Employer of Record Austria
Employ people in Austria and skip company formation. We act as the legal employer of the people you hire: we issue the Austrian contract, pay 14 salaries a year, withhold Lohnsteuer (wage tax) and pay contributions to the ÖGK (Austrian Health Insurance Fund). You direct the work.
Price my hirePortal and people
How do you hire quickly and correctly in Austria?
The portal holds each hire’s contract, payslips and approvals. A named person in our payroll team checks every change before it reaches the monthly run, so software supports the people, not the reverse.
- Follow the contract and social security registration before day one
- Approve each monthly payroll before it is paid
- Record pay rises, sick days and leave as they happen
- Download payslips and each Lohnzettel (annual tax payslip, L16)
How we employ for you
How can you employ in Austria without a company?
We employ the people you choose on an Austrian contract and run their payroll, while you manage their work. Each hire is graded under a Kollektivvertrag (collective agreement) and paid in 14 instalments. That shapes the budget: the 13th and 14th salaries are taxed at about 6% for most employees.
Our payroll team registers each hire with the ÖGK through ELDA, the electronic channel to the social security funds, before work starts. Every month we file the mBGM contribution return and pay wage tax and Kommunalsteuer (municipal payroll tax). When someone leaves, we de-register them through ELDA as well.
Employment costs
What does an employee in Austria cost in 2026?
All rates on this page are 2026 values from the WKO (Austrian Economic Chamber) and the social security funds, valid from 1 January 2026.
Employer contributions
Employer social security is 20.98% of regular pay in 2026: pension 12.55%, health 3.78%, unemployment 2.95%, accident 1.10%, housing 0.50% and insolvency fund 0.10%. On the 13th and 14th salaries it is 20.48%. Payroll levies add 1.53% for the severance fund, 3.7% Dienstgeberbeitrag (DB, family-fund levy), a DZ surcharge of 0.31% to 0.40% depending on the province (0.36% in Vienna), 3% Kommunalsteuer and, in Vienna only, €2 per employee per week. Social security stops at the 2026 ceiling of €6,930 a month.
Employee deductions
Two amounts come off gross pay each month, and we withhold both before the salary is paid.
- Wage tax: 2026 bands run from 0% up to €13,539 a year to 50%, with 55% only above €1m. The 13th and 14th salaries are taxed separately, at 6% for most employees.
- Social security: 18.07% of regular pay in 2026 (pension 10.25%, health 3.87%, unemployment 2.95%, housing 0.50%, Chamber of Labour 0.50%) and 17.07% on the two extra salaries. Monthly pay up to €2,225 carries no unemployment contribution.
Worked example
€60,000 a year in Vienna, 2026
Employer cost
€77,805
Salary plus employer social security, severance fund, DB, DZ, Kommunalsteuer and the Vienna levy.
Net to the employee
€41,102
After social security and wage tax: about €2,865 a month and €3,359 per extra salary.
Assumptions: €60,000 gross paid as 14 × €4,285.71 to a single white-collar employee with no children, working in Vienna for the whole of 2026, below the contribution ceiling. Figures are approximate, since payroll rounding and the collective agreement can move them by a few euros. They exclude our fee, which starts from €599 per employee per month.
Payments follow a fixed monthly calendar. The mBGM return and ÖGK contributions are due on the 15th of the month after payroll, as are wage tax, DB and DZ at the tax office and Kommunalsteuer at the municipality. You pay one monthly invoice covering salary, every employer charge and our fee.
How the EOR process works
What happens before day one, and what repeats monthly?
Some steps happen once, before the first working day. Others come round with every payroll.
Registration comes first: Austrian law requires each employee to be registered with the ÖGK through ELDA before work starts, and paper, email or phone notices are not accepted. The Dienstzettel (written statement of terms) follows without delay; since 28 March 2024 it must also cover probation, the notice procedure and overtime pay.
We draft the Dienstvertrag (employment contract) once you have agreed salary, role and start date with the candidate. Probation can last one month at most. Pay must reach at least the collective agreement minimum for the grade and is spread over 14 instalments. If you prefer an all-in salary that covers overtime, the base pay for normal hours has to be stated in writing.
