Law

Planning leave: What rules employees should know

Leave requires planning and clear entitlements. What employees in Austria should know about vacation days, remaining leave, sickness and changing jobs.

Editorial8 min read
An employee plans vacation days on a laptop with a calendar and notebook in a modern Austrian office

As of: 22 June 2026.Vacation sounds simple: request days off, pack your bags, switch off. At work it is often more complicated. Who decides when vacation is taken? How many days are due for part-time employees? What happens to remaining vacation, illness during vacation, or outstanding days when changing jobs? Especially before the summer season, it pays to take a clear look at the rules so that relaxation doesn’t turn into a conflict.

In Austria, employees generally have a right to paid vacation. This entitlement is not a voluntary perk from the employer but part of the employment relationship. At the same time, vacation cannot be taken entirely unilaterally. It requires planning, agreement and proper documentation, especially when duty rosters, client deadlines, team cover or family care obligations come together.

For applicants, employees and employers, vacation is therefore a practical quality issue. Good jobs are recognised not only by salary but also by whether time off is plannable, whether remaining vacation is tracked transparently and whether managers resolve vacation questions early enough. This article summarises the most important points for Austria.

How much vacation employees receive

The basic entitlement is five calendar weeks per working year. The Unternehmensserviceportal specifies this as 30 working days for a six-day week or 25 working days for a five-day week. After long service the entitlement can increase to six weeks. The WKO describes the amount of vacation as 30 working days with fewer than 25 years of service and 36 working days after completion of the 25th year of service.

Important: part-time and marginal employment do not change the basic idea. The Arbeiterkammer points out that part-time employees and marginally employed persons are also entitled to five weeks of paid vacation per working year. The difference lies in the conversion: someone who works only three days a week does not have the same number of vacation days as someone on a five-day week, but still has five weeks free from work.

In the first year of employment vacation initially accrues on a pro rata basis. After six months the full annual entitlement exists. From the second year of employment the entitlement generally arises in full at the start of the employment year. For employees it is therefore important to know whether the company’s employment year begins on the date of entry or whether a shifted/adjusted vacation year applies.

Leave must be agreed

A common misconception is that if someone still has leave available, they can simply take it. That's not how it works. Leave must generally be agreed between employer and employee. Business interests and the need for rest should be balanced. Employees may therefore not stay away from work on their own accord just because their remaining leave balance shows a positive amount.

Conversely, an employer cannot unilaterally impose leave at will. Even a company shutdown requires a concrete agreement or a legally sound basis. In practice, early coordination is therefore crucial: anyone planning summer leave, bridge days, or longer trips should submit their request so that cover and the duty roster can be organized realistically.

Good leave planning doesn't start with the last available flight, but with three questions: How many days are remaining? What operational blackout periods or busy phases are there? Who will take over tasks during the absence? Whoever records these points in writing or in the time-tracking system in a traceable way will avoid misunderstandings.

Single days of leave, weeks and split leave

The WKO explains that, as a rule, leave can be taken in parts, with one part having to be at least six working days. At the request of employees, however, the use of individual days of leave can also be agreed. This is important in modern working models because many people do not use leave only for a two-week trip, but also for caregiving, recovery, administrative errands or single bridge days.

Nevertheless, leave should not be entirely fragmented. Rest requires uninterrupted time. Someone who only takes single days off throughout the year may remain flexible in the short term but risks never truly switching off. This also matters for employers: continually postponed rest increases the risk of errors, conflicts and sick leave.

A sensible approach is a mix: plan longer rest periods early, deliberately use single days for transitions and private appointments, and check remaining leave regularly. This applies especially in teams where everyone wants time off at the same time in summer or around public holidays.

Don't ignore remaining vacation and the statute of limitations

Unused vacation is generally carried over into the next vacation year if it is not taken. However, it does not remain unused indefinitely. The Chamber of Labour Upper Austria states that the entitlement to vacation generally expires two years after the end of the vacation year in which it arose. In practice this often means: those who do not take any vacation for several years can lose old entitlements.

The Chamber of Labour Styria also refers to case law that requires employers to point out impending expiration and to enable the taking of vacation. Employees should not rely on this passively, however. It's better to check your own status at least once per quarter: current annual entitlement, remaining vacation from previous years, already approved vacation and planned days off.

