Employees

The essential features of an employment relationship are:

• Personal dependence (classification in the operating organisation, obligation to follow instructions, control, disciplinary responsibility, personal service obligation)
• Economic dependence of the employee
• Entitlement to remuneration (not a mandatory feature)
• Employees enjoy the full protection of labour law.

Employees are divided into the following groups with different rules and regulations:

• White-collar Workers
• Blue-collar Workers
• Marginally employed persons
• Apprentices

The termination of the employment relationship as a continuing obligation requires a separate terminating action:

• Notice of termination
• Dissolution by mutual agreement
• Dismissal
• Resignation

A fixed-term employment relationship is an exception. This ends at the end of term.

Companys have to register their employees with the Austrian Health Insurance (Österreichischen Gesundheitskasse – ÖGK) before starting work.

In accordance with the Allgemeines Sozialversicherungsgesetz (Federal Act on General Social Insurance – ASVG)^{German text}, employees are fully insured under health, pension and accident insurance, provided that the remuneration exceeds the de minimis treshold. Employees are entitled to sickness benefits and a maternity allowance, and receive unemployment insurance. In any case, any individual liable to income tax for the purposes of the Einkommensteuergesetz (Federal Income Tax Act – EStG) is considered an employee under the ASVG.

Marginally employed persons are subject to compulsory accident insurance; they can take out health and pension insurance themselves on a voluntary basis.

Compulsory insurance ends with the end of the employment relationship (or entitlement to remuneration).

Employees in Austria are not required to pay income tax to the tax office themselves. Income tax is deducted from the employee’s gross pay in the form of salaries tax and paid to the tax office by the employer.

Employees may assert their claim to overpaid salaries tax by submitting the employee tax assessment (formerly: employee tax return) to their competent tax office (→ BMF)^{German text}.

But, in certain cases (→ oesterreich.gv.at), employees also have to submit an assessment.