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Changes to Part-Time Parental Leave and Care Leave

New Legislation Enacted

Authors: Jakob Zöchling, Associate, and Armin Popp, Senior Associate – Littler Austria

Employees who have worked for more than three years for a company with 20 or more employees are now entitled to a maximum of seven years of parental part-time work until their child reaches the age of eight. This seven-year period includes the period of maternity leave and periods of parental leave by either parent. If these requirements are not met but the employee still wishes to work part-time, the employer must provide the employee with written reasons for rejecting the request. The requirement that employers provide employees with a reason for their actions is a rather new phenomenon in Austrian labor law.

As of November 1, 2023, there have also been changes to care leave. Previously, employees were only entitled to care leave if the close relative requiring care lived in the same household as the employee. This requirement no longer applies and the leave must now also be granted to close relatives who do not live in the same household. In addition, care leave must now be granted to care for a sick person who is not related to the employee but who lives in the same household.