Law

Reporting a side job: What employees should clarify beforehand

A side job can bring income and experience. Before starting, employees should clarify reporting obligations, working hours, social insurance and taxes.

Editorial team7 min read
An employee plans a side job and main job at a bright desk with a laptop and documents

Status: July 7, 2026. A side job often sounds uncomplicated: a few hours in the evening, a project on the weekend, or marginal employment alongside a main job. In practice, however, employees in Austria should not wait until the second employment contract is already signed to think about it. Notification requirements, non-compete clauses, working hours, rest periods, social security, and taxes are all important.

Reporting a side job does not automatically mean that every private secondary activity must be approved. The Chamber of Labour (Arbeiterkammer) states that employees are generally entitled to enter into an additional employment relationship. At the same time, a second job can become problematic in individual cases if it is incompatible with working time regulations, impairs work in the main job, or competes with the employer.

This article shows what employees should clarify before starting a side job, when it makes sense or is necessary to notify the employer, and which financial consequences of having multiple employment relationships are easily overlooked.

Why a side job should be clarified in advance

Additional income can help to offset rising costs, finance further training, or test a new professional direction. Precisely for this reason, a side job should not be organized on the side. Anyone employed in a main job already has obligations arising from their employment contract, service sheet, collective agreement, and statutory working time limits.

The first question is therefore not just: Do I have time? But: Does the side job fit with my existing employment relationship? A quick look at the employment contract is often enough to find information on notification requirements, prohibitions on secondary employment, non-compete clauses, or requirements for consent. If such clauses are vaguely worded, you should ask for clarification in writing or seek advice beforehand.

It is also helpful to refer to the classification from the article Checking your employment contract: What should be clear before signing. Many side job questions start exactly there: What obligations have I agreed to, what working hours are agreed upon, and which clauses could affect secondary employment?

Do you have to report a side job?

There is no general answer for every case. oesterreich.gv.at explains that permitted secondary employment must be reported if a notification requirement has been agreed upon. Even without an explicit notification requirement, it is advisable to inform the employer if the side job could affect the main job.

In practice, this means: If the employment contract, collective agreement, or a works agreement states that secondary activities must be reported, the notification should take place before starting. It does not have to be dramatic. Usually, factual information regarding the type of activity, approximate time commitment, employer or client, and the statement that working hours, rest periods, and the main job will not be impaired is sufficient.

Without a notification requirement, informing the employer is particularly sensible if the side job is in the same industry, could affect the employer's customers, involves regular evening or weekend shifts, or could visibly affect your own performance in the main job. Being open and clear reduces later conflicts.

When a side job becomes problematic

A side job is not inadmissible just because the employer dislikes it. According to AK information, permissible multiple employment must not lead to disadvantages. However, it can become problematic if the second employment relationship is incompatible with working time regulations or is detrimental to the work in the existing employment relationship.

Typical risk cases include competitive situations, overtired workdays, failure to observe rest periods, activities for direct competitors, illegal employment, or secondary activities that lead to conflicts of interest. oesterreich.gv.at also points out the non-compete clause: violations can lead to dismissal and claims for damages.

Employees should be particularly careful if the side job is commercial or self-employed in the employer's environment. Workers are also not allowed to engage in detrimental side businesses if this causes disadvantages for the employer. The limit depends on the individual case. Therefore, a brief written clarification is often better than a later discussion about what was meant.

Working hours: Hours from both jobs count together

The most common mistake is to view each job in isolation. The AK emphasizes that the working hours from multiple employment relationships must be added together. This is crucial because statutory maximum working hours, breaks, and rest periods do not disappear just because multiple employers are involved.

The Corporate Service Portal (USP) states as a basic rule for normal working hours eight hours per day and 40 hours per week, although collective agreements may deviate. Regarding maximum working hours, according to the USP, the limits including overtime must be observed: generally 12 hours daily, 60 hours in a single week, and 48 hours on a 17-week average. Additionally, rest periods are required: after the end of daily working hours, an uninterrupted daily rest period of at least eleven hours is generally provided; there is a weekly entitlement to at least 36 hours of rest.

Anyone who works full-time during the day and regularly takes on a side job in the evening should therefore not only check the pay but also create a realistic weekly schedule. This includes travel times, breaks, availability, weekend shifts, and recovery. For your own documentation, the article Recording working hours: Why keeping track at work counts.

