Austria PEO Services

Employment Information

Salaries in Austria are paid monthly for work completed between the first and last day of a working month. The actual pay-date varies for different companies and employees. Austria’s standard working hours are 8 days a day, 40 hours per week. However, most collective bargaining agreements provide only 38.5 hours a week.

Including overtime, daily working hours are limited to 12 hours per day and 60 hours per week. Usually, overtime is compensated at an additional rate of 50% or 100% of the employee’s salary.

Taxation

Austria’s income tax rates are progressive and range from 25-55% of the employee’s gross income. Those earning €11,000 or less are not required to pay any income tax on their earnings.

The income tax brackets are as follows (please note these may change each year):

• 0 - €11,000: 0%
• €11,001 - €18,000 – 20%
• €18,001 – 31,000 – 35%
• €31,001 - €60,000 – 42%
• €60,001 - €90,000 – 48%
• €90,001 - €1,000,000 – 50%
• €1,000,001 – 55%

Other taxes in Austria include Municipality taxes (3%), Chamber of Commerce (approximately 38%), tax on insurance contracts (1% and 11% on insurance premiums).

Employers must contribute towards social security at a rate of 21.67%, calculated on the employee’s gross salary. They must also contribute towards the mandatory pension fund at a rate of 1.53% of the employee’s gross salary.

Holidays and Sickness Allowances

Employees in Austria are entitled to paid annual leave of five weeks per year. Following 25 years of employment, this entitlement increases to six weeks. An employee’s leave entitlement is calculated in proportion to the time worked in the first six months of employment. Employees receive the full leave entitlement from the start of their seventh working month.

Any leave which has not been used in a calendar year may be carried over. This leave may be forfeited if not used within two years.

Alongside this, employees are also entitled to six weeks of full salary and four weeks of half their salary if they become sick and are unable to work. After these periods, the social insurance takes over the payment liability. The duration of sick leave may be longer if an employee has been in service for more years or is more senior.

Parental Leaves

Pregnant women who are within the last eight weeks before and eight weeks after childbirth are prohibited from working and entitled to paid leave for this period (sixteen weeks). Following this period, the mother is entitled to unpaid leave until her child turns two years old.

Fathers have the same rights as mothers; however, the leave cannot be taken simultaneously.

Visas

All citizens within the European Economic Area and Switzerland can work in Austria without needing to apply for a visa. Nationals from outside of these zones can stay in Austria for 180 days, but most obtain a work visa following this.

Work visas are obtainable for nationals outside of the EEA or Swiss zones, but applicants are required to prove that they have adequate means of subsistence, health insurance, and appropriate accommodation.

Cultural Information

The official language of Austria is German, however autonomous groups throughout the nation have also led to Croatian, Slovenian, and Hungarian as being official languages. While a large portion of the Austrian population adheres to the Roman Catholic faith, the nation has total religious freedom. After Roman Catholicism, non-religious people make up the second largest group.

Good work-life balance, punctuality, formality, and an eye for detail are all key aspects of Austria’s business culture.

Impacts from COVID-19

Austria’s economy saw huge advancements in the implementation of remote working as a result of the pandemic. As of 2022, the numbers of remote workers match that of office workers, and many also partake in hybrid working patterns.

Austria’s vaccination campaign has been successful, with most of its population being at least double vaccinated against the virus.