The colleague is away for two weeks, but the inbox stays full. In addition to your own tasks, approvals, customer inquiries and appointments are added. A vacation cover at work therefore doesn't work on the principle "You just do everything together." It needs a limited task list, clear priorities, appropriate authorities and realistic working hours.
Especially in July many absences coincide with ongoing projects and small teams. Whoever takes over cover can show responsibility and learn new procedures. Without a clear handover, however, there is a risk of continuous interruptions, unpaid extra work and decisions for which information or authorizations are missing. This guide helps employees and managers to organize cover in a planned way. Legal details may vary depending on the employment contract, collective agreement and industry; this article does not replace individual legal advice.
Vacation cover is capacity planning, not just knowledge transfer
A handover answers the question of how important work continues during an absence. But it does not create extra hours. If a person keeps their normal task and at the same time is supposed to take on the full workload of an absent colleague, a prioritization decision is missing.
This is not just a comfort issue. The Austrian Labour Inspectorate cites high time pressure, work overload, lack of information, tight staffing levels and frequent interruptions as typical factors of psychological stress. Companies must take such working conditions into account within the framework of the workplace assessment of psychological stress.
The right starting question therefore is not: "Who can do everything extra?" It is: "Which tasks must continue, which can wait, and what capacity is actually available?"
Six questions before you agree
Before you take on cover, you should clarify six points with the manager or the absent person:
- Period: From when to when does the cover apply, and is there a handover day before and after the vacation?
- Mandatory tasks: Which activities must be completed during the absence?
- Priorities: Which of your own tasks will be postponed, reduced or reassigned to someone else?
- Authorities: Which decisions, approvals or commitments may you make yourself?
- Escalation: Who is reachable in case of exceptions, conflicts, safety issues or larger amounts?
- Working hours: Is extra work foreseeable, how will it be ordered, recorded and compensated?
A clear answer protects both sides. "Just check the inbox" is not a task description. "Answer standard inquiries within two working days, forward complaints to team management and do not authorize discounts" is manageable.
The handover list: What really needs to be documented
A good handover is short enough to be used and specific enough to avoid follow-up questions. For each case it should contain at least the following information:
| Field | Content | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Task | Specific desired result | Confirm delivery date, not just "Project X" |
| Deadline | Date and actual urgency | By Tuesday 12pm, because shipping takes place afterwards |
| Status | What has been done and what is outstanding | Offer sent, response pending |
| Contact | Responsible internal and external person | Technical question to purchasing, not to customer service |
| Authority | What may be decided independently | Approval up to 500 euros, above that team management |
| documents | Reliable storage location | Name project folder and current version |
| Risk | What happens in case of delay or error | Contract deadline, security consequence or customer impact |
| Next step | A concrete action | Follow up on Wednesday if no answer comes |
Passwords do not belong in handover lists or unprotected messages. Access should be set up via shared accounts, roles and deputy functions. Passing on personal logins makes processes difficult to trace and creates unnecessary security risks.
Prioritize before the vacation starts
Divide tasks together into three groups:
- Must run: statutory or contractual deadlines, safety-relevant activities, payment runs, critical customer contacts and operationally necessary approvals.
- Should run: Tasks with noticeable benefit that will be completed if capacity is sufficient.
- Can wait: Optimizations, internal clean-up tasks, non-urgent meetings and projects without immediate consequence.
After that, each must-run task needs a responsible person and an escalation path. A long list without ranking only postpones the decision to the most hectic moment. A capacity limit is also sensible, for example: a maximum of two hours of cover work per day. If it is exceeded, the manager will decide on priorities anew.
Authorities must match responsibility
Anyone expected to deliver a result needs the necessary information and decision-making powers. Typical gaps include missing ordering rights, unclear discount limits, locked folders or the expectation to give technical approval without the corresponding qualification.
Clarify in writing:
- Which contracts, orders or payments may be approved?
- Which statements towards customers or authorities are binding?
- Which tasks require a four-eyes principle?
- Which activities may not be taken over for safety or qualification reasons?
