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Austria

Helping businesses expand and employ in Austria

Meeting compliance requirements while expanding your business in Austria can be extremely challenging. To aid you, we are providing an overview of key information in Austria, addressing everything from hiring regulations to termination regulations.

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Expanding into Austria

Key facts

Hiring

Financials

Termination

Annual Leave

Leave

Benefits

Contract Types

There are various types of contracts in Austria, including Permanent, Fixed term, Freelance, and marginal or mini job (low paying and minimal hours’ jobs) which can be permanent or fixed term. Most contracts are governed by a CBA.

Probation

For white collar workers the maximum probation period is 1 month.

Working Hours

38.5 to 40 hours per week, with a maximum of 48 hours per week. A requirement to track employees’ hours has recently been introduced.

Overtime

Overtime has to be paid for any time worked over the set 40 hours unless a flexitime agreement is in place which will allow extra hours worked to be taken as time off in lieu. In Austria all employees must complete time sheets.

Payment of overtime is regulated by the appropriate Collective Bargaining Agreement but will be a minimum of 150% of salary. If time off in lieu is given (without a flexitime agreement) then 150% of time worked should be given.

Other Financial

There is no national minimum wage in Austria; rather minimum levels are set according to job categories. There is a requirement to pay a 13th and 14th month salary in Austria paid in June and November.

Tax rates valid for 2024

Corporation Tax

23%

Consumption Tax

20%

Employers’ Social Security Total

20.98%

Employees’ Contributions

18.07%

Income Tax Rates

Tax free allowance

To 12,465 – 0%

12,465 to 20,397 – 20%

20,397 to 34,192 – 30%

34,192 to 66,178 – 40%

66,178 to 99,266 – 48%

99,266 to 1,000,000 – 50%

Over 1,000,000 – 55%

Notice

Notice runs for employees to the end of the month and for employers to the end of the quarter. It is possible to have notice to the end or the 15^th of the month by contractual agreement.

The applicable notice period rises with tenure:

Up to 2 years’ service – 6 weeks

Two to five years – two months

Five to fifteen years – three months

Fifteen to twenty five year – four months,

Over twenty-five years – five months

These are minimum notice periods; longer periods may be agreed to but must be the same for employer and employee and cannot be more than 6 months. The CBA may also override the statutory notice period.

During probation the contract can be terminated without notice.

Dismissal

Termination in Austria does not require any special reason, but notice periods should be adhered to.

Employees should be paid all salary due plus accrued amounts of the 13^th and 14^th months’ salary and any accrued and unused holiday including that carried over from previous years.

Severance

Employers are obliged to contribute 1.53% of gross salary to an unemployment fund known as Betriebliche Vorsorgekasse. The employee has the right to withdraw from this fund or carry it forward to the new employer. There is no additional severance obligation for the employer.

2025 Annual Leave

Paid Public Holidays:

13 – 15 depending on the region

New Year’s Day – 1st January

Type: National

Day Given in Lieu: No

Epiphany – 6th January

Type: National

Day Given in Lieu: No

St Joseph’s Day – 19th March

Type: Carinthia, Styria, Tyrol, Vorarlberg

Day Given in Lieu: No

Easter Monday – 21st April

Type: National

Day Given in Lieu: NA

Labour Day – 1st May

Type: National

Day Given in Lieu: No

St Florian’s Day – 4th May

Type: Upper Austria

Day Given in Lieu: No

Ascension Day (Thursday 40 days after Easter) – 29th May

Type: National

Day Given in Lieu: NA

Whit Monday – 9th June

Type: National

Day Given in Lieu: NA

Corpus Christi (Thursday after Trinity Sunday) – 19th June

Type: National

Day Given in Lieu: NA

Assumption of Mary – 15th August

Type: National

Day Given in Lieu: No

St Rupert’s Day – 24th September

Type: Salzburg

Day Given in Lieu: No

Plebiscite Day – 10th October

Type: Carinthia

Day Given in Lieu: No

National Day – 26th October

Type: National

Day Given in Lieu: No

All Saints’ Day – 1st November

Type: National

Day Given in Lieu: No

St Martin’s Day – 11th November

Type: Burgenland

Day Given in Lieu: No

St Leopold’s Day – 15th November

Type: Lower Austria, Vienna

Day Given in Lieu: No

Immaculate Conception – 8th December

Type: National

Day Given in Lieu: No

Christmas Day – 25th December

Type: National

Day Given in Lieu: No

Boxing Day – 26th December

Type: National

Day Given in Lieu: No

Annual Leave

Employees have a legal entitlement of 25 days after the first 6 months of service, and on the first day of each subsequent year of service. Prior to this, leave is accrued at the rate of 2 days per month. After 25 years’ service entitlement increases to 30 days. Note that 12 years of service with all employers can be credited meaning the employee may only need 13 years of service to be entitled to 30 days.

Carry over permitted

Carry over is allowed for 1 year, or more if the employee is on long term leave, eg parental leave.

Payment in lieu allowed

No, only compensated for upon termination. Residual leave must be compensated in cash after termination of employment if it cannot be taken in kind. Note that if an employee has taken more than his accrued leave at the time of termination this does not have to be repaid except when dismissed with just cause (eg for gross negligence) or when the employee leaves without giving notice.

Sick

Entitlement is governed by length of service. With 1 year of employment employees are entitled to 6 weeks at 100% of salary and a further 4 weeks at 50% which is funded by the employer. This rises to 8 weeks’ full pay and 4 weeks at half pay with up to 15 years’ service, 10 weeks of full pay and 4 weeks at half pay with up to 25 years of service and 12 weeks’ full pay and 4 weeks at half pay for over 25 years’ service. Once this entitlement is exhausted employees can claim social security benefits, usually for up to 26 weeks, but this may be extended to 56 weeks.

