Austria’s sick leave system is built on Entgeltfortzahlung — continued payment of remuneration — and it is one of the more generous employer-funded schemes in Europe. An employee with a decade of service can be off sick on full pay for twelve weeks, then half pay for another four, before the health insurance fund takes over.

The complication is not the rates. It is the reference period: Austria counts entitlement against a rolling working year, so the answer to “how much has this employee got left?” depends on when their last absence was.

Key takeaways

Continued pay under the Entgeltfortzahlungsgesetz (EFZG) and the Salaried Employees Act (Angestelltengesetz) scales with length of service.
The baseline is 6 weeks at full pay plus 4 weeks at half pay, rising to 8, 10, and 12 weeks at full pay as service increases.
Entitlement is measured against the working year (Arbeitsjahr), and part-used entitlement carries the balance into the same year.
After continued pay ends, the health insurance fund (ÖGK) pays Krankengeld (sickness benefit) at a percentage of the assessment basis.
Employees must notify without delay and produce a certificate on request; failure suspends the right to continued pay.

The continued pay scale

Entitlement depends on completed years of service with the employer:

Length of service	Full pay	Then half pay
Up to 1 year	6 weeks	4 weeks
From 1 year	6 weeks	4 weeks
From 15 years	8 weeks	4 weeks
From 25 years	10 weeks	4 weeks
From 26 years	12 weeks	4 weeks

Blue-collar and white-collar entitlements were harmonised in the 2018 reform, so the same structure now applies to both — a significant change for employers still working from pre-2018 policy documents. Apprentices have their own more generous rules under the Vocational Training Act.

Where the incapacity results from a work accident or occupational illness, the entitlement is separate and additional: a further period of continued pay that does not draw on the ordinary illness allowance.

The working year and the reference period

This is where Austrian sick leave differs from most of Europe. Entitlement is calculated per Arbeitsjahr — the working year running from the employee’s start date anniversary, not the calendar year.

Within that working year, absences accumulate. If an employee uses four of their six full-pay weeks in October, they have two full-pay weeks left for the rest of that working year. The allowance refreshes on the anniversary of their start date.

Many employers switch to a calendar-year basis, which the Act permits provided the employee is not disadvantaged in the transition. If your Austrian entity uses calendar years, make sure the switch was properly implemented — retrofitting it after a dispute is difficult.

What “full pay” means

Continued pay follows the Ausfallsprinzip — the loss-of-earnings principle. The employee receives what they would have earned had they worked, including regular overtime, shift allowances, commissions, and other variable pay that forms a normal part of their remuneration.

Calculating on base salary alone is one of the most common Austrian payroll errors, particularly for shift workers and salespeople whose variable pay is a large share of income.

Krankengeld: the ÖGK handover

Once continued pay is exhausted, the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (Österreichische Gesundheitskasse, ÖGK) pays Krankengeld. It is paid at a percentage of the assessment basis, rising after a set number of weeks of continuous incapacity, and is capped.

During the half-pay phase, the employee receives half salary from the employer plus half the Krankengeld from ÖGK, so the two overlap rather than running in sequence. Payroll that treats the half-pay tier as employer-only understates the employee’s income and confuses the reconciliation with ÖGK.

Krankengeld generally runs for up to 52 weeks, extendable to 78 weeks in defined circumstances where the employee has sufficient insurance periods.

Notification and certificates

The employee must notify the employer of the incapacity without delay (unverzüglich) — in practice, at the start of the first working day affected.

The employer may require a certificate of incapacity (Krankenstandsbestätigung) from the treating doctor or the health insurance fund. There is no statutory day from which it is due; the employer decides and the requirement should be in the employment contract or works agreement. Many Austrian employers require one from the fourth day.

An employee who fails to notify or refuses to produce the certificate loses the right to continued pay for the duration of the failure. The right revives once they comply — the loss is not permanent, but it is real.

