What Are The Public Holidays in Austria in 2026?

List of Public Holidays in Austria (2026)

Austria has a core set of nationwide public holidays that apply to most employees, regardless of the province where they work. Use the table below to plan staffing, leave, and payroll for your Austrian team in 2026.

Do Employers Have to Provide Paid Leave on Public Holidays?

Yes, Austrian labour law generally requires employers to provide paid leave on public holidays for employees who would normally work on that day. If a public holiday falls on a day when an employee is regularly scheduled to work, they are entitled to be off work with full pay, without any reduction in their regular earnings.

If your business needs employees to work on a public holiday, they are usually entitled to both their normal pay for the holiday and additional compensation for the hours actually worked. In practice, this often means the employee receives their regular holiday pay plus either premium pay for the hours worked or time off in lieu, depending on the applicable collective bargaining agreement (Kollektivvertrag) and any company-level arrangements.

Part-time employees are also protected. If the holiday falls on a day they are normally scheduled to work, they are entitled to paid time off in proportion to their usual working hours. If the holiday falls on a day they never work, there is typically no additional entitlement.

Austria distinguishes between nationwide public holidays and certain regional or religious holidays that may apply only to specific provinces or groups (for example, some Protestant or Jewish holidays for employees of those faiths). For nationwide planning, you should at least honour the federal public holidays listed above; then check the relevant collective agreement and local practice for any additional entitlements in the province where your employees work.

Unlike in some countries, if a public holiday in Austria falls on a Sunday, it is generally not moved to the following Monday. Your company should therefore plan around the calendar dates themselves rather than expecting substitute weekdays.

Legal Penalties for Not Providing Paid Holiday Leave

If your company fails to grant paid public holidays or underpays employees for holiday work, you risk administrative fines and potential back-pay claims. Labour inspectorates and authorities can review working time and payroll records, and employees can bring claims before labour courts to recover unpaid holiday entitlements, including interest.

Sanctions and enforcement are primarily handled through Austrian labour authorities and the courts, often triggered by employee complaints or union involvement. In addition to financial penalties, non-compliance can damage your company’s reputation with local works councils and unions, and may complicate future negotiations or inspections.

Common employer mistakes include treating public holidays as unpaid leave, failing to pay employees who are scheduled off on a holiday, not applying the correct premium or compensatory time when employees work on a holiday, and overlooking part-time or shift workers whose schedules cross midnight. Another frequent issue is ignoring the applicable collective bargaining agreement, which often sets more generous rules than the statutory minimum.

To reduce risk, you should document public holiday policies clearly, align them with the relevant collective agreement, and ensure your timekeeping and payroll systems correctly flag Austrian public holidays for each work location.

How Do Holidays Affect Overtime Thresholds?

Public holidays in Austria interact closely with working time and overtime rules. Hours worked on a public holiday are typically treated as work on a rest day and may trigger premium pay or compensatory rest, depending on the sector and collective agreement. Many agreements provide higher pay rates for holiday work than for standard overtime on a normal working day.

In practice, if an employee works on a public holiday, you usually need to provide both their regular holiday pay and an additional premium for the hours worked. The exact percentage uplift and whether those hours also count toward weekly overtime thresholds will depend on the applicable collective agreement and the employee’s working time model (for example, flexitime, shift work, or all-in contracts).

Because rules can vary by industry, the safest approach is to check the relevant collective agreement for your Austrian entity and configure your payroll system so that public holiday hours are coded separately from regular hours. This helps ensure that any premium rates, time-off-in-lieu entitlements, and weekly overtime calculations are applied correctly.

For cross-border teams, remember that Austrian public holidays are independent of holidays in your home country. You should track Austrian holidays separately and avoid assuming that global company holidays automatically replace local statutory public holidays for Austrian employees.

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Managing Austria's public holidays and leave rules doesn’t have to be complex. Playroll keeps you 100% compliant by automatically tracking local holidays, observed days, and pay requirements –  so your team is paid correctly and on time, every time.

Whether you’re hiring your first employee or scaling a growing team, Playroll lets you employ talent without setting up a local entity. We handle compliant contracts, benefits, and payroll in one platform, so you can reduce compliance risk and focus on growing your business while we take care of the heavy-lifting in the background. Book a chat with our team to get started.