As of March 2024, the estimated population of Austria is 8.9 million.
The currency in Austria is the Euro (EUR). The currency symbol is €.
In Austria, the regulations for permanent employment are defined as a full-time permanent employment contract by which two parties (a prospective employee and an employer) engage in an agreement with no specific duration or termination time. Permanent employment contracts can be terminated at any time by giving notice by either party.
In Austria, there are no statutory requirements about the form of an employment contract, with a few exceptions (apprenticeship jobs and several positions within the public sector). An employment contract may be either oral, written, or explicit. If no written contract is used, employees and independent contractors receive a statement of terms and conditions of employment referred to as Dienstzettel at the start of employment. Employees must be given the option to receive the Dienstzettel in either paper or digital format, at the employee's choice. It must include the names and addresses of both the employer and employee, the start date of employment, the duration of the contract if fixed-term, the notice period and termination date, the primary workplace and any potential reassignments, the employee's job title and responsibilities, the base salary and additional compensation, the payment schedule, the annual leave entitlement, the standard working hours, references to applicable collective agreements and company policies, and the details of the employee's provident fund or pension scheme.
In Austria, temporary work arrangements fall into 2 distinct legal categories that are governed by separate frameworks. Marginal employment is defined as any work that provides monthly remuneration that does not exceed EUR 551.10. Effective January 1, 2026, this threshold has been frozen and will not be adjusted for inflation. Special payments such as holiday allowances or Christmas bonuses are not included in the calculation. The Temporary Employment Act allows hiring temporary workers from third parties (temporary agencies) to perform work. For the duration of employment in the employee's company, the agency is considered an employer within the meaning of the employee protection regulations. The agency must inform the employee of all circumstances relevant to compliance with personal occupational safety, in particular working time protection and special personal protection. Employers are also considered to be the employer of the temporary workers within the meaning of the equal treatment regulations and prohibitions of discrimination that apply to comparable employees of the employer.
During probation, an employment contract may be terminated by either party at any time without special reasons and without observing deadlines and dates. The probationary period may not exceed 1 month with the exception of apprenticeships, which can have a probationary period that lasts up to 3 months. A probationary period can only be agreed at the beginning of an employment relationship.
In Austria, regular working hours, as stipulated in the Working Time Act, are 8 hours a day and 40 hours per week. There are a few exceptions where the normal working hours are reduced.
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All employees who have performed at least 6 months of service are entitled to annual paid leave of 5 weeks (25 days for those working 5 days a week and 30 days for those working 6 days a week). Those who have more than 25 years of service with an employer have an entitlement to 6 weeks for annual leave. Employees are entitled to their usual wages during annual leave. The holiday entitlement arises pro rata in the first 6 months of the first year of work. After 6 months of service, the holiday entitlement accrues in full in the first year of work. From the second year of work, the employee is entitled to the entire vacation at the beginning of the working year. Annual leave can be split into 2 parts to allow more flexibility but each part must have a duration of at least 6 working days. The entitlement to annual leave expires after 2 years of accrual. Employees cannot take compensation in place of their annual leave except when dealing with employment termination prior to exercising their annual leave.
In the event of illness, employees are obliged to inform their employer immediately of their inability to work. If the employee is unable to work after starting work due to illness or accident, without being responsible for this intentionally or through gross negligence, they are entitled to continued payment of wages for 6 weeks. Depending on the length of the employment relationship, the entitlement increases to up to 12 weeks. An employer may request that an employee provide written medical confirmation of the illness or injury. During the first 3 days of incapacity for work, employees are entitled to continued payment of wages from the employer. No social insurance sickness benefit is payable during this initial period. From the fourth day of incapacity for work, sick pay is granted as a statutory minimum benefit of 50% of the assessment basis for the calendar day. From the 43rd day of an illness associated with incapacity for work, the sickness benefit increases to 60% of the assessment basis for the calendar day. Sickness benefit is generally granted for a period of up to 26 weeks. The entitlement period increases to 52 weeks if the insured person was insured for 6 months within the last 12 months before the occurrence of the sickness.
Generally, maternity leave lasts 16 weeks: 8 weeks can be prior to birth and 8 weeks after. Although the postnatal period is set at 8 weeks, it may be extended to 12 weeks in the case of premature, multiple, or cesarean births. Other than the 8-week prenatal leave, a pregnant emplpyee may receive leave from work if she provides a certificate from a Labor Inspectorate doctor or another medical officer that her (or her child’s) life and health are endangered if she continues to work. As soon as they become aware of their pregnancy, expectant mothers must notify the employer of this, stating the expected date of birth. In addition, they are obliged to draw the employer's attention to the beginning of the 8-week period within the fourth week before the beginning of the period.
