Sozialversicherung#

Social Insurance, a compulsory insurance financed by social insurance contributions, provides for events such as illness, maternity, accidents at work and occupational disease, incapacity to work, old age, unemployment and death of the head of the family; legislation and execution are within the jurisdiction of the federal government. The forerunners of the current social insurance legislation emerged in the 19th century in the course of the Industrial Revolution on the basis of self-help groups such as those run by Guilds (journeymen's guilds, miners' guilds etc.). During the German Empire a health and accident insurance law was passed in 1883 and 1884, in Austria an accident insurance law was enacted in 1887, a health insurance law in 1888, a pension insurance scheme for white collar workers was introduced in 1906 and an unemployment insurance law in 1920. From 1939 the Reichsversicherungsordnung (RVO - Reich insurance law) was applied; this insurance scheme was the first to provide for an old-age insurance for workers. The RVO was valid until 1955, the Allgemeine Sozialversicherungsgesetz (ASVG) came into force in 1956; it comprised health, accident and pension insurance schemes for both blue-collar and white-collar workers. The social insurance scheme was later extended to the self-employed. The group of persons covered by social insurance is determined by their occupation: social insurance for persons in dependent employment is regulated by the Allgemeines Sozialversicherungsgesetz - ASVG, for the self-employed by the Gewerbliches Sozialversicherungsgesetz - GSVG, for farmers by the Bauern Sozialversicherungsgesetz - BSVG, for civil servants by the Beamten Kranken- und Unfallversicherungsgesetz - B-KUVG and for freelance professionals and notaries by the Freiberufliches Sozialversicherungsgesetz - FSVG and the Notariats Versicherungsgesetz - NVG, unemployment insurance is covered by the Arbeitslosen Versicherungsgesetz - AlVG. In 2000 there were 28 social insurance institutions; their umbrella organisation is the Hauptverband der oesterreichischen Sozialversicherungstraeger.

Literature#