Is there a 4-day week in Austria?
No. We found no national 4-day-week law or scheme in Austria. The Working Hours Act still sets normal working time at up to 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week. A works agreement can allow up to ten hours a day if the week is regularly spread over four days (§ 4(8)): a compressed week.
The 2025-2029 government programme of the ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS lists scientifically supervised pilot projects on new working-time forms, including a 4-day week, and "sandboxes" for experiments with works-council involvement. We found no report that a government pilot has started.
Research so far has looked at compressed weeks. In the "Four is more?!" project, researchers at TU Wien and Webster University surveyed about 500 employees at more than 20 firms in Vienna and Lower Austria. ORF reported in October 2025 that the compressed week brought more satisfaction, motivation and loyalty, but that days of nine to ten hours made family life harder. The researchers are continuing, now with a real cut in working time at full pay, according to TU Wien.
A pilot study by Tempora Labs, TU Wien, Webster Vienna Private University and 4 Day Week Global describes a supervised six-month test. Its site shows no start date and no results.
Caveat: none of these pages reports results from a reduced-hours test in Austria.
Latest developments
ORF: study finds a compressed 4-day week raises satisfaction
ORF Niederösterreich reports a TU Wien and Webster University survey of about 500 employees at over 20 firms on a compressed four-day week: more satisfaction and loyalty, but 9-10 hour days strained family life. The researchers are continuing, now with a real cut in hours at full pay.
ORF Niederösterreich: Vier-Tage-Woche (20 Oct 2025) (opens in new tab)
4-day-week trials in Austria
What each pilot reported. Figures are the organiser's own, from the linked report.
Austrian 4-day week pilot study (Tempora Labs, TU Wien, Webster Vienna Private University, 4 Day Week Global)
Run by Tempora Labs, TU Wien, Webster Vienna Private University, 4 Day Week Global
A supervised six-month test phase of a four-day week at unchanged salary and productivity, according to the organisers. TU Wien's project page says participating firms shorten standard weekly hours by at least four hours. No start date, participant numbers or results are published.
4-Tage-Woche Österreich: die österreichische Pilotstudie (Tempora Labs, TU Wien, Webster Vienna) (opens in new tab)Jobs in Austria
Who offers a 4-day week in Austria
Auvaria
Vienna-based AWS cloud consulting and engineering company with a 4-day workweek, helping organizations modernize through hands-on transformation and innovation.
Tractive
Austrian pet GPS tracker and pet wellness platform founded in 2012; 270+ team across 40+ nationalities, 4-day workweek (35h) with Friday off as standard.
eMagnetix
Austrian online-marketing agency and famous pioneer of the 30-hour week at full pay (#30sindgenug).
Büro für Interaktion
Vienna digital agency working a 32-hour week at 100% salary.
Grayling Austria
Austria's largest international PR agency runs a 4-day week (32 hours) at full salary; staff take one day off each week.
unite – Software Development
Small Austrian software studio on a permanent 32-hour 4-day week at full salary since 2022.
How Austria compares
Austria, the labelled dot, against the other countries we cover.
Average weekly hours
Joint 6th shortest of 25 countries, 1.7 hours below the median of 37.3.
Netherlands 31.3 to South Africa 42.3
See all 25 countries
| Country | Hours |
|---|---|
| Netherlands | 31.3 |
| Denmark | 33.3 |
| Germany | 34.5 |
| Norway | 34.6 |
| Australia | 35.4 |
| Austria | 35.6 |
| Finland | 35.6 |
| Switzerland | 35.7 |
| Belgium | 36.0 |
| Ireland | 36.0 |
| United Kingdom | 36.3 |
| France | 36.9 |
| Sweden | 37.3 |
| Iceland | 37.4 |
| Japan | 37.5 |
| Spain | 37.5 |
| New Zealand | 37.6 |
| United States | 38.2 |
| Lithuania | 39.0 |
| South Korea | 39.4 |
| Brazil | 39.5 |
| Chile | 39.8 |
| Poland | 39.9 |
| Portugal | 40.0 |
| South Africa | 42.3 |
Usual weekly hours on the main job, all employed people, from the OECD (latest year, 2024 or 2025). It includes part-timers. No comparable figure for: Canada, Philippines, United Arab Emirates.
Statutory paid leave
Joint 2nd longest of 26 countries, 5 days above the median of 20.
United Kingdom 28 to United States None
See all 26 countries
| Country | Days |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 28 |
| Austria | 25 |
| Denmark | 25 |
| Finland | 25 |
| France | 25 |
| Sweden | 25 |
| Iceland | 24 |
| Brazil | 22 |
| Portugal | 22 |
| Spain | 22 |
| Norway | 21 |
| Australia | 20 |
| Belgium | 20 |
| Germany | 20 |
| Ireland | 20 |
| Netherlands | 20 |
| New Zealand | 20 |
| Poland | 20 |
| Switzerland | 20 |
| Chile | 15 |
| South Africa | 15 |
| South Korea | 15 |
| Canada | 10 |
| Japan | 10 |
| Philippines | 5 |
| United States | None |
The legal minimum a year, in working days on a five-day week, before public holidays. Definitions differ: some countries set weeks or calendar days (converted here), the UK lets public holidays count and the United States has no national minimum. Each country page says what its number covers. No comparable figure for: Lithuania, United Arab Emirates.
Working in Austria
Working hours
The average employee works 35.6 hours a week (OECD, 2025). The Working Hours Act caps normal working time at 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week, and total working time at 12 hours a day and 60 hours a week. Where more than 48 hours a week are otherwise allowed, the average may not exceed 48 hours over 17 weeks (a collective agreement can extend this to 26 weeks, or 52 for technical or organisational reasons).
Paid leave and holidays
Employees are entitled to 30 Werktage of paid leave a year, which is 25 working days on a five-day week, five calendar weeks. After more than 25 years with the same employer it is 36 Werktage, or 30 working days.
Part-time and flexible work
In 2024, 30.7% of employed people worked part-time, the second-highest share in the EU after the Netherlands (EU average: 17.1%). Statistik Austria puts the 2025 part-time rate at 49.8% for women and 14.0% for men. Parents of a child up to the end of its eighth year, at employers with more than 20 staff and three years' unbroken service, can claim Elternteilzeit: at least a 20% cut in normal weekly hours, with at least 12 hours remaining.
Remote work
In 2025, 25.3% of employees aged 15-64 worked from home usually (8.7%) or sometimes (16.6%), according to Eurostat.