Family time leave is a 1-month (28-31 days) leave and must be taken within 91 days of the birth of the child. The family time bonus is available to natural, adoptive, foster, permanent nursing, and same-sex fathers (including a woman partner of the mother). To be eligible, fathers must be employed, have valid health and pension insurance for at least 182 days prior to applying for the bonus. They must be living as a family unit at the same address. The benefit is paid at EUR 54.87 (Euros) per day, making a total of around EUR 1,700 per month.
The length of termination notice periods that an employer must abide by prior to terminating an employee is generally proportionate to the length of employment, regardless of the nature of the job, white-collar or blue-collar workers. Notice periods may be established within collective agreements. The notice period for employees in case of termination by their employer increases with seniority: 6 weeks in the first 2 years of service 2 months after 2 years of service 3 months after 5 years of service 4 months after 15 years 5 months after 25 years of service Employees can terminate their contracts by giving a month's notice. If the employment contract is for the lifetime of the employee or for more than 5 years, an employee may terminate with 6 months of notice after 5 years of service.
New severance pay was introduced for employees whose employment began after January 1, 2003. Employers must pay a severance allowance to employees when an employment contract is terminated. During the employment contract, the employer must pay 1.53% of each employee’s gross salary to a severance payment fund called BV-Kasse. Upon termination, the employee is able to decide to have these funds paid out as a severance (the employee must have worked for 3 years with this employer to have this option) or leave the pay in the fund. If the employee decides to leave it in the fund, then the employer will continue to contribute to the fund on a monthly basis, and, at termination, the employer will have no liability for a severance payment. The employee has six months from the end of the employment relationship to notify the BV-Kasse as to how the severance will be disbursed. For employees whose employment began before January 1, 2003, the amount of the severance pay depends on the length of the employment relationship and the remuneration due for the last month of employment. Employees are entitled to 2 monthly wages after 3 years of service, 3 monthly wages after 5 years of service, 4 monthly wages after 10 years of service, 6 monthly wages after 15 years of service, 9 monthly wages after 20 years of service, and 1 annual salary after 25 years of service. If the employee chooses to terminate the contract, is dismissed for reasonable cause, or resigns without just cause, then the capital remains in the fund and continues to be invested. The amount can then be drawn upon once the employee reaches the age of retirement. Effective January 1, 2026, employees covered by Austria’s old severance system who transition to a partial pension will continue to have their severance calculated based on their pre-reduction working hours, meaning reduced hours under a Teilpension arrangement will not decrease their eventual severance entitlement, while employees under the new severance system remain unaffected. When an employee leaves a company in Austria, all outstanding amounts owed to them, including their final salary, any prorated bonus payments, and compensation for unused vacation, must be paid at termination. Final pay is processed through the regular payroll system and must be clearly documented in the employee's payroll records and final payslip. Employers are required to withhold wage tax and the employee's share of social insurance contributions before issuing the final payment. Under Austria's current severance system, any severance benefits are paid by a severance fund rather than directly by the employer. Employers may only make additional deductions, such as for salary advances or overpayments, if there is a valid legal basis or the employee has agreed, and they must ensure the employee retains the legally protected minimum amount of pay.
