Arbeitsrecht 2026: Was Unternehmen erwartet

In dieser Folge des Arbeitsrecht-Podcasts geben Isabel Firneis und Magdalena Ziembicka Einblicke in die Herausforderungen, mit denen Arbeitgeber im Jahr 2026konfrontiert sein werden. Das kommende Jahr zeichnet sich durch eine Mischung aus schrittweisen Anpassungen und weitergehenden Reformen aus. In mehreren Bereichen sind neue Regelungen zu erwarten – darunter geringfügiger Beschäftigung, Weiterbildungszeit und Teilpension sowie neue Bestimmungen für freie Dienstnehmer im Sinne des § 4 Abs 4 ASVG einschließlich der Möglichkeit, Kollektivverträge für diese Beschäftigtengruppe abzuschließen., Darüber hinaus stehen die Umsetzung der EU-Entgelttransparenzrichtlinie sowie der Plattformarbeitsrichtlinie in nationales Recht bevor.

Austrian employment law 2026: What companies should expect in the new year

In this episode of our Arbeitsrecht podcast, Isabel Firneis and Magdalena Ziembicka provide insights on what employers need to watch out for in 2026. The next year promises to be eventful with a mix of incremental adjustments and transformative reforms. The new rules are upcoming in multiple areas. These include marginal employment, educational leave and partial retirement. They also effect the engagement of employee-like freelancers under Section 4(4) Allgemeines Sozialversicherungsgesetz (General Social Insurance Act), including the new possibility to conclude collective bargaining agreements for this group, as well as the transposition of the EU Pay Transparency Directive and the Platform Work Directive into national law.

Marginal employment

Marginal employment will undergo two notable developments. Firstly, the income threshold remains unchanged, breaking with the tradition of annual adjustments. While this may seem minor, it has practical consequences. With collective agreement wage increases, employees may unintentionally exceed the limit, triggering full insurance obligations. Employers may need to consider reducing working hours to maintain marginal status, although retroactive wage adjustments could provide complications.

Secondly, unemployed individuals will no longer be able to take marginal jobs without losing unemployment benefits, except in certain cases, e.g. where the marginal job existed for at least 26 weeks before unemployment. This change makes marginal employment less attractive for certain groups and requires employers to reassess how these arrangements are used.

Educational leave reform

From 1 January 2026 the new model of training period replaces the educational leave scheme. The new rules introduce stricter requirements, which significantly impacts the appeal of educational leave (or in new term, “the advanced training period” – Weiterbildungszeit) for both employers and employees.

Employment must last at least twelve months instead of six, and academics must show four years of insured employment, with the last year at the current employer. Employees must not have received childcare or weekly allowances in the six months prior to training. Secondary employment during training is prohibited unless it is a marginal employment which existed in the preceding 26 weeks.

An approval by AMS (the Austria labour market authority) will be required to receive a training allowance and for high earners employers may also need to contribute 15 percent of AMS assistance. Training must involve at least twenty hours per week or twenty ECTS per semester, with reduced requirements for caregivers.

Practical implementation may be delayed until May because AMS guidelines on eligibility and allowances are still under discussion.

Employee-like freelancers – A paradigm shift

Employee-like freelancers (freie Dienstnehmer) under Section 4(4) ASVG will undergo a fundamental transformation. As of 1 January 2026 collective bargaining agreements can be concluded for employee-like freelancers , introducing potential minimum wages, overtime pay and even vacation entitlements. This change, often referred to as lex Lieferando, responds to criticism of companies shifting employees to employee-like freelancer contracts to avoid entitlements under employment law. As a result, employing employee-like freelancers under Section 4(4) ASVG will likely become more expensive, and the extension of employment law rights to non-employees may fragment Austria’s employment law landscape.

Contracts with employee-like freelancers under Section 4(4) ASVG concluded for an indefinite period of time, signed on or after 1 January 2026, must now also comply with newly introduced statutory notice periods (four weeks in the first two years and six weeks thereafter) with termination dates on the fifteenth or last day of the month.

The implementation of the EU Platform Work Directive, likely by the end of 2026, may also introduce further complexity and additional rules for employee-like freelancers under Section 4(4) ASVG that lead to additional fragmentation of the employment law landscape.

Partial retirement and pension

A new partial retirement model (Teilpension) will allow employees eligible for pensions to work reduced hours while receiving part of their pension. Working hours can be reduced by between 25 and 75 percent, subject to employer agreement. Employees on partial retirement may refuse overtime, as exceeding agreed hours risks losing benefits. Severance pay calculations will be based on pre-retirement working hours. The maximum duration of the existing model of part-time employment prior to retirement (Altersteilzeit) will gradually shrink from five years to three by 2029, and additional employment during partial retirement, including marginal jobs, will generally be prohibited.

Pay transparency

Austria must implement the EU Pay Transparency Directive by 7 June 2026. Although the implementation draft is not yet published, employers should already be preparing for new reporting and disclosure obligations aimed at reducing the gender pay gap.