General information on holiday work experience placements

To be able to work as a young person during holidays, the following conditions must generally be met:

  • Age: 15 or over,
  • End of general compulsory school attendance

Advice

Compulsory school attendance ends after the end of year 9 (roughly equivalent to year 10 in the UK), at the start of the summer holiday (main school holiday).

Caution

These rules apply to all EU citizens in Austria.

Minors who celebrate their 15th birthday before the start of the summer holiday following year 9, are considered children as defined in the Kinder- und Jugendliches-Beschäftigungsgesetz. Only with the end of compulsory school attendance – at the start of the holiday – are they considered young people and are able from that time to work in a holiday job.

Persons under the age of 15 who have already finished compulsory school attendance can only be employed as part of

  • Apprenticeships
  • Special holiday work experience placements [Ferialpraktika], the purpose of which is to catch up on tuition missed during the school year
  • Compulsory work placements in accordance with the Schulorganisationsgesetz
  • Training schemes within integrated vocational education.

This is subject to the provisions of the Kinder- und Jugendliches-Beschäftigungsgesetz that apply for young people (sections 3 to 5), although these persons are considered children as defined by law.

Links to online employment websites for work placements and holiday jobs

Further links

Legal basis

Translated by the European Commission
Last update: 14 April 2022

Responsible for the content: Federal Ministry of Labour