In Austria, there is compulsory social insurance coverage for persons who participate in paid employment or are self-employed. Minimally employed workers are entitled to a limited number of protections under the social insurance system, including an old-age pension. The retirement age is 65 for men. For women it is being raised in 6-month steps by birth cohort: 61 years for women born between July 1, 1964 and December 31, 1964, and 61 years and 6 months for women born between January 1 and June 30, 1965, provided they have acquired at least 180 insurance months (15 years), of which at least 84 were earned on the basis of gainful employment (minimum insurance period). There are 2 types of pension calculations based on the year of birth: Persons born before January 1, 1955 — the amount of pension is calculated as a percentage of "assessment basis," which is the average of 384 best monthly remunerations. The percentage is determined as 1.78 increase points per year of insurance. Persons born after January 1, 1955 — under the new system, in place since 2004, a pension account is created for each individual and is used for paying different mandatory pensions. The amount of retirement pension is calculated as 1.78% of the annual salary each year. A bonus of 5.1% per year is added for retirement after the standard retirement age, limited to a maximum of 15.3%. A maximum of 91% of the assessment basis can be granted as a monthly pension. Employees are entitled to a corridor pension if they have both reached the required minimum age and acquired the required number of insurance months, and if, at the reference date, they are neither in employment subject to compulsory pension insurance nor earning above the applicable monthly income limit. Effective January 1, 2026, the access age and required insurance period are being raised stepwise for persons born on or after January 1, 1964: the minimum age is increasing from 62 to 63 years, and the required contribution months from 480 to 504. For persons born before January 1, 1964, the prior thresholds of age 62 and 480 months continue to apply. In case of heavy working hours, the old-age pension can be claimed after reaching the age of 60 if the insured person has acquired at least 540 months of insurance. From January 1, 2026, a new partial retirement option is available to older employees who are eligible for a retirement pension but want to continue working reduced hours. Working hours must be reduced by at least 25% and no more than 75%, and employer consent is required.
Survivors of a deceased employee eligible for pension benefits include spouses and children. They are eligible for benefits if the deceased insured employee completed the following period of insurance: If they died before the age of 50 years, a minimum insurance period of 60 months is required. If they died after the age of 50 years, an insurance period of 180 months is required. Surviving spouse is eligible for a life-long pension if the following conditions are met: The widow(er) is at least 35 years old or at the time of the spouse's death. There is a child from the marriage. The widow(er) is disabled at the time of the spouse's death. They had been married for at least 3 to 10 years (the number of years will depend on the age difference between the surviving spouse and the deceased insured person) In the case when none of the conditions are met, a temporary widow(er)'s pension is paid for 30 months. The amount of widow(er)'s pension is calculated as a percentage of the pension that the deceased would have been eligible to, ranging from 0 to 60%. Children of the deceased insured persons are eligible for pension up to the age of 18 years or 27 years if they are students. The application for the pension must be made within 6 months of the death of an insured parent. The amount is 40% of the deceased parent's pension for each child. For children who have lost both parents, the pension is 60%.
Disability benefit is paid based on the degree of disability as a percentage of the assessment base. The assessment base is calculated as the average monthly salary of the insured person over the last year before disability set in. In the case of permanent disability (where a worker has lost 100% of working capacity), 66.6% of the assessment base is paid. A proportionately reduced permanent disability benefit is paid with at least 20% reduction in earning capacity. The permanent partial disability benefit (referred to as supplementary benefit) is 20% of permanent disability benefit for loss of working capacity of 50-70%, and 50% of the permanent disability benefit when the loss in working capacity is greater than 70%. If the insured worker has at least 50% of the loss of working capacity, 10% of the total disability pension is paid for each child under 18 (age 27 for students or no age limit for disabled children). The total disability pension, supplementary pension including family supplements cannot exceed 100% of the assessment base. For workers who sustain injuries from occupational accidents or diseases, there are disability benefits to assist the employee. When a worker has lost partial working capacity, he or she may receive a temporary disability benefit, which is the same as cash sickness benefit. The temporary disability benefit is paid until the insured worker is assessed with a permanent disability. The permanent or partial disability pension depends on the assessment base, which is an insured worker's average covered earnings in the last year before the disability began. Employers are also required to provide re-training allowance to employees for rehabilitation.
In Austria, the Income Tax Act prescribes a progressive income tax rate that ranges from 0 to 55% (50% after 2029). Residents are taxed on their worldwide income, and non-residents are taxed only on Austrian-source income. The income tax rate for an individual depends on the taxable income they received in a calendar year. The fiscal tax year is the same as the calendar year.
Austria is a party to the Schengen Implementation Agreement, which grants uniform entry to the Schengen countries. The following types of visas are available to persons who enter Austria:
Foreign nationals from countries outside the EU who wish to live and work in Austria must apply for a Red-White-Red Card. They can also apply for a similar card, the EU Blue Card. Both cards grant temporary residence and the right to work for a single employer over a 2-year period, but are governed by a different set of rules. Red-White-Red Card allows employees to work only in Austria, while the EU Blue Card allows them to apply to work in any EU state. Employees with an EU Blue Card or Red-White-Red Card who have worked for at least 21 months during the preceding 24 months are eligible for Red-White-Red Card Plus. This card allows them a fixed-term settlement and unlimited labor market access (as a self-employed or an employed person, not limited to a specific employer).