Social security: Plan for back payments

Multiple jobs can have consequences for social security. oesterreich.gv.at explains that with multiple employment relationships, there may be obligations for back payments. In the case of multiple marginal employments, the earnings in the respective calendar month are added together to check whether the marginal earnings threshold has been exceeded.

This is also relevant for people who earn a marginal income in addition to a fully insured main job. The AK Vienna states a monthly marginal earnings threshold of 551.10 euros for 2026 and describes that social security contributions and the Chamber of Labour levy can be retroactively charged for the marginal income if the total income exceeds the threshold. The assessment is automatic but may arrive with a time delay.

This is no reason to avoid a side job. However, it is a reason not to plan the entire gross side job income as freely available additional income. Anyone who receives a back payment later should also check whether this can be taken into account in the employee tax assessment. For ongoing understanding of deductions, Checking your payslip: What gross, net, and deductions reveal.

Income tax: Two small incomes can become taxable together

Taxes should also be considered in advance. oesterreich.gv.at points out that with multiple employment relationships, an employment relationship that is below the tax threshold on its own can be subject to subsequent taxation. Income tax liability can also only arise through the sum of the earnings.

This happens particularly easily if little or no income tax is deducted from the side job, but the total annual income is higher. The AK Vienna writes for the case of a main job plus marginal employment that an employee tax assessment can be mandatory if the taxable annual income exceeds 14,769 euros in 2026; special payments must be considered separately.

For employees, this means: Do not just look at net income on a monthly basis. A simple annual calculation including the main job, side job, expected social security back payments, and possible taxes is better. In case of uncertainty, FinanzOnline, tax advisors, or the AK advisory service can help.

What should be clear in writing before starting

A side job does not necessarily require a lot of paperwork, but the most important points should be understandable. In the main job, these are notification requirements, consent, competition issues, and working hours. In the side job, they are the type of contract, remuneration, place of work, weekly hours, fixed-term status, duty roster, special payments, and the question of whether it is a genuine employment relationship, a freelance service contract, or a self-employed activity.

Anyone who sees the side job as a stepping stone should also pay attention to the collective agreement. It clarifies minimum remuneration, classification, and often working time issues. The current guide Checking the collective agreement: What counts before accepting.

If the side job arises from an application process, the same care is worth it as with the main job: do not just discuss the offer, hours, salary, probationary period, working hours, and benefits verbally. The article Don't rush into accepting: How applicants check a job offer helps with this check.

Consciously distinguish special cases

This article covers the side job alongside an existing employment relationship. Other rules may apply if unemployment benefits, emergency assistance, parental leave, part-time parental leave, pension, self-employment, or cross-border work are involved. Then it is not just about the main employer, but also about the AMS, social security, the tax office, or special notification requirements.

Anyone registered as unemployed should not be guided by the rules for a side job alongside full-time employment. For this case, there is the separate article Working marginally despite unemployment benefits: What applies now. Anyone who first has to clarify the AMS process after losing a job will find the basics in Registering as unemployed: What counts immediately after job loss.

Checklist: Report side job and start safely

  • Check employment contract, service sheet, collective agreement, and works agreement for notification requirements.
  • Clarify whether the side job conflicts with the industry, customers, tasks, or interests of the main employer.
  • If a notification requirement is agreed upon, report the side job factually and in writing before starting.
  • Inform even without a requirement if competition, burden, or working time issues could arise.
  • Add up all working hours from the main job and side job.
  • Plan daily and weekly rest periods realistically.
  • Do not fully plan the gross side job income; take social security and tax consequences into account.
  • Check the marginal earnings threshold and possible back payments.
  • For the side job itself, clarify the contract type, remuneration, hours, and duty roster in writing.
  • In case of uncertainty, ask the AK, works council, trade union, tax advisor, or responsible authorities.

Conclusion: A good side job needs clear boundaries

A side job can provide financial relief, bring experience, and open up professional options. However, it only makes sense in the long term if it fits the main job and does not later become a problem due to notification requirements, non-compete clauses, working hours, or back payments.

The best preparation is pragmatic: read the contract, report the side job if necessary, add up hours, calculate financial consequences, and clarify unclear points in writing. Anyone who completes these steps starts not only with more income but also with more security.

Sources and further information

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