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Posting and hiring out of workers

Please note:

Croatian workers have unrestricted access to the labour market from 1 July 2020.

Posting of workers to Austria

Posting of workers is defined as the process whereby foreign employers without a place of business in Austria temporarily post workers in Austria to fulfil an assignment. Such work is usually carried out on the basis of a contractual obligation, in particular a contract for work/services.

Please note:
As a posted worker you are entitled to at least the statuary payment plus special payments, overtime premiums, and other bonuses and allowances in Austria due to you according law, decree or collective agreement (wage and salary).

Posting of workers by EEA and Swiss companies

Report to the Central Coordinating Agency

Companies having their place of business in an EEA member state or in Switzerland are obliged to report the employment of workers, going to be posted to Austria to perform continued work, to the Central Coordinating Agency of the Federal Ministry of Finance (Zentrale Koordinationsstelle, ZKO) of the Federal Ministry of Finance.

The posting report transposing EU Directive 96/71/EC (Posting of Workers Directive) enables the financial authorities to check for adherence to Austrian wage and working conditions as well as to prevent wage and social dumping by foreign companies.

Transmission to the Public Employment Service


The ZKO forwards the report to the Public Employment Service (AMS) if the posted workers are either

  • third-country nationals (from non-member states of the EEA, excluding Switzerland).

Issuance of an EU posting confirmation


The AMS will issue an EU posting confirmation (EU-Entsendebestätigung) if the posted worker is

  • properly employed in his or her country of origin and
  • employed in conformity with Austrian wage and working conditions and social insurance provisions for the duration of the posting.

Posting of workers by third country companies

Companies based in third countries need not notify the posting of workers to the ZKO. In such cases, the Austrian employer has to apply to the AMS directly for a posting permit or an employment permit:

  • Workers posted for up to four months require a posting permit (Entsendebewilligung), whereas an employment permit (Beschäftigungsbewilligung) is needed for periods exceeding four months.
  • Regardless of the duration of posting, an employment permit is always required in construction.

Confirmation of notification

In the following cases no permit is required; nevertheless, the posting has to be notified to the AMS by the domestic company no later than two weeks in advance:

  • training measures within the scope of a joint venture on the basis of a training programme for a period no longer than six months
  • intra-corporate initial and further training at headquarters in Austria on the basis of a qualified training programme for a period up to 50 weeks
  • posting of young executives by an internationally operating group to an Austrian branch belonging to the same group for a period up to 24 months

Status under settlement and residence legislation

As a third-country worker posted for a period exceeding six months you will further need an appropriate residence permit.

In particular, the applicable type of permit to be considered is the “residence permit - posted worker” which entitles the holder to fixed-term residence in Austria. It is granted if you fulfill certain requirements (such as locally customary accommodation, sufficient means of subsistence, health insurance coverage etc.) and if a conditional assurance (Sicherungsbescheinigung) or posted workers has been issued for you.

As a third-country worker posted for a period of less than six months you need a visa, to be applied for only with the competent Austrian representation (embassy, consulate) in your country of residence.

PLEASE NOTE:
You can find further information on the website "posting of workers platform"

Cross-border hiring out of workers

If a worker is integrated into the Austrian undertaking and subject to the latter’s functional supervision and instructions, this is not a case of posting, but of hiring out of workers (personnel leasing). The Austrian undertaking is thus considered to be the employer.

Hiring out of workers by EEA and Swiss companies

The foreign company has to report the hiring out of workers to the ZKO. The ZKO forwards the notice to the Public Employment Service (AMS) if the hired out workers are either

  • third-country nationals (from non-member states of the EEA, excluding Switzerland).

The AMS will issue an EU hiring out confirmation if

  • the worker is properly employed and carries on his or her main activity in the country of origin and
  • the worker is employed in conformity with Austrian wage and working conditions as well as the social security provisions during the term of hire
  • the domestic employer engages a worker to fulfil an assignment that does not itself aim at hiring out of workers. 

Hiring out of workers by third-country companies

In this case, the Austrian undertaking employing the hired out worker will need a specific hiring out permit (Überlassungsbewilligung) which has to be applied for with the competent trade authority (Gewerbebehörde) in addition to the employment permit.

That permit will only be issued if

  • the employment of especially qualified skilled workers is indispensable for labour-market related and economic reasons,
  • such workers are exclusively available from temporary work agencies abroad and
  • the employment of such workers does not jeopardise the wage and working conditions of domestic workers.

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