- Who decides if the responsible manager is also absent?
A delegation of duties does not lift professional boundaries. Anyone who is neither trained nor authorized for a task should state that in advance and not only after an error. In addition, special rules apply to damages in the employment relationship; the Employee Liability Act takes into account, among other things, fault, responsibility and working conditions. A blanket statement on personal liability is therefore not possible. In a specific incident, the works council, union or Chamber of Labour should be involved quickly.
Separate extra work and overtime cleanly
Cover work is normal working time. It is not free just because it is taken on temporarily or collegially. Whether additional hours count as extra work, overtime, flexitime credit or within another working time arrangement depends on employment extent and agreement.
Full-time and maximum working hours
For most adult employees, a normal working time of eight hours daily and 40 hours weekly generally applies, although collective agreements or permissible working time models may vary. The Labour Inspectorate on daily and weekly working hours names twelve hours per day and 60 hours in a single week as general upper limits; over the accounting period the weekly average must generally not exceed 48 hours.
These maximum values are not a planning target. Overtime is intended for increased work demand and not as a permanent substitute for missing staff. If they lead to more than ten hours daily or 50 hours weekly working time, employees may refuse them without giving reasons according to the Labour Inspectorate. Even below these limits, personal interests worthy of consideration may argue against them.
Part-time and extra hours
In part-time work, hours above the agreed scope are often initially considered extra work and only count as overtime when the applicable normal working time is exceeded. The Chamber of Labour on part-time work points out the generally provided extra work surcharge of 25 percent, but also mentions exceptions, for example in the case of timely time-off compensation or certain flexitime and collective agreement regulations.
Part-time employees are not automatically the flexible reserve for vacation times. Important interests such as caregiving duties can argue against additional hours. Those who regularly work more should not only check individual compensations but also raise whether the scope of employment and personnel planning still match reality. Guidance for such a conversation is provided by the jobspot.at guide Negotiating part-time.
Breaks and rest periods remain in place
Even with short staffing, recovery must not disappear from the plan. After more than six hours of daily working time, a break of at least 30 minutes is generally required. Between two working days, an uninterrupted rest period of at least eleven hours generally applies. Sector-specific exceptions are possible; the current basics are explained by the Labour Inspectorate on breaks and rest times.
Document working time yourself
During the cover, note daily start, end, breaks and additional hours. Briefly add which cover task caused the extra effort. This helps with billing and shows early whether the agreed capacity is not enough.
Employers must record working hours. Employees have according to Chamber of Labour on recording working hours a right to a free transmission of their records once a month. Own notes remain useful, however, because collective or employment contracts can provide short expiry periods for open claims. A simple method is explained in the jobspot.at article Record working time.
A daily rhythm prevents constant fire-fighting
Instead of processing every new message immediately, a fixed covering rhythm helps:
- Reserve ten minutes at the start of the workday for new urgent matters.
- Define the three most important outcomes of the day.
- Check cover mailboxes at defined times, unless a true call or emergency function has been agreed.
- Collect questions and present them in a bundle to the escalation person.
- Document decisions briefly so that the handback remains traceable.
- At the end of the day, update open risks, not every small outstanding item.
This reduces the number of interruptions. At the same time it remains visible if more urgent work continually comes in than one person can handle. Then faster multitasking is not the answer, but a new prioritization decision.
The absent person is not the emergency solution
Vacation is paid rest time. Austrian employees generally have the right to five weeks of paid vacation in a five-day workweek, as oesterreich.gv.at on vacation entitlement summarizes. A poor handover should not be compensated by the absent person checking messages daily.
If a contact option is agreed for a narrowly limited exception, it needs clear rules: who may call, in which event, via which channel and what counts as a real emergency? "Customer waiting for an answer" is not sufficient if another person or a later appointment is reasonable.
Those planning their own vacation can find the employment law basics in the jobspot.at article Plan vacation . The organization of cover remains the company's task and must not depend solely on the availability of the person on vacation.
