Employing in the Austria

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Expanding into
the Austria

Global expansion is a step for any business, regardless of your goal. The opportunities that can come with an expansion can be inspiring as well as intimidating and confusing, especially when you consider all the registration procedures that need to be done and the documentation required.

Maria Theresien Platz square in Vienna, Austria
Maria Theresien Platz square in Vienna, Austria

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Expanding into Austria – which is characterised by a highly-qualified and talented workforce, multifaceted employment and tax laws, a developing infrastructure network linking to the rest of Europe, and leading sectors in mining, industry, agriculture, and tourism – can bring excitement to the possibilities, but also significant stress to ensuring the entity with the country’s rigorous legal structures and laws.

Each new market brings new challenges. These can be worked through more efficiently and cost-effectively with the support of a Professional Employer Organisation (PEO) such as Bradford Jacobs, primarily through our Employer of Record (EOR) framework.

This can be best utilised when businesses are just beginning their expansion process and require more information before incorporating an entity and fully establishing themselves in that market.

Country EOR Guide - Bradford Jacobs

Download our Guide to Austria

Learn all about expanding into Austria and see what we can do to make your expansion easier.

Download our Guide to Austria

Learn all about expanding into Austria and see what we can do to make your expansion easier.

Country EOR Guide - Bradford Jacobs

Hiring Staff
in Austria

Hiring Staff
in Austria

The Main Sectors of the Austrian Economy

The country focuses on the following key sectors, which all have a significant impact on the country’s economy:

Tourism is the strongest pillar of the Austrian economy, attracting not only visitors to the culture and architecture of Vienna but also to Mozart’s birthplace, Salzburg, and the spectacular capital of the Tyrol, Innsbruck. Austria recorded 15 million tourists in 2020, ranking 18th in the world in absolute terms. Through 2021-22 Austria was on the fringe of the world’s top 10 most-visited tourist nations.
Thanks to highly-skilled workers, sustainable solutions and a strong sense of cooperation, engineering is one of the top leading sectors of the country’s economy. Seven thousand seven hundred engineering offices are active in Austria. Those firms are present in more than 50 fields: building physics, electrical engineering, interior design, installation technology, civil engineering, water management, landscape planning and architecture, mechanical engineering, etc.
In 2021, 14,689 persons were employed in the Austrian iron and steel industry. There were 1,200 companies registered in the metal-working technology industry that produced a 43.8 billion euros total turnover. Austria’s metal-working technology industry exports count for 24% of the overall Austrian foreign trade. Austrian most important sales markets are the German, French, Italian and Swiss neighbours, plus the USA and China.
Austria has established itself as a highly qualified driving force behind automotive developments. It features a high level of attractiveness for international automotive companies thanks to its optimally trained, skilled employees. The automotive manufacturing sector, including the component supplier industry, ranks among Austria’s three top industrial sectors and secures every ninth job in the country.
Hydroelectric power generation is constantly expanding, making Austria the leader in the European Union’s hydroelectric power field. Austria has its resources of petroleum and natural gas. It also has natural resources of iron ore, non-ferrous metals, essential minerals and earth.
The chemical industry is responsible for close to ten per cent of all industrial research and development expenditures in Austria, with approximately 245 companies and a workforce of 44,000 persons.
Austria is witnessing a strong trend towards organic farming. With an overall share of 22%, organic farms in Austria occupy a leading position among the EU Member States.

The Main Sectors of the Austrian Economy

The country focuses on the following key sectors, which all have a significant impact on the country’s economy:

Sculpture in front of the parliament building in Vienna, Austria
Tourism is the strongest pillar of the Austrian economy, attracting not only visitors to the culture and architecture of Vienna but also to Mozart’s birthplace, Salzburg, and the spectacular capital of the Tyrol, Innsbruck. Austria recorded 15 million tourists in 2020, ranking 18th in the world in absolute terms. Through 2021-22 Austria was on the fringe of the world’s top 10 most-visited tourist nations.
Thanks to highly-skilled workers, sustainable solutions and a strong sense of cooperation, engineering is one of the top leading sectors of the country’s economy. Seven thousand seven hundred engineering offices are active in Austria. Those firms are present in more than 50 fields: building physics, electrical engineering, interior design, installation technology, civil engineering, water management, landscape planning and architecture, mechanical engineering, etc.
In 2021, 14,689 persons were employed in the Austrian iron and steel industry. There were 1,200 companies registered in the metal-working technology industry that produced a 43.8 billion euros total turnover. Austria’s metal-working technology industry exports count for 24% of the overall Austrian foreign trade. Austrian most important sales markets are the German, French, Italian and Swiss neighbours, plus the USA and China.
Austria has established itself as a highly qualified driving force behind automotive developments. It features a high level of attractiveness for international automotive companies thanks to its optimally trained, skilled employees. The automotive manufacturing sector, including the component supplier industry, ranks among Austria’s three top industrial sectors and secures every ninth job in the country.
Hydroelectric power generation is constantly expanding, making Austria the leader in the European Union’s hydroelectric power field. Austria has its resources of petroleum and natural gas. It also has natural resources of iron ore, non-ferrous metals, essential minerals and earth.
The chemical industry is responsible for close to ten per cent of all industrial research and development expenditures in Austria, with approximately 245 companies and a workforce of 44,000 persons.
Austria is witnessing a strong trend towards organic farming. With an overall share of 22%, organic farms in Austria occupy a leading position among the EU Member States.

