Austria Employment Law

Duration and Eligibility Criteria of Annual Leave Based on Years of Service –

• • • Employees are entitled to uninterrupted paid annual leave of at least 30 working days for a six-day week  (or 25 working days for a five-day week ), i.e. a total of 5 calendar weeks if the employee has been employed for less than 25 years
    • Employees with 25 years of service or more receive 36 working days of annual leave (six weeks).

Part-time employees receive annual leave on a pro-rata basis. Years of service include employment with all employers, self-employment, and some periods of higher education.

Annual Leave Pay: An employee is entitled to regular wages for the total duration of annual leave. The annual leave shall be paid to the employee when the annual leave begins.

Calculation of Year of Service: Through a collective agreement, a calendar year or any other annual period can be agreed as the annual leave year instead of the working year. To measure the extent of annual leave, periods of service with the same employer that have no longer interruptions than three months are added together. Years of service include employment with all employers, periods of self-employment, and some periods of higher education.

Saturdays are considered part of a workweek.

Accrual of Annual Leave

• • • • First year of work: Entitlement to paid leave in the first six months is on a pro-rata basis – in other words in relation to the period of service with the current employer. After six months, the employee is entitled to the full amount of paid leave.
      • And subsequent years of work: From the second year of work, the entire amount of paid leave arises as of the beginning of the working year – in other words on the first day of the second year and so on.

Carry forward of leave: Unused annual leave can be carried over, but the leave is forfeited if not used within two years from the year in which the entitlement arose. If parental leave is taken during this two year period, this period will be extended as per the duration of the parental leave. 

Taking of Annual Leave: Annual leave can be taken in 2 parts but one part shall consist of at least 6 working days.

Payment upon Termination of Employment: If during the period of the annual leave year, the employment relationship ends, the employee is entitled to compensation at the time of termination of the employment relationship as compensation for the unused annual leave corresponding to the length of service in this annual leave year in relation to the entire annual leave year.

Additional annual leave for heavy night work: In every year of work in which an employee works 50 times between 10 pm and 6 am, and performs heavy work for at least 6 hours are entitled to additional leave of 2 working days. However, such entitlement shall be increased to 4 working days, if an employee has worked for 5 years, and leave shall increase to 6 working days, for employees who have performed such work for 15 years.

Sickness during annual leave: An employee who falls sick during the annual leave for more than 3 days, such days shall not be counted in the annual leave period. Holidays Act, § 2-6.

Duration of Sick Leave-  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, he/she is entitled to continued payment of wages for 6 weeks.

Entitlement of Sick Leave based on year of service- Sick leave shall be provided sick leave based of the years of service in the below manner:

• 8 weeks if the employee has been employed for 1 year without interruption.
• 10 weeks, if the employee has been employed for 15 years without interruption.
• 12 weeks if the employee has been employed for 25 years without interruption.

After the period of paid sick leave expires, the employee is entitled to a further 4 weeks on half-pay.

Pay–  Sickness benefits are generally provided for 26 weeks. This period may be extended to 56 weeks if the employee has been insured for 6 months in the 12 months preceding the incapacity for work. Amount of sickness benefit:

• 50% of the assessment base or of the gross salary: if the incapacity for work lasts 42 days or less,
• 60 % of the assessment base or of the gross wage: if the incapacity for work lasts 43 days or more.

Medical Certificate-  Employees are obligated to notify their employer immediately (without undue delay) of their inability to work in the event of sickness. This can be requested from the first day of incapacity for work but is often only required from the fourth day of illness.

Sick leave coinciding with Annual Leave- if an employee falls sick during more than 3 days during their scheduled annual leave, they have the right to convert their annual leave into sick leave.

The employee is required to provide a medical certificate to their employer as evidence of their illness. The medical certificate should indicate the period of sickness and the employee’s inability to take their annual leave as originally planned. Continued Remuneration Act, § 1 – 2.

Duration of Maternity Leave– A pregnant employee is entitled to maternity leave during the 8 weeks preceding the expected date of delivery and the 8 weeks following childbirth. In cases of multiple births, cesarean, and premature births, this post-birth leave period increases to 12 weeks.

If a child is stillborn or dies immediately after birth, the employee may not be employed for 8 weeks after the birth.

There is no entitlement to maternity leave after a miscarriage. There is the possibility of taking sick leave during the health impairment following a miscarriage.

Maternity Pay Benefit– An employee is entitled to receive maternity pay from the social insurance system as an amount equal to the average earnings that an employee received in the last 13 weeks of employment. An employee will be entitled to receive benefits if the doctor or the labor authority, has imposed a ban on employment before the start of the protection period or beyond.

Notice Requirement- An employee has to inform the employer of their pregnancy and the expected date of birth immediately after it becomes known. They need to present a medical certificate confirming the existence of the pregnancy and the expected date of delivery upon request of the employer. The employee has to make the employer aware of this within the 4th week before the start of the protection period. An employee must inform the employer of any early termination of the pregnancy.

Limitation on work During Maternity Leave – The expected mothers are prohibited from working overtime, Sundays, Public Holidays , Night work or any health hazards work.

