Looking to grow your company? Hiring international employees can give you access to cost-effective, skilled talent that will benefit your team.
Hiring from Austria gives you access to a talented workforce. In fact, around 42% of Austrians have tertiary education, making it one of the most educated countries in the world. This means that the talent pool in Austria is not only deep but also highly specialized.
As such, this central European country is an ideal choice if you’re looking to grow your team worldwide.
Of course, you’ll need to understand the costs of hiring in Austria beyond salaries. This includes benefits, bonuses, payroll, and taxation in Austria.
In this article, we’ll break down the cost of hiring talent from Austria and look at how much you can expect to spend per hire.
Austrian Hiring Costs
To start, as an employer, you’ll need to fulfill a few basic payment obligations. These include:
- Payroll (gross salaries)
- Tax payments and withholding
- Statutory benefits
- Paid leave
- Overtime
- Severance pay
You can also make your hiring offers more attractive to prospective employees by including bonuses and benefits. This may include pay-in retirement plans, health insurance plans, meal subsidies, or other extras that go above and beyond an employee’s basic salary.
Required Costs of Hiring an Employee in Austria
Austrian Gross Salary
Austria has no official minimum wage, however around €1,500 per month is accepted as an unofficial monthly minimum.
The payroll costs for an Austrian employee add up to about 21.08% of the employee’s gross salary. This includes:
- 3.78% Health Insurance
- 1.20% Accident Insurance
- 12.55% Old-Age Pension Insurance
- 3% Unemployment Insurance
- 0.55% Insolvency Guarantee Funds Contribution
Austrian Work Bonuses
Although not legally mandated, it is a market custom for Austrian employees to receive 13th- and 14th-month bonuses. 13th-month salary is paid out at the end of June and the 14th-month bonus is paid in late November. These additional salaries are taxed at a lower rate of 6%.
Austrian Government Fees and Taxes
Austrian residents must pay Austrian income tax on their global earnings. This includes trade and business income, income from employment, profession, investments, or property. Non-residents can also be taxed on certain income sources, only within Austria.
Benefits
There are a few types of statutory benefits in Austria that you must pay as an employer. These include:
- Paid annual leave
- Parental leave
- Sick leave
- Workers compensation insurance
Overtime pay
Workers in Austria use the Working Hours Act, the Working Hours Rest Act, and collective bargaining agreements to manage their hours of work. A typical Austrian workweek is 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week. The maximum daily work allotment is 12 hours, including overtime, which is usually paid at 1.5 times an employee’s regular rate.
Severance pay
In Austria, employers contribute 1.53% of an employee’s monthly wage to an employee severance fund under the severance pay scheme. The employee can either withdraw the money upon termination of employment or keep it in the fund to invest later.
Remote or Office Working Costs
Does your remote Austrian team need digital hardware or software? If you are bringing on team members remotely, you may have added costs like high-speed Internet service, upgraded electronics, printers, or higher-volume servers.
Although about 75% of Austrians speak English, things like translation software can also be a cost consideration when hiring remote teams around the world.
Consider how many Austrian workers you’re looking to hire. If there’s a significant team, it could be worth investing in an office or coworking space. This will allow your team to access the technologies they need while building connections with their coworkers.
How Borderless Can Help
Borderless makes hiring a breeze. We make sure that you compliantly pay and manage your Austrian employees, no matter where you are.
At Borderless, we help you hire employees from Austria and over 150 different countries. Book a demo to see how we’ll help you hire top global talent quickly and compliantly.
Disclaimer
Borderless does not provide legal services or legal advice to anyone. This includes customers, contractors, employees, partners, and the general public. We are not lawyers or paralegals. Please read our full disclaimer here.