Maternity

New mothers in Austria are entitled to 16 weeks’ maternity leave. Employees must take 8 weeks before the birth and 8 weeks after the birth and this is paid by Social Security based on previous salary. Maternity leave can extend to 12 weeks after birth for premature or multiple births and Caesareans. Pregnant women are entitled to this benefit after 3 months’ service.

Paternity

1 month of unpaid leave is available to be taken at any time until the child is 2 years old for new fathers who must be living with the mother. 3 months’ notice must be given of the intention to take this leave.

Parental

After maternity leave ends unpaid leave may be taken until the child is 2 years old. Benefits are available during this time. This leave can be shared between the partners but they cannot take the leave at the same time.

Other

Between 1 and 3 days’ paid leave for marriage and bereavement, the entitlement will be governed by the contract and CBA. 6 months of unpaid leave is available to care for a family member and 2 weeks’ paid leave can be taken to care for a sick child under the age of 12. Employers must also give leave for the performance of military service.

Medical

The Austrian public healthcare system is very good and private medical benefits are rarely offered except amongst the largest employers.

Other Common Benefits

Common benefits in Austria are meal vouchers of EUR 50 to 100 per month, gym membership, transport allowances, and private pensions. A home office allowance of c. EUR 300 pa is also commonly given to remote workers.

We make expansion in Austria simple

Employing people compliantly across international borders can be challenging but we make it simple, bringing down barriers and making light work of the complexities. We offer the full range of compliant global expansion solutions so that wherever, whenever and however you want to employ people, we can support you.

EOR Services

Payroll Solutions

Global Mobility

Entity Services

PEO Solutions

Support & Advisory

HR Support

Contractor Payroll

Pricing

EOR Services

Employ people compliantly in 180+ countries – without setting up new entities. We’ll shoulder responsibility as Employer of Record (EOR), making sure all your international employment is fully compliant.

We can also take care of your global HR from multi-country payroll to onboarding and offboarding.

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Payroll Solutions

Getting global payroll right is one of the hardest challenges for any business expanding into new countries. We can shoulder this burden, freeing up valuable in-house resource to focus on growing your business.

Consider us an extension of your HR team, ready to answer all your questions large and small.

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Global Mobility

Mobilise your people across borders with ease. Relocating to work abroad can feel daunting. But with Leap29 at your side, your employees can feel safe and supported.

We’ll guide your employees through the complexities of working in another country, helping them settle in fast.

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Entity Services

Follow the opportunities to grow your business – wherever they take you.
We lighten the load of establishing and managing foreign entities and can help you solve all your entity challenges from running compliant, accurate multi-country payroll to local accounting and financial reporting.

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PEO Solutions

Employ international talent wherever and whenever you need it – and enjoy the peace of mind of knowing you’re fully compliant. Our Professional Employer Organisation (PEO) services allow you to focus on growing your business while we handle compliance, multi-country payroll and your global HR.

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Support & Advisory

The help you need to make your global growth effortless – trusted guidance and advice on your expansion challenges large and small.

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HR Support

When you’re employing people in lots of different countries, answering just a simple query can take a disproportionate amount of time for your in-house HR team. Our HR Support service reduces this burden, saving you time and money and giving you the confidence of knowing your employees are well looked after, whatever their location.

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Contractor Payroll

Enjoy compliant contractor payroll that meets all local requirements for tax, social security and employment legislation. We understand the importance of compliant contractor payroll to the success of your business and will pay your contractors on time, every time.

Start hiring today – and onboard within hours.

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Pricing

Budget confidently with transparent, competitive fees and no hidden costs.

Want us to shoulder employer liability and take care of your global HR through our EOR solution? No problem. Just want global payroll? You can have that too. Pick the solutions that your individual business needs.

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We’re a people business with employee management software, not a software business that works in employee management!

At Leap29 we offer access to the latest technology and software to easily and effectively manage your employees from anywhere in the world.

Our bespoke online portal LeapForward helps ensure a smooth onboarding process, manages monthly payroll and easily facilitates additional bonuses and expenses. By streamlining your processes through our online portal, it will help you attract and retain great talent and take the pain out of payroll management.

Integrated fully with our global EOR services, LeapForward comes at no additional cost to you but is guaranteed to save you time and money whilst simplifying your employee management procedures.

Austria

Expansion Resources

Want to learn more about employment and expansion into Austria?

Check out our Austria resource pages below for more information about the employment market in the Austria.

Our Recruitment Services

A global recruitment partner you can trust

We solve global recruitment challenges for businesses large and small. Whether you’re building out a new team, expanding into another country or looking for a confidential executive level hire, you can trust us to deliver.

Need 80 contractors in Brazil? Looking for just one very special permanent hire? Want us to take care of your global HR? It’s all in a day’s work at Leap29.

Whatever and wherever your mandate, we can help.

Contract Recruitment

Find the right contractor skills and experience at the right price.

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Permanent Recruitment

Connect with great permanent talent to drive your business forward. We help you find both key strategic hires to lead organisational growth and project specialists to deliver on deadlines and budgets.

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Workforce Management

Reduce the complexity of managing workers in different countries and save yourself time, energy and money.

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Local expertise, global reach

Employ people compliantly in 180+ countries – with or without your own foreign entities. We can help you set up and manage foreign entities – or act as an Employer of Record. We can also help with multi-country payroll and all your HR management. Wherever, whenever and however you want to employ people, we can help.