Annual Leave During maternity Leave – The holiday entitlement during maternity leave will not be reduced. It corresponds to the contractually agreed requirements.

Adoption– In case of adoption, maternity leaves only began on the day adoption as a child. Maternity Protection Act, § 2- 14.

Duration of Paternity Leave– Male employees as well as the second parent in same-sex couples are entitled to 1 month of unpaid leave for the birth of their child. It is called the “Daddy Month” (Papa Monat).

If the collective agreement offers better terms than the law, the employee can benefit from it.

Eligibility Criteria– The employee must be in a shared household with the child and the employee (father) must comply with the reporting deadlines to the employer.

Leave Period- The leave can be taken from the day following the birth of the child until the end of the mother’s employment ban and is valid for one month.

Special circumstances- If the mother is not legally prohibited from working (because she is not an employee, but is self-employed, a housewife or unemployed), the father’s month can be claimed up to 8 weeks after the birth or in the case of premature births, multiple births or cesarean sections 12 weeks after the birth.

Pay – Fathers can receive the family time bonus of €54.87 per day during Dad Month, i.e. up to €1,700.97 (for 31 days) (from January 2025) for one month from Health Insurance.

Notice Requirement- The father must inform the employer that they want to take advantage of the leave no later than 3 months before the expected birth date. The date of birth and the expected start of the exemption must also be stated. The father must inform the employer immediately of the birth and announce the start date of the father’s month no later than one week after the birth.

If the advance notice cannot be given on time due to a premature birth, the obligation to provide advance notice no longer applies. Paternity Leave Act, § 1a.

Employees working in organizations with 20 or more employees and have been employed continuously for a period of 3 years are entitled to have their working time reduced in order to work as part-time employees until their child’s 7th birthday or until the child starts school whichever is earlier. The weekly normal work time is reduced by at least 20% and shall not fall below 12 hours. Paternity Act, Chapter 3, § 8.

Employees are entitled to up to the maximum of their regular weekly working hours within a working year or the option to work part-time. Leave is limited to the employee’s regular weekly working hours.

Eligible Care Recipients-  Sick family members living in the same household, their own biological, foster, or adopted child, a child of their spouse or partner in the partner’s absence, a hospitalized child under the age of 10 years.

Conditions – Care leave can only be granted when appropriate care is required due to sickness, hospitalization, or the absence of another caregiver.

Employer Obligations – Employers must provide approval based on the employee’s eligibility and ensure that their decision complies with applicable regulations. Holiday Act, § 16.

Duration of leave – Parental leave can last until the child’s 22nd month if taken by one parent or until the child’s 24th month if parents alternate.

Each period must last at least two months. If both parents overlap for one month during transitions, the leave ends by the child’s 23rd month.

Single Parents– Leave extends until the child’s second birthday if the other parent is unavailable (e.g., deceased or no paternity recognized).

Ineligible Parent – If one parent is ineligible for leave (e.g., self-employed), the other may begin leave two months later, extending eligibility to the child’s 24th month.

Extension–  Leave may be extended once, with notice at least three months before the current leave ends (two months for shorter leave).

Shared Parental Leave – Parental leave can be shared with the father twice, provided that each part of the leave is for a minimum duration of two months.

Deferred Parental Leave – Employees may agree with their employer to defer up to three months of parental leave, allowing them to use it at a later date, up to the child’s 8th birthday. When deferring leave, the following conditions apply:

Deferred leave can only be used after completing the initial two-month parental leave.

The deferred leave must be taken by the end of:

• • • at the end of the child’s 21st month of life,
    • if the father also takes deferred parental leave, at the end of the child’s 18th month of life has ended.

Parents may jointly postpone up to six months of leave (three months each) to use on the child’s 8th birthday or when the child starts school. Each deferred period must last at least two months.

Childcare Allowance – During parental leave, parents are entitled to payment in the form of a childcare allowance provided by social security. Maternity Leave Act, § 15, (15a and b) and Paternity Leave Act, § 2.

Employees who adopt a child between the child’s second and seventh birthday are entitled to 6 months of unpaid leave starting from the adoption date.

Employees are entitled to the same benefits as natural parents under the parental leave provisions. The leave must be taken immediately after the adoption.

The leave period is limited to 6 months from the date of adoption. Paternity Leave Act, § 5.

An employee can be entitled to receive at least two months of leave up to a maximum of a one year of unpaid education leave at the discretion of the employer after completing six months of service with an employer. Employment Contract Law Adjustment Act, § 11.

Family Hospice care can be used for close relatives, including spouses, registered partners, life partners, children, adopted or foster children, (great) grandchildren, parents and (great) grandparents, siblings, parents-in-law, children-in-law, adopted and foster parents, and biological children of the spouse, life partner, or registered partner. There is no requirement for a shared household.

Family hospice leave for end-of-life care of close relatives can be taken for up to 3 months. A one-time extension to a total of 6 months per case is possible.  Employment Contract Law Adjustment Act, § 14a, 14b.