Care leave

Care leave

If employees have to care for relatives or if a child's caregiver is absent, they are entitled to care leave in Austria under certain conditions with continued payment of wages.

In legal terms, care leave is an absence from work for important personal reasons. Employees can be granted a maximum of 1 week of care leave per year. Leave must be taken for longer periods of leave.

Employees in Austria can take leave to care for close relatives and underage children if they are no longer entitled to care leave.

Even if this leave is not for recreation but for caring, it is counted towards the employee's normal leave entitlement. The employer does not have to approve the leave, but must be informed immediately in writing of the commencement and expected duration of the leave. If the annual leave has already been used up, vacation days can still be taken if necessary, but this leave is then unpaid.

Note: Carers' leave is also known colloquially as care leave. Employees can take carers' leave if a relative falls ill or they have to take care of a child.

Requirements for a care leave

In principle, employees must ensure that they are not prevented from working due to a care or nursing case. If care leave is taken, care and support tasks must actually be provided by the person on leave. Since 2023, care leave has been possible for the care of persons in the same household. Close relatives do not have to share a household.

Care leave

You are entitled to paid care leave if you are unable to work due to caring for a close relative or a person living in the same household. This is the case if the relative is seriously ill, in need of care and therefore cannot be left to their own devices.
Nursing leave can also be granted on an hourly basis.

Supervision leave

Organizing the care and supervision of your child living in the same household is not so easy. If the person who normally looks after the child on a permanent basis is unable to do so due to serious illness, death, hospitalization or another important reason, you are entitled to caregiver leave.

An additional week of care leave is possible for children under the age of 12 living in the same household.

Accompanying exemption

If a child under the age of 10 needs inpatient treatment in hospital, employees can also take care leave in the form of accompanying leave to accompany the child to hospital. This is possible for own children, including foster children, as well as the partner's biological children, provided they live in the same household.

Longer leave from work

If it is foreseeable that close relatives will need care over a longer period of time, there are options for agreeing part-time care leave or care leave with the employer.

Part-time care

Part-time care leave is an agreed reduction in normal weekly working hours in order to create time to care for close relatives.

 

Caregiving leave

Caregiving leave is an agreed leave of absence from work for the period of caring for close relatives in return for loss of pay. In this case, family caregivers can apply for care leave benefits to provide financial support.

You can find further information on the subject of care leave on the following websites:

Last update: August 14, 2025