If the burden becomes too great: escalate objectively
Don't wait until deadlines are missed or mistakes occur. A sound report contains four elements:
For today my two own mandatory tasks and three urgent covering items are open. In the available working time I can realistically complete three of them. Please decide which two tasks should be postponed or reassigned.
This is not a refusal to work, but a transparent capacity report. Avoid blanket statements like "None of this is possible." Instead name tasks, deadlines, estimated effort and possible consequences. If the situation remains unresolved in the long term, a structured conversation, the works council or legal employment advice may be useful. The guide Addressing conflict at work helps with preparation.
Three typical cover cases
Case 1: Customer service without discount authority
An employee takes over a complaints inbox but is not allowed to issue credit notes. The handover defines standard responses, a fixed financial limit and a team lead for exceptions. This allows her to prepare cases without making binding commitments beyond her authority.
Case 2: Part-time employee takes over a payment run
An employee with 25 weekly hours is additionally to cover a weekly payment run. Before starting, two of their own routine appointments are postponed, a four-eyes principle is set up and a three-hour time slot is reserved. Additional hours are recorded and compensated according to the applicable rules.
Case 3: Two vacations overlap
Two specialists are missing in the team at the same time. Instead of transferring both roles completely to one person, the manager distributes only the critical tasks, pauses an internal project and names an escalation person from a neighboring department. The gap is solved as a planning problem, not hidden as private extra work.
Checklist for a reliable vacation cover
- Period and handback date are recorded.
- Must, should and wait tasks are separated.
- The deputy's own tasks have been visibly reduced or prioritized.
- Deadlines, status, contacts and next steps are documented.
- Access works without passing on personal passwords.
- Approval, cost and decision limits are known.
- There are escalation persons for technical, safety and conflict cases.
- Additional working time and its compensation are clarified.
- Breaks, daily rest time and weekly rest remain scheduled.
- The absent person is contacted only under a narrow emergency rule.
- Decisions and open risks are noted for the return.
- After the vacation there is a short handback with improvements.
The handback is part of the cover
Plan 20 to 30 minutes on the first or second working day after the vacation for the handback. Discuss completed tasks, open deadlines, decisions made and cases that still require a response. A chronological recounting of every detail is not necessary.
Use the handback also for a small process improvement: Which information was missing? Which authority was unclear? Which task could have waited? One single concrete change per cover makes the next absence easier.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to take on every vacation cover?
That cannot be answered in general. Relevant factors include, among others, the employment contract, agreed duties, collective agreement, right to issue instructions, qualification and reasonableness. Name concrete professional, temporal or personal obstacles early. In case of dispute, individual advice helps.
Do I automatically get more pay for covering?
Not automatically. Additional working time must be compensated according to the applicable rules. Whether a temporarily higher-value activity triggers an allowance or different classification depends especially on the collective agreement and the actual activity. Therefore check not only hours but also the collective agreement provisions.
May I make decisions differently than the colleague?
Within the delegated authorities, yes, as long as no binding specification contradicts it. Document important deviations and escalate decisions that have significant financial, legal or safety-related consequences.
What do I do if the handover is missing?
Create a short list of known tasks yourself, mark knowledge gaps and have priorities and authorities confirmed by the manager. Do not take silent assumptions as binding commitments.
Conclusion: Good cover starts with leaving things out
A professional vacation cover keeps critical work running without squeezing two full-time roles into one workday. The most important tools are a limited task list, clear authorities, named escalation paths and honest capacity planning.
Anyone who works additional hours should document them fully and check the applicable compensation. Whoever organizes the cover must at the same time decide what will consciously not be done during the absence. For the next planned absence, take the checklist from this article and first cross out all tasks that can wait without real consequences. This decision creates more security than the longest handover file.
Sources and further information
- Labour Inspectorate: workplace assessment of psychological stress
- Labour Inspectorate: daily working time, weekly working time and overtime
- Labour Inspectorate: break and rest time
- Chamber of Labour: part-time work and extra hours
- Chamber of Labour: working time records
- oesterreich.gv.at: vacation entitlement
- Austrian Chamber of Commerce: compensation and employee liability
