24-hour Care by Care Migrants

The care and nursing allowance introduced in 2010 enables many people to remain in their own homes in old age. They can use the care and nursing allowance for the round-the-clock care services provided by care migrants. Little is known about these caregivers from Eastern Europe who live in the households of elderly people. As a rule, they are replaced by a colleague after three weeks, only to travel to Liechtenstein again after three weeks.

On behalf of the Association for Human Rights in Liechtenstein (Verein für Menschenrechte, VMR), the Labour Union of Liechtenstein (LANV) and the Information and Counselling Centre for Women (infra), the Liechtenstein Institute prepared a study which compiled publicly available data on 24-hour care workers and analysed their legal situation. Special attention was paid to the labour law provisions of Liechtenstein law applicable to the carers. As domestic workers, care workers are not subject to the Labour Act, but only to the Labour Protection Act, the Austrian Civil Code (ABGB) and the standard employment contract for domestic workers. In addition, the EEA law provisions on maximum working hours, breaks and on-call time are described in detail.

Project duration: October 2019 to October 2020