Posting of workers platform

Which notifications have to be made and/or what reports have to be submitted before an assignment of workers?

Notice of posting or hiring out workers
Undertakings that are established in an EU, an EEA Member State or in Switzerland are required

  • to notify the Austrian Central Co-Ordinating Agency Charged with Investigating Illegal Employment (Zentrale Koordinationsstelle für die Kontrolle der illegalen Beschäftigung, ZKO)
  • of the posting or hiring out of workers
  • before the start of work
  • using form ZKO 3 (when posting workers) or form ZKO 4 (when hiring out workers).

Undertakings established in third countries (i.e. countries outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland) can post or hire out workers on a cross-border basis only under a posting permit, an employment permit and/or a temporary employment permit.
Refer to the details under menu item Employment permit.

Austria has no minimum posting or hiring-out period, below which notification would not be required.
Even a brief deployment of workers from another country is subject to notification.

Several types of cross-border work are nonetheless exempt from notification.
For details about these exceptions, see

Note:

  • Form ZKO 3 is used for notification when posting employees (excluding the transport sector).
     
  • Form ZKO 4 is used for notification when hiring out workers.
     
  • Notification of the posting of mobile employees in the transport sector can be submitted by way of the Internal Market Information System (IMI) or using Form ZKO3-T.
     
  • For details, see Transport and posting.

Refer to the official notification forms for details on the data to be notified.

Details and helpful information for completing the forms is available under Info

Notification forms are available in these languages: Čeština | Deutsch | English | Español | Hrvatski | Italiano | Magyar | Polski | Română | Slovenščina | Slovensky.

In case of technical issues related to submitting notification, contact the Anti-Fraud Office – Central Co-ordinating Agency (ZKO), Postbox 252, 1000 Vienna; phone: 050 233 554194; Fax: 050 233 5954194; Email: Post.ABB-Finpol-ZKO@bmf.gv.at

When does a new notification form have to be submitted?

A new ZKO form has to be submitted for every new contract with a new client, in other words for every new instance of posting or cross-border hiring-out of workers.

Is submission of a new notification form necessary in all cases? In which cases can a change report be submitted?

If under the original client and after submitting the initial report certain changes occur that affect the previously notified data, including for example:

  • Any change of the actual place or places of work
  • Any change of the number or scheduling of individual employees’ working hours
  • Termination of deployment of a particular employee
  • Termination of employment relationships
  • First day of work if later than the date given in the initial report
  • Individual employees already reported who will not be posted or hired out
  • Posting of additional employees

a change report must be submitted without delay.

To report the change, use Form ZKO-3-A (when posting workers) or ZKO-4-A (when hiring out workers).

Does a change report have to be submitted when a current instance of posting or hiring-out is briefly interrupted?

Brief interruptions during the notified posting period or hiring-out period do not require new notification to the ZKO or a change report, provided that

  • Interruption is for no longer than a week
  • The data reported to the ZKO do not change in any other respect

If, for example, a posted employee takes a few days off or falls ill for less than a week; no change report is required.
The same applies if, due to bad weather, employees are unable to work at the place they are deployed.
Any interruption lasting longer than one week requires a change report.

Where, for example, other employees are posted than those notified, or if the posting periods change, a change report must be submitted.

Any periods of interruption already anticipated when the initial report is filed should be reported in the Comments field at the bottom of the ZKO form.

When can a simplified notification be submitted?

A single notice for repeated cases of cross-border employment (framework notification)

Only one report (framework notification) is required for repeated cases of posting or hiring out workers where these repeated cases of posting or hiring-out

  • are stipulated in one and the same service provision contract or service procurement contract
  • with the same client or user undertaking in Austria
  • or take place within the same company group.

In such cases the notification of posting or hiring out workers is to be submitted

  • before the very first case of cross-border employment
  • relating to one client or user undertaking in Austria
  • for a period not exceeding six months and
  • for all employees posted during that period

Framework notifications are not accepted for the posting of workers in the construction industry.

A single notice referring to more than one client (collective notification)

Only one report (collective notification) is required even for several different clients where the posting

  • is for the purpose of fulfilling several similar service provision contracts
  • for a period not exceeding one week
  • applies to employees who are in Austria during the entire period

Every client is to be indicated in the notification submitted in such cases.

Framework and collective notifications are to be submitted using the general forms.
In the case of a framework notification, the option “framework notification” before the comments field for the entire notification at the end of the form needs to be selected.
In the case of a collective notification, enter a corresponding note in the comments field for the entire notification, while also entering the data for additional clients (data as under item 4 of the form).

Who is responsible for notifying of the posting or hiring-out of workers?

  • In general the notification obligation applies to the employer when posting employees and to the temporary work agency when hiring out workers.
     
  • The user undertaking is required to submit the notice, however, where the worker is posted or hired out by a user undertaking to which that worker was previously posted or hired out in another country.
     
  • Where the posting or hiring-out employer is established in a third country and where the posted or hired-out worker is a third-country citizen, the client or user undertaking in Austria is required to obtain a (temporary) employment permit for that worker (refer to menu item Employment permit)

To submit notice, you can complete forms ZKO 3 and ZKO 4 online.
The links are listed below at the bottom.

Failure to submit notification (initial report of a posting or a change report) is punishable (maximum fine of EUR 20,000).

Notification under trade law of the work carried out by the posted or hired out worker as cross-border provision of services – proof of qualification

  • The work carried out by the posted or hired out employee in Austria is regarded as a service provided in Austria by the posting company or temporary work agency based outside Austria.
  • It is a cross-border service provided in Austria; as with any comparable service provided in Austria, the Austrian authorities require such services to comply with quality standards as defined in trade law.
  • Refer to Cross-border services (bmaw.gv.at) for more details on the requirements and obligations under trade law, including notification under trade law and qualification.