Remaining vacation is especially important before a job change. Anyone who resigns or is dismissed should not only check the notice period and work documents, but also any outstanding vacation days. The jobspot.at article Check employment contract helps to properly sort out such points already before or at the start of an employment relationship.

Sick while on vacation: What counts

Getting sick while on vacation is annoying, but from an employment-law perspective it does not automatically mean lost rest. The Chamber of Labour explains that, under certain conditions, vacation days do not count as vacation days if employees fall ill during their vacation. Important are a timely notification and a medical certificate of sick leave. However, the illness-related interruption does not automatically extend the agreed vacation.

In practical terms this means: anyone who falls ill during their vacation should not wait until after returning to explain everything. It's better to inform the employer as quickly as possible, obtain medical certification, and pay particular attention to the evidence when abroad. After the agreed vacation ends or after recovery, work must be resumed.

The connection with general sick leave is important. What must be included on the sick note, which diagnosis remains private, and which reporting obligations apply are covered in the jobspot.at article Report sick leave. Those who mix vacation and illness should document particularly carefully.

Vacation bonus, holiday pay and payslip

Vacation means paid leave. The ongoing pay is continued during the vacation; that is the holiday pay. Distinct from this is the vacation bonus or vacation subsidy, i.e. a special payment that is usually regulated by collective agreement. These terms are often confused, although they describe different entitlements.

Especially around vacation months it is therefore worth taking a look at the payslip. Was the ongoing pay continued correctly? Is a special payment due? Do variable components, part-time changes or absences match? The jobspot.at article Vacation pay at work explains the special payment in more detail; the article Check payslip helps with the monthly reconciliation.

For employees with commissions, allowances, variable shifts or a regular share of overtime, this can be particularly relevant. Vacation should not make the payslip suddenly incomprehensible. If something is unclear, you should ask promptly and not wait until the year-end payroll.

Vacation when changing jobs and at the end of employment

When an employment relationship ends, the question arises: will outstanding vacation still be taken or paid out? The Tyrol Chamber of Labour describes the compensation for unused vacation as follows: outstanding vacation from the current vacation year must be paid out on a pro rata basis, already taken vacation days are deducted; outstanding, non-time-barred vacation from previous years must be paid out in full. oesterreich.gv.at also points out that the amount of the compensation depends on the number of outstanding vacation days and income.

Anyone changing jobs should therefore keep a small final-settlement checklist: remaining vacation, compensation for unused vacation, special payments, overtime, time-off in lieu, payslips, employment references and employment documents. Especially when moving quickly into a new job, outstanding days and monetary claims can receive too little attention.

It is also important: vacation during the notice period must be agreed upon. Employees cannot unilaterally attach outstanding vacation days to the end of the notice period. Conversely, the employer should not simply ignore remaining vacation when it is clear that the employment relationship is ending.

What employees should check now

A practical vacation check takes only a few minutes. First: How many vacation days are listed as outstanding in the system? Second: From which vacation year do they come? Third: Have already approved days been correctly deducted? Fourth: Are there verbal promises that have not yet been documented? Fifth: Do vacation, time-off in lieu and sick leave align in the payroll?

For new employees, it is worth asking about the vacation year, company shutdowns, the application system and substitution rules already when starting the job. For long-term employees, remaining vacation is more important: if a lot of vacation builds up over the years, a conversation should be sought. Not as an accusation, but as a planning question.

Employers also benefit from clear leave planning. A transparent system reduces conflicts, prevents last‑minute bottlenecks, and signals appreciation for time off. In times of skilled labour shortages, predictable leave is an underrated part of employee retention.

Conclusion: Leave is both rest and an entitlement

Leave entitlement in Austria is more than a number in the time‑tracking system. It concerns rest, health, money and planning certainty. Employees should know how many weeks they are entitled to, how leave is agreed, what happens to remaining leave and which rules apply in case of illness or a job change.

The best next step: check your leave account, sort open days by year, apply for summer or autumn leave in good time and secure approvals in writing. Those who sort out remaining leave, holiday pay and cover early start their time off more relaxed and return without unresolved conflicts.

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