Statutory notice period
The minimum notice an employer must give. Contracts and collective agreements can lengthen it and only rarely shorten it, and the tenure bands are where cross-border assumptions usually go wrong.
Employer notice for salaried employees under the Salaried Employees Act. The same schedule has applied to manual workers since October 2021 through the Civil Code, with narrow carve-outs for seasonal industries whose collective agreements keep their own periods.
| Service | Employer notice | Runs |
|---|---|---|
| From the start of employment | 6 weeks | to the end of a calendar quarter, unless the fifteenth or the end of a month is agreed instead |
| After 2 completed years of service | 2 months | same quarter-end rule, variable by agreement |
| After 5 years | 3 months | same quarter-end rule, variable by agreement |
| After 15 years | 4 months | same quarter-end rule, variable by agreement |
| After 25 years | 5 months | same quarter-end rule, variable by agreement |
The schedule binds the employer and cannot be shortened by agreement. The employee's own notice is 1 month to the end of a calendar month, extendable by agreement to at most 6 months but never longer than the employer's.
Source: Angestelltengesetz Art. 1 § 20, Bundesrecht konsolidiert, RIS, Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes; Kündigungsfristen von Angestellten und Arbeiter:innen, Wirtschaftskammer Österreich. Checked on 2026-07-27.
Minimum paid annual leave
The statutory floor for paid holiday. The counting basis matters as much as the number, since some laws count a six-day week and others count working days or calendar weeks.
30 working days per year, counted on a six-day week, equivalent to 25 days on a five-day week.
Werktage count every day that is not a Sunday or public holiday, so Saturdays count. The entitlement rises to 36 Werktage after 25 years of service. In the first six months of the first year it accrues pro rata; from the second year it vests in full at the start of the working year.
Source: § 2 UrlaubsG, Urlaubsausmaß, JUSLINE Österreich, full statutory text. Checked on 2026-07-27.
Probation limit
The longest trial period the law allows an employer to agree, together with the notice that applies while it runs.
1 months at most, with notice of none for either side; each may dissolve the employment at any moment while it runs during it.
A trial employment applies only if agreed, for at most one month. The Civil Code carries the same one-month rule for manual workers.
Source: Art. 1 § 19 AngG, Dienstverhältnis auf Probe, JUSLINE Österreich, full statutory text. Checked on 2026-07-27.
Employer social contributions
What the employer pays on top of gross salary into statutory schemes. Some countries charge a percentage of pay, others charge flat amounts, and a single headline rate hides caps, regional rules and industry-rated items.
Figures apply for 2026.
| Scheme | Rate, per cent of pay | Charged on |
|---|---|---|
| Health insurance, employer share | 3.78 | pay up to 6,930 EUR per month |
| Pension insurance, employer share | 12.55 | pay up to 6,930 EUR per month |
| Unemployment insurance, employer share | 2.95 | pay up to 6,930 EUR per month |
| Accident insurance | 1.1 | pay up to 6,930 EUR per month |
| Insolvency levy (IESG surcharge) | 0.1 | pay up to 6,930 EUR per month |
| Housing promotion levy, employer halfIn Vienna the levy rose in 2026 to 1.5 in total, 0.75 for the employer. | 0.5 | pay up to 6,930 EUR per month |
| Severance fund (Betriebliche Vorsorge)No ceiling applies. Due for employment relationships begun after the end of 2002, paid into the employee's severance fund from day one. | 1.53 | the whole salary, with no ceiling |
| Sum of the shares aboveEmployer share of social insurance plus the severance fund for a salaried employee outside Vienna; the capped items stop at the monthly ceiling shown. | 22.51 |
Payroll taxes outside social insurance, chiefly the family burdens fund contribution with its chamber surcharge and the municipal payroll tax, are further employer costs of several per cent and are not part of the sum shown. Bad-weather and night-heavy-work levies apply only in their industries, and special payments carry their own annual ceiling.
Source: Beitragsrechtliche Werte in der Sozialversicherung 2026, Stichtag 1. Jänner 2026, Österreichische Sozialversicherung, BVAEB; Veränderliche Werte 2026, Österreichische Gesundheitskasse. Checked on 2026-07-27.