels includes better pay and additional vacation days for employees. The sixth week of vacation is already available after 15 years of service, and there is also a fixed free weekend per month and a supplement for Sunday work. 1900 euros is the new monthly gross minimum wage for the 1000 Austrian Jufa employees from September 1st. From May 1, 2024 it should be 2000 euros. Wages and salaries of employee groups 1, 2 and 3 will be increased by 100 to 400 euros depending on the year of service.

In the industry collective agreement, the minimum wage is currently 1800 euros gross. “Unfortunately, tourism is at the bottom of the list,” says vida chairman Roman Hebenstreit. In no industry are the KV negotiations as tough as in tourism. The remuneration according to the industry collective agreement for the hotel and catering industry also differs in the federal states, in the new collective agreement it is regulated uniformly.

The company wants to be perceived as an attractive employer and want to keep the employees, said Jufa Hotels boss Gerhard Wendl. The labor shortage is particularly severe in tourism.