The monthly cycle repeats with each payroll. You approve hours, leave and changes in the portal; we calculate gross to net, withhold wage tax and employee contributions, and pay the salary. We file the mBGM return through ELDA and pay the ÖGK, the tax office and the municipality on or before the 15th that follows. After year end, each employee’s Lohnzettel (L16) goes to the tax office by the end of February.
Citizens of EU and EEA states need no work permit in Austria. Most other nationals need a Rot-Weiß-Rot-Karte (Red-White-Red Card) or an EU Blue Card. The 2026 Blue Card salary floor is €55,678 a year; the key-worker card needs €3,465 gross a month plus special payments.
Both cards depend on the job offer and its salary. For the Red-White-Red Card, the AMS (public employment service) checks the criteria, and the card is tied to one employer.
Austria has no statutory minimum wage. Pay floors come from more than 800 collective agreements, which cover 98% of employees, so the sector decides the minimum. In IT, a skilled professional (grade ST1) starts at €3,267 a month in 2026, paid 14 times. Retail minimums rose by 2.55% from January 2026.
Onboarding
What sets the start date of a new hire?
A company needs notarised articles and a Firmenbuch (commercial register) entry before it can act as an employer. Hiring through us skips both steps.
Describe the role
Tell us what the person will do, what they will earn, when they start and in which town.
Receive a full-year cost
We price 14 salaries plus every employer levy for that municipality, with our fee shown separately.
Agree the contract
Your hire signs an Austrian contract with probation of no more than one month.
Register with the ÖGK
ELDA registration with the ÖGK is done before the hire’s first working day.
Day one
Your hire starts under your direction, with documents and payslips in the portal.
First payroll
Returns and payments for the first month are due by the 15th of the next.
One contact for your account
Who looks after your Austrian employees from week to week?
One named contact handles your account, from the first cost estimate to payroll questions and leavers, and knows which collective agreement each person is on.
Meet LukasTwo routes compared
Is a GmbH or an employer of record the better start?
Two routes lead to employing in Austria. You can form a GmbH (limited liability company) and run payroll yourself, or let an employer of record employ the people for you. Headcount and timing usually decide.
Forming a GmbH yourself
A GmbH needs articles in notarial form, or the simplified online route for a single founder. It exists once entered in the Firmenbuch. The minimum capital has been €10,000 since 1 January 2024.
Registration is only the start. Before the first payroll the company needs a tax number, ELDA access, an ÖGK employer number, Kommunalsteuer registration and a severance fund. Notary and adviser fees come on top, and running costs last as long as the company does.
- Monthly payroll and mBGM returns
- Wage tax, DB and DZ paid to the tax office by the 15th
- An annual Lohnzettel for every employee
- Kommunalsteuer annual return due by 31 March
- Joint payroll tax and contribution audits every 3 to 5 years
With an employer of record
Employer of Record Austria employs your hire on an Austrian contract under the applicable collective agreement and runs payroll, wage tax and social security. Our charge, from €599 per employee per month, is added to the salary and levies; no capital is tied up and there is no company to wind up later.
- Contract drafted to Austrian law
- ELDA registration before the first day
- Monthly payroll, mBGM and tax payments
- Leave, sick pay and leavers handled
- A single euro invoice each month
Which route fits a first hire?
Choose an EOR when
An employer of record fits a first hire or a small team, especially when the person should start before a company could be registered and set up for payroll. The 14 salaries and monthly returns run from the first payslip, and ending the arrangement does not mean closing a company.
A GmbH of your own fits when
Your own GmbH makes sense for a larger, long-term team in Austria. For a single employee over several years it can also work out cheaper than a monthly fee; the trade-off is the set-up work, the ongoing returns and the cost of closing it if plans change.
Share the salaries and start dates you have in mind and we will set the cost of a GmbH against the monthly fee for your case.
Employee entitlements
What must an employer in Austria provide in 2026?
Leave comes from the Urlaubsgesetz (Annual Leave Act), and sick pay from the rules on continued pay that the ÖGK applies. Collective agreements can add to both.