Dismissal and sick leave

Being off sick does not, by itself, protect an Austrian employee from dismissal, and it does not stop continued pay running. Critically, where the employment ends during a period of incapacity — including termination by the employer, or by the employee for good cause — the employer’s obligation to continue paying runs on beyond the end of employment until the entitlement is exhausted.

That rule catches out employers who assume terminating an absent employee stops the payroll cost. It does not.

Employer obligations

Austrian employers have six core duties:

Apply the correct continued pay band for the employee’s completed years of service.
Calculate pay on the loss-of-earnings principle, including regular variable components.
Track entitlement against the working year, carrying part-used balances correctly.
Run the half-pay tier alongside ÖGK Krankengeld rather than as employer-only pay.
Set certificate requirements in the contract or works agreement and apply them consistently.
Continue paying beyond termination where employment ends during an ongoing incapacity.

Common pitfalls

1. Using calendar years without a proper basis

Entitlement runs per working year by default. Switching to calendar years is allowed but must be implemented properly and without disadvantage; doing it informally creates a shortfall the employee can claim.

2. Paying base salary only

The Ausfallsprinzip includes regular overtime, allowances, and commission. Base-only calculation is the single most common Austrian sick pay underpayment.

3. Applying pre-2018 blue-collar rules

The 2018 harmonisation put blue-collar and white-collar employees on the same scale. Policies written before then are wrong for a large part of the workforce.

4. Forgetting the work accident allowance

Incapacity from a workplace accident or occupational illness carries its own continued pay entitlement, separate from the ordinary illness allowance. Charging it to the illness allowance shortchanges the employee.

5. Assuming termination ends the obligation

Continued pay survives the end of employment where the incapacity started during it. Terminating an absent employee to stop the cost does not work in Austria.

For more context, see our guide to annual leave entitlement in Austria, the comparison of sick leave across Europe, and the overview of the main types of leave employers manage.

Frequently asked questions

How much sick pay do Austrian employees get?

Six weeks at full pay plus four weeks at half pay as a baseline, rising to eight, ten, and twelve weeks at full pay with 15, 25, and 26 years of service respectively.

Is entitlement per calendar year?

By default it runs per working year, measured from the employee’s start date anniversary. Employers may switch to a calendar-year basis if it is implemented without disadvantaging the employee.

What happens after continued pay ends?

The health insurance fund pays Krankengeld at a percentage of the assessment basis, generally for up to 52 weeks and extendable to 78 weeks in defined circumstances.

Does the employee get anything during the half-pay period?

Yes — half salary from the employer plus half of the Krankengeld from ÖGK, running in parallel.

When does an employee need a medical certificate?

Whenever the employer requires one. There is no statutory trigger day; most Austrian employers set it in the contract or works agreement, commonly from the fourth day.

Does sick pay stop if the employee is dismissed?

No. Where employment ends during a period of incapacity that began while employed, continued pay runs on until the entitlement is exhausted.

Putting it into practice

Five checks cover most Austrian sick leave risk:

Map each employee to the correct service band, and confirm the 2018 harmonised scale is what payroll uses.
Configure sick pay on the loss-of-earnings principle so variable pay is included.
Track absence against the working year, with balances carrying within it.
Set the half-pay tier to run alongside Krankengeld, not instead of it.
Before terminating an absent employee, calculate the continued pay that will run past the end date.

You can take advantage of the free 14 days trial and explore Leave Balance.

A leave management system that anchors entitlement to each employee’s own working year, holds their service band, and separates work-accident absence from ordinary illness makes Austria’s rolling reference period a lookup rather than a spreadsheet exercise.

Sources

Last updated: 26 July 2026. This article is general guidance, not legal advice. Krankengeld rates and assessment bases are adjusted annually — confirm current figures with ÖGK and check the applicable collective agreement (Kollektivvertrag).

Sick Leave in Austria: Continued Pay & Sick Leave Rules (2026)