Correctional institutions Servants Act (Beamten-Dienstrechtgesetz) impartial appearance”, shall be upheld. Black face masks that conceal facial features and have a martial effect are disapproved by the NPM. They generate distance and are not compatible with care in detention. When tube scarves are worn, the general directorate correctly pointed out that such garments represent an increased safety risk for the wearer when fulfilling their duties. 2.5.2.3 Work and further education Important daily structure The law stipulates that every prison inmate is obliged to work. Conversely, the institutions shall ensure that every prisoner can perform “useful work”. The work is performed in the in-house “companies”. These include joineries, metalworking shops and in some cases automobile workshops. There are also production sites that were set up by businesses, so called companies providing occupational opportunities in which sorting jobs or simple manual tasks such as packing supplied goods are frequently performed. obligation for reciprocal protection During a pandemic, the requirement to provide sufficient work is confronted with protection against infection because during the day detainees often have to share cramped rooms with others who are otherwise housed in different sections of the building. There is also constant contact with the staff, who are at risk themselves on the one hand but can transmit the virus on the other. The NPM was surprised at how different the situation was during the lockdown. Whilst all of the companies in the correctional institutions in Stein, St. Pölten and Suben – with the exception of the system-relevant ones – closed, the correctional institutions in Linz and Graz-Karlau ramped up work and kept their companies open even at the weekend. In some institutions, the companies providing occupational opportunities had to limit their work because the number of orders decreased substantially. If they were closed in isolated cases, these were compensated for with more time outside in the Floridsdorf satellite facility of Mittersteig correctional institution. If there was no work, some institutions provided access for their inmates to the ELIS programmes, an eLearning module. Downtime could thus be used for training and further education. Despite the tight staff situation, compulsory school operation in Vienna-Josefstadt correctional institution was continued during the “hard lockdown”. Those who were unable or not allowed to work through no fault of their own received compensation. This should also continue in the event of another lockdown, which the commission recommended on their most recent monitoring visit to Korneuburg correctional institution. It is not understandable that the other detainees are treated differently to the prison inmates in Göllersdorf correctional institution and receive no money. 105