Annual leave
Five weeks a year: 30 Werktage (Monday to Saturday days), which equals 25 days for staff working Monday to Friday. After 25 years’ service it rises to 30 working days. The full entitlement applies after six months in the first year.
Holidays in 2026
In 2026, 13 days are public holidays, starting with New Year’s Day on 1 January and ending with St Stephen’s Day on 26 December. Good Friday has not been one since 2019.
Sick pay
Entgeltfortzahlung (continued pay) resets each work year. It gives 6 weeks at full pay in the first year of service, 8 weeks after one year, 10 after 15 years and 12 after 25 years, each followed by 4 weeks at half pay. The ÖGK then pays Krankengeld (sick benefit). One scale has covered white- and blue-collar staff since 2018.
Maternity protection
Mutterschutz (maternity protection) bars work for 8 weeks before and 8 weeks after the birth, or 12 weeks after a premature, multiple or caesarean birth. The ÖGK pays Wochengeld (maternity benefit).
Parental leave
Karenz (parental leave) runs to the child’s second birthday, or 22 months if one parent takes all of it. The employer pays no salary, and dismissal protection lasts until 4 weeks after it ends.
Care leave
Pflegefreistellung (care leave) gives one paid week per work year to look after a sick close relative, plus a second week if a child under 12 falls ill again. Fathers may also take one month off after a birth (Papamonat).
How are these rules applied?
Our payroll team records leave, sick days and parental leave in the portal and reflects them in each payslip: full or half pay under the sick-pay scale, no salary during Mutterschutz or Karenz, and leave balances that lapse two years after the leave year ends.
Our services
What we do for you
EOR Austria covers the employer side of an Austrian hire, from the first contract to the final payslip, while you lead the work itself. The services page explains each part in more detail.
See services ›Employing without a company
We act as the legal employer of the people you hire, so you can employ in Austria without forming a GmbH or registering for payroll.
Payroll and tax
Gross-to-net for 14 salaries a year, with wage tax, ÖGK contributions, DB, DZ and Kommunalsteuer due by the 15th after each pay month.
HR and employment law
Contracts and Dienstzettel, collective agreement grading, leave records, notice periods that usually end on a quarter day, and the paperwork when someone leaves.
Benefits
The 1.53% severance fund contribution is built in. Extras, such as a tax-free telework allowance of up to €300 a year, can be added.
Employing in Austria
A practical guide tothe 14 salaries|in Austria
The guide explains how collective agreements set pay, why notice usually ends on a quarter day, how the Red-White-Red Card works and which levies employers pay, with 2026 figures and links to official sources.
Read the Austria guide ›Our approach
What makes EOR Austria different?
Employer of Record Austria prices the full year before you commit, using 14 salaries and the levies of your employee's municipality, so the budget reflects how Austrian pay works. One contact stays with you from that estimate to the last payslip.
Price a roleCommon questions
No. We become the legal employer on an Austrian contract and run payroll, so a GmbH, tax number or ÖGK employer account of your own is not needed. Day-to-day direction of the work stays with you.
The candidate's notice is usually the limit. Before day one the law requires ÖGK registration through ELDA, which we make once the contract is signed. Notice to a current employer is at least one month, ending on a month's last day. Hires from outside the EU and EEA need a Red-White-Red Card or EU Blue Card first.
In both cases the legal employer is a business other than yours. The difference is who picks the person and for how long: an agency usually supplies a worker from its own pool for a set period; with an EOR you recruit the person, direct the daily work and keep them as long as you need.
You pay salary and employer charges; our fee comes on top, from €599 per employee per month. For €60,000 gross in Vienna in 2026, the employer cost is about €77,805 a year, or about €84,993 including the fee at that rate. Your quote lists the salary, each levy and the fee separately.
Who do you want to hire first?
Tell us the role, salary and town, and we will send a full-year cost based on 14 salaries and 2026 rates.
If the numbers work, we draft the contract and register your hire with the ÖGK before day one.
Request a cost quote
Get started
Start employing in Austria
Leave your details for a short call about costs, timing and the contract for your hire.
Not taking new enquiries just now
Our Austria team is at capacity at the moment, so we have paused new enquiries. Please check back soon.