Commercial Laws in
Austria

  • Central Management of the Federal Ministry of Finance – headquartered in Vienna.
  • Tax Authority Austria – The Tax Authority Austria is set up as an Austria-wide tax authority, service authority, and budget-managing body. Some 6,000 employees work at the Tax Authority Austria at 67 locations all over the nation. The Tax Authority Austria has comprehensive and nationwide responsibility for all tasks not assigned to another tax authority. The Tax Authority Austria is headed by a Managing Director and has its headquarters in Linz.
  • Anti-Fraud Office – In the Anti-Fraud Office, the tax and social fraud units of the Federal Ministry of Finance are consolidated. This ensures a coordinated and efficient strategic and nationwide operational control of the preventive and repressive fight against fraud in the Ministry of Finance. The Anti-Fraud Office consists of the following business units: fiscal offences, financial police, tax investigation and Central Office for International Cooperation.
  • Tax Authority for Large Traders – The Tax Authority for Large Traders is a tax authority with nationwide responsibility over large traders, financial service providers, groups of companies, foundations and funds, and non-profit building associations. The Tax Authority for Large Traders is in Vienna.
  • Federal Tax Court – The Tax Authority for Large Traders is a tax authority with nationwide responsibility over large traders, financial service providers, groups of companies, foundations and funds, and non-profit building associations. The Tax Authority for Large Traders is in Vienna.
  • Federal Ministry of Labour – The Federal Ministry of Labour comprises three Directorates: The Executive Directorate, the Labour Law and Central Labour Inspectorate and the Labour Market.
  • Labour Inspectorate –It is a subordinate agency of the Federal Ministry and the largest legally mandated organization to combat safety and health protection deficits at work in Austria.
  • Employment contracts are not legally required under the Labour Contract Law (AVRAG), but they are commonly in force and strongly recommended
  • Employees must at least be given written details of the agreement, including full title and address details of the employer’s business; start date with end date if it is a fixed-term agreement; job description; salary and payment schedule; working hours, breaks and paid vacations.
  • Employers must comply with legally binding Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs)
  • Probation periods can be entered into the first month of employment
  • There is no time limit on fixed-term contracts or the number of fixed-term agreements before the work is deemed open-ended and permanent. However, if there is no reasonable justification for their renewal, they could be considered to as becoming permanent
  • Although there is no statutory requirement for written contracts, they are advisable and should be in a language understood by the employee. The contract should confirm that the German version prevails in a dual-language contract (German plus one other).

Commercial Laws in
Austria

Vienna Christmas Market near Burg theater, Austria
  • Central Management of the Federal Ministry of Finance – headquartered in Vienna.
  • Tax Authority Austria – The Tax Authority Austria is set up as an Austria-wide tax authority, service authority, and budget-managing body. Some 6,000 employees work at the Tax Authority Austria at 67 locations all over the nation. The Tax Authority Austria has comprehensive and nationwide responsibility for all tasks not assigned to another tax authority. The Tax Authority Austria is headed by a Managing Director and has its headquarters in Linz.
  • Anti-Fraud Office – In the Anti-Fraud Office, the tax and social fraud units of the Federal Ministry of Finance are consolidated. This ensures a coordinated and efficient strategic and nationwide operational control of the preventive and repressive fight against fraud in the Ministry of Finance. The Anti-Fraud Office consists of the following business units: fiscal offences, financial police, tax investigation and Central Office for International Cooperation.
  • Tax Authority for Large Traders – The Tax Authority for Large Traders is a tax authority with nationwide responsibility over large traders, financial service providers, groups of companies, foundations and funds, and non-profit building associations. The Tax Authority for Large Traders is in Vienna.
  • Federal Tax Court – The Tax Authority for Large Traders is a tax authority with nationwide responsibility over large traders, financial service providers, groups of companies, foundations and funds, and non-profit building associations. The Tax Authority for Large Traders is in Vienna.
  • Federal Ministry of Labour – The Federal Ministry of Labour comprises three Directorates: The Executive Directorate, the Labour Law and Central Labour Inspectorate and the Labour Market.
  • Labour Inspectorate –It is a subordinate agency of the Federal Ministry and the largest legally mandated organization to combat safety and health protection deficits at work in Austria.
  • Employment contracts are not legally required under the Labour Contract Law (AVRAG), but they are commonly in force and strongly recommended
  • Employees must at least be given written details of the agreement, including full title and address details of the employer’s business; start date with end date if it is a fixed-term agreement; job description; salary and payment schedule; working hours, breaks and paid vacations.
  • Employers must comply with legally binding Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs)
  • Probation periods can be entered into the first month of employment
  • There is no time limit on fixed-term contracts or the number of fixed-term agreements before the work is deemed open-ended and permanent. However, if there is no reasonable justification for their renewal, they could be considered to as becoming permanent
  • Although there is no statutory requirement for written contracts, they are advisable and should be in a language understood by the employee. The contract should confirm that the German version prevails in a dual-language contract (German plus one other).

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