What are the rules and regulations to work in Austria?

Austria's rules and regulations to work in the country are per European Union standards. Austria has different rules for various workers, whether contractual or full-time. A labor employment law which takes care of the rules and regulations in Austria, combined with the White-Collar Workers Act, Work statute, Leave Act, and Labor Protection Act, are the foundation for employee rights and employer obligations. The labor law in Austria also offers different benefits to freelancers and remote employees.

 

*Want to work in Austria? Talk to Y-Axis for complete guidance.

 

Types of Employment in Austria

The Austria labor law covers all private-sector employees, dependant workers, foreign nationals, and government employees. The employment law in Austria has different sets of rules and regulations for different employment:

 

• Full-time contracts
• Part-time employees
• Work Contracts

 

Different rules and regulations to work in Austria

 

Working Hours and Overtime

In Austria, the employer has a different set of rules regarding the working hours and overtime for nearly all private-sector employees over the age of 18:

 

Regular working hours

• Employees are allowed to work for 8 hours per work-day or 40 hours per week
• Employee law will enable them to achieve the statutory working hours requirements based on the nature of their work
• Austria's Labor law will allow employees to extend regular working hours to 12.

 

Overtime regulations and compensation

• Employers are not supposed to ask employees to work overtime beyond the following limit:
• If the daily working hours are 12 hours(exceptions up to 13 hours in case of standby duty or for preparation and end-of-day work)
• If the weekly working time is 60 hours ( not more than 48 hours over an average of 17 weeks)

 

*Note: Austria labor law mandates overtime compensation of 50% money or time balance.

 

Minimum Wage and Compensation

There is no standard minimum wage requirement in Austria. Instead of a single national minimum wage, employment law in Austria allows specific collective agreements in the sectors to determine the minimum wage rate. Individual factors that affect the wage determination are age, qualifications, working hours, job role, etc.

 

Employee Benefits and Social Security

The employment law in Austria extends the following employee benefits and social security:

 

 Employee Benefits

The employment law in Austria requires an employer to pay the worker an annual salary in 14 equal installments instead of the typically 12 monthly payments. Other than that the employees are also offered with:

 

• Provides maternity allowance
• Provides government-funded allowances during childcare leaves
• Provide benefits from the unemployment scheme to be utilized as a training allowance

 

Social security

Social security in Austria is highly beneficial to employees and their dependants as it provides:

 

• Health
• Unemployment
• Education
• Pension
• Parental benefits
• Benefits for disabled workers, accident-affected workers, and survivors

 

Paid and unpaid leaves under the Austria labour

The employees of Austria benefit from the following types of leaves:

 

• Public holidays and unique leaves
• Parental rights and maternity & paternity leave in Austria
• Sick leaves
• Paid leaves
• Unpaid leaves
• Care leave
• Study leave

 

Termination regulation

Here is a brief overview of the termination of an employment contract and employment obligation that follows as per:

 

• Termination of a fixed contract upon expiry of a set date
• Termination by mutual consent of employee
• Dismissal with a valid reason like negligence at work
• Termination with a notice period
• Employers can hire workers on a probation period of one month
• An employer can terminate the employment contract within the probation period without giving a reason
• Retirement where the employee has reached the specific age of 65 and a female employee to the age of 60

 

*Want assistance for Austria Immigration? Talk to Y-Axis, the world’s No. 1 overseas immigration consultancy for end-to-end support.