New Regulations 2026: No More Minor Additional Earnings for Unemployed in Austria

Payroll Expert Heinz Kobleder Explains the Impact

Start­ing Jan­u­ary 1, 2026, Aus­tria will imple­ment far-reach­ing changes in its unem­ploy­ment reg­u­la­tions. The reform aims to cre­ate stronger incen­tives for quick re-employ­ment and reduce mis­use of unem­ploy­ment ben­e­fits. As a pay­roll account­ing expert in Aus­tria, we ana­lyze the key changes and their effects on com­pa­nies and indi­vid­u­als.

Previous Regulation: Minor Additional Income as a Safety Net

Pre­vi­ous­ly, unem­ployed indi­vid­u­als in Aus­tria were allowed to earn minor addi­tion­al income up to the mar­gin­al earn­ings thresh­old (cur­rent­ly EUR 551.10 per month) along­side their unem­ploy­ment ben­e­fits or emer­gency assis­tance with­out any reduc­tions. This rule pro­vid­ed both an incen­tive for small job engage­ments and finan­cial sta­bil­i­ty.

The New Legal Framework from 2026

As of Jan­u­ary 1, 2026, this pos­si­bil­i­ty will be heav­i­ly restrict­ed. The gov­ern­ment argues that par­al­lel minor employ­ment often delays full rein­te­gra­tion into insured employ­ment. Only a few clear­ly defined excep­tions will remain:

• Indi­vid­u­als who already per­formed mar­gin­al employ­ment before becom­ing unem­ployed.
• Long-term unem­ployed per­sons may take up mar­gin­al employ­ment for up to 26 weeks to facil­i­tate rein­te­gra­tion.
• Unem­ployed indi­vid­u­als over 50 years old or after long ill­ness­es will ben­e­fit from spe­cial reg­u­la­tions.

All oth­er unem­ployed indi­vid­u­als will lose the option of minor addi­tion­al earn­ings entire­ly.

Impact on Employees and Employers

For Employees:

Many unem­ployed per­sons used minor employ­ment to par­tial­ly off­set finan­cial short­falls. The reform elim­i­nates this flex­i­bil­i­ty. The Min­is­ter of Econ­o­my illus­trat­ed the issue: With an aver­age unem­ploy­ment ben­e­fit of EUR 41.40 per day plus EUR 550 minor income, the total month­ly income reached around EUR 1,800 — with­out full employ­ment.

For Employers:

Busi­ness­es that relied on mar­gin­al employ­ees for flex­i­ble staffing must adjust their HR strate­gies. Sec­tors like sea­son­al indus­tries, gas­tron­o­my, or health­care may face recruit­ment chal­lenges for tem­po­rary posi­tions.

The Role of the Payroll Expert

The new reg­u­la­tions sig­nif­i­cant­ly increase the demands on pay­roll account­ing in Aus­tria. Com­pa­nies will need to doc­u­ment pre­cise­ly when mar­gin­al employ­ment starts and ends and care­ful­ly assess the applic­a­ble excep­tions under labor, social, and tax law.

As a pay­roll expert, the firm Heinz Kobled­er — Tax Advi­sors sup­ports its clients with:

• Eval­u­at­ing the applic­a­bil­i­ty of excep­tions
• Opti­miz­ing work­force plan­ning under the new frame­work
• Ensur­ing com­pli­ance in man­ag­ing minor employ­ment rela­tion­ships
• Advis­ing on AMS noti­fi­ca­tions and unem­ploy­ment claims

Conclusion: Companies Must Act Quickly

Although the reg­u­la­tions take effect in 2026, com­pa­nies should imme­di­ate­ly ana­lyze their struc­tures with the sup­port of an expe­ri­enced pay­roll expert. Ear­ly adjust­ments will help avoid dis­ad­van­tages and main­tain employ­er attrac­tive­ness.