If employed individuals become unemployed, they are entitled to unemployment benefits under certain conditions. 

Self-employed individuals are only entitled to unemployment benefits if they have taken out voluntary unemployment insurance. However, the requirements for this are so extensive that only very few people in Austria make use of it in practice. Seek advice from your insurance provider if you would like to receive unemployment benefits as a self-employed person.

Info: While you are receiving unemployment benefits, you are covered by health and pension insurance. 

In order to be entitled to unemployment benefits, you must have been employed in Austria for a certain minimum period above the marginal earnings threshold. You must achieve the following minimum periods of employment: 

  • If you want to receive unemployment benefits for the first time and are 26 or older, you must have worked for at least 52 weeks within the two years immediately prior to becoming unemployed and subject to compulsory insurance (initial entitlement).
  • If you want to claim unemployment benefits for the first time and are younger than 26, 26 weeks are sufficient for your first claim.
  • If you have previously received unemployment benefits, you must have worked for 28 weeks within the last year before becoming unemployed (subsequent entitlement). 

Attention: If you earn a low income and are voluntarily self-insured, you are still not entitled to unemployment benefits. Only those people who have compulsory insurance are covered by unemployment insurance. 

The level of unemployment benefits you receive is usually 55% of the assessment basis. The assessment basis is the net income that you have earned within a certain period as an employed person subject to full insurance:

  • Your net income from the 12 months preceding your application (“annual period” or “correction period”) is taken into account when calculating your unemployment benefits. If you have not received income from employment subject to compulsory insurance for 6 of these 12 months, other months that lie within the one-year period are included as an exception in the calculation. When calculating your unemployment allowance, special payments are also taken into account by giving you a flat-rate of 1/6 of your salary. If you have children, your unemployment benefits will be higher.

Example: You submit an application for unemployment benefits to the AMS in July 2024. The 1-year adjustment period goes back from your application to July 2023. The months within this adjustment period are not used for the calculation. The 12 months prior to July 2023 are taken into account for the calculation of unemployment benefits, i.e. July 2022 to June 2023.

Attention: You cannot receive unemployment benefits if you have earned self-employed income above the insurance threshold in the same year. The rules are different for artists: they can be recognised by the Artists' Social Insurance Fund and register their artistic, self-employed activity as dormant. Even if they had a self-employed artistic income above the marginal earnings threshold, they can still receive unemployment benefits. See the section on the Artists' Social Insurance Fund. 

Unemployment benefits are paid for the duration of 

  • 20 weeks if you have been compulsorily insured for up to 155 weeks;
  • 30 weeks if you have been compulsorily insured for at least 156 weeks.

However, if you 

  • are at least 40 years old and have been compulsorily insured for 312 weeks within the last 10 years, the period of entitlement is increased to 39 weeks;
  • are at least 50 years old and have been compulsorily insured for 468 weeks in the last 15 years, the period of entitlement increases to 52 weeks.

Info: If you complete a vocational rehabilitation measure with the support of the Public Employment Service (AMS), the period of entitlement can be extended to up to 78 weeks. 

Additional income while receiving unemployment benefits

Attention Update 2026: On June 16, 2025, the National Council decided to end the possibility of earning additional income while receiving unemployment benefits and emergency assistance. Starting in 2026, unemployed individuals will have to choose between unemployment benefits and marginal employment—it will no longer be possible to receive both at the same time. Anyone who takes on marginal employment will lose their entitlement to unemployment benefits. Anyone who wishes to retain their unemployment benefits may not take on such employment.

In addition to your unemployment benefits, you may receive a maximum salary of up to €551.10 per month from employment (as at 2026) only if you meet certain strict legal criteria. You can have marginal earnings only:

  • If you worked in a marginal job for at least 26 weeks in addition to a fully insured job before becoming unemployed.
  • If you are long-term unemployed, you may work on a marginal basis for a one-time period of up to 26 weeks.
  • If you are long-term unemployed and over 50 years of age or have a disability of at least 50%, you may work in a minor job for an unlimited period of time.

If you meet one of the criteria:

In the case of self-employed work, marginal earnings are calculated as follows:

  • Your untaxed income (i.e. exactly what your employer pays you) may not exceed the monthly marginal earnings threshold in any one month (as at 2026: €551.10 per month). However, unlike in the case of employees, your additional income can be split over several months. See below.
  • In addition, 11.1% of your total turnover must not exceed the monthly marginal earnings threshold. 

The AMS calculates compliance with marginal employment according to two different models. This depends on whether you are self-employed on a continuous or temporary basis. 

You are temporarily self-employed if you only conclude a temporary contract and it is not expected that you will carry out this activity on a regular basis (e.g. a single lecture, a single workshop, a performance).

Example: The following is a case of temporary self-employment: you are registered as unemployed as a composer and receive unemployment benefits. You receive an offer to compose the music for a commercial in June. In return, you receive a set fee of €1,500 for the month of June. As this fee exceeds the marginal earnings threshold of 2 months in total, you will not receive unemployment benefits in June and July. You will receive unemployment benefits again for August because the remaining fee calculated for this month is below the marginal earnings threshold. 

However, if you are regularly employed and your work cannot be broken down into time periods, the AMS assumes that you are continuously self-employed, even if you do not earn enough to be compulsorily insured. 

Example: The following is a case of continuous self-employment: you are a literary translator and are registered as unemployed following the termination of your employment with a publishing house. However, you repeatedly accept regular translation jobs on a fee basis. The AMS assumes that you will regularly accept assignments and that you are therefore continuously self-employed. Each month, the AMS recalculates whether you have not exceeded the marginal earnings threshold and have not lost your entitlement to unemployment benefits. Remember: You can only mantain or stat thes marginal jobs if you meet one of the criteria. (see above: continuation of an existing job, long-term unemployment, older than 50, long term illness)

Attention: It is important that your total self-employed income (according to your tax assessment) in the year in which you received unemployment benefits does not exceed the marginal earnings threshold (as at 2026: €6,613.20). 
Otherwise, you will be subject to retroactive compulsory insurance with the SVS and you will no longer be entitled to unemployment benefits if you exceed this amount. In certain circumstances, this may result in the reclaiming of benefits already paid from unemployment insurance.

Info: If you are recognised as an artist by the Artists' Social Insurance Fund and have registered your artistic activity as dormant, you may, under certain circumstances, exceed the marginal earnings threshold by earning additional non-artistic, self-employed income. Find out more in the chapter on the Artists' Social Insurance Fund. 

To do: As this is a complex issue, you should definitely seek personal advice! 

Insurance periods in other countries

If you were employed and insured for unemployment in another EU/EEA country or Switzerland, these insurance periods will be taken into account when checking your entitlement in Austria. 

You must meet at least one of the following requirements in order to receive unemployment benefits in Austria based upon the recognition of foreign insurance periods: 

  • Since the beginning of your foreign insurance periods, you have worked at least one day above the marginal earnings threshold in Austria;
  • Despite working abroad, you have strong ties to Austria, for example because your family lives in Austria or your place of residence is registered there;
  • You are a frontier worker and commute from another EU/EEA country or from Switzerland to Austria or vice versa.