From 24-hour care to a permanent position: How to make the transition

Your current situation: self-employed personal care

Being there for someone round the clock, cooking, caring, listening, staying up all night – 24-hour care is one of the most valuable jobs in Austria. Tens of thousands of carers, most of them from Slovakia and Romania, keep this system running. Without them, many older people would not be able to stay at home. Many carers have even completed care training or obtained a nursing qualification in their home country – yet still work in Austria at a level below their qualifications.

Legally speaking, in 24-hour care you are almost always self-employed: you hold a business licence for personal care, work on a rota – usually 14 days in the care recipient’s home, then 14 days off – and invoice your fees. Depending on the agency, federal state and level of care required, this often leaves you with around 1,050 to 1,400 euros net per rotation. That sounds fine at first. But there’s another side to being self-employed:

• You pay social security contributions yourself: health, accident and pension insurance are deducted from your fee – and the bills still come in months when you work less.
• No paid holiday, no sick pay: if you’re ill or need a break, you earn nothing.
• No 13th or 14th month’s salary: the special payments customary in Austria do not apply to the self-employed.
• Dependence on agencies: Many agencies charge ongoing placement fees and have a say in which family you are placed with and on what terms.

This work deserves respect – and you deserve an honest answer to the question: does it have to stay this way forever? The good news is: no. Austria is urgently seeking care staff, and there are clear pathways from self-employed care work to a permanent position.

What a permanent position offers you

As a salaried care worker – for example, in a care home, with a home care service or in a hospital – you are no longer considered a self-employed person, but an employee. This means the rules of a collective agreement automatically apply: in the social economy, this is usually the SWÖ collective agreement; for church-run organisations, it is the collective agreements of Caritas or Diakonie. In practical terms, this means:

• 13th and 14th month’s salary: holiday pay and a Christmas bonus are added to your annual salary.
• Paid holiday: at least five weeks per year – and you continue to receive your salary.
• Sick leave with cover: As an employee, you are insured through the Regional Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK); your employer contributes to the premiums, and you continue to receive your salary if you fall ill.
• Predictable shifts: Shift rota instead of 14 days of continuous work. You live in your own flat and have time off after work.
• Pension contributions: Your employer pays into your pension scheme – important for later on.

And what about the salary? According to the SWÖ collective agreement, the starting salary for a care assistant in 2026 will be around 2,600 to 2,800 euros gross per month, including the care allowance – plus additional payments for night, weekend and public holiday shifts. A home care worker usually starts on a gross salary of between around 1,900 and 2,100 euros, depending on the provider, also plus allowances and special payments. As you gain years of experience, your salary automatically moves up to higher bands. The exact amounts vary depending on the collective agreement, federal state and pay grade – you can find reliable figures in your employer’s current pay scales and at the Chamber of Labour.

Important for a fair comparison: gross is not the same as net. However, thanks to special payments, employer-contributed social security, paid holiday and pension contributions, a salaried care worker is almost always significantly better off over the course of a year than a self-employed care worker with a similar monthly income.

There is also a wide range of job opportunities: care homes and residential care homes for the elderly, mobile care services (home care), hospitals, day centres and supported living facilities are constantly looking for staff – in both urban and rural areas. This gives you something you’d hardly ever have as a self-employed carer: room for negotiation. You can choose where you work, whether you want full-time or part-time hours, and whether you prefer day shifts or night shifts.

Three routes to permanent employment

Which route is right for you depends mainly on whether you already have care training from your home country.

Path 1: Have your existing training recognised

Many carers from Slovakia and Romania have completed a care training programme or a nursing degree in their home country. You don’t have to let this qualification go to waste: through recognition (for EU qualifications) or nostrification (for qualifications from non-EU countries), it is assessed whether your training is equivalent to the Austrian standard. If certain elements are missing, you can often make up for them through supplementary exams or a work placement – so you don’t have to start from scratch. Our guide to the recognition of foreign qualifications explains the step-by-step process, what documents you need and who is responsible.

Option 2: Complete the nursing assistant training in Austria

If you have no nursing training – or if the recognition process would be too time-consuming – you can complete the care assistant training directly in Austria. It takes around one year full-time and is offered at nursing schools and educational institutions throughout Austria. The best part is that you don’t have to get by without an income during this time. The AMS care scholarship supports retraining for care professions with at least 55.01 euros per day – that’s around 1,650 euros a month (as of 2026). Whilst receiving the grant, you’ll be covered by health, accident and pension insurance. You can find out whether you meet the eligibility criteria during a consultation at the AMS. You can also find details at oesterreich.gv.at.

Option 3: Home help as a quicker route into the sector

The quickest route to employment is training as a home help: this comprises around 200 hours of theory and 200 hours of practical training, and takes only about three and a half to four months on a full-time basis. As a home help, you’ll support people in their own homes with household tasks and basic care – tasks you’ll be very familiar with from your experience in 24-hour care. The AMS provides an overview of training providers and the process. Many people use home help as an intermediate step: first getting into work quickly, then gaining further qualifications as a care assistant whilst working. And if you’d prefer to work without any care duties at all: jobs as domestic helpers are also in high demand in Austria.

Healthcare Professions Register: Registration is compulsory

Before you are allowed to work in a care profession in Austria – as a care assistant, qualified care assistant or registered nurse – you must register with the Health Professions Register. This is not a formality that can be put off: without registration, you cannot practise the profession; without the right to practise, you cannot secure an employment contract.

There are two registration authorities: the Chamber of Labour is responsible for care assistants and specialist care assistants, as well as for all employed care workers. Gesundheit Österreich GmbH registers, amongst others, graduates of universities of applied sciences and people who work predominantly on a self-employed basis. To register, you’ll need proof of your qualifications (or a recognition certificate if your qualifications were obtained abroad), proof of identity and, depending on your profession, further documents. Once registered, you’ll receive a professional ID card; the registration is valid for five years and is then renewed.

The register also offers you protection: it makes your qualification officially visible. Employers can check that you are authorised to practise the profession – and you can prove that you are a recognised care worker and no longer ‘just’ a care assistant. For many who have worked below their level of training for years, this registration is a significant milestone.

Practical tip: Submit your application as soon as your recognition process is complete or you have your Austrian certificate in hand – then you can start working straight away.

German as the key

Whichever of the three routes you choose – there’s one thing you can’t get round: German. For advanced nursing (qualified health and nursing care), the authorities generally require level B2; for nursing assistants, it’s usually B1 to B2. And even where no certificate is required, your German will be decisive for job interviews, your success in training and day-to-day life within the team. You can find out which exams count and how to pass them in our guide to German B2 for care workers.

Your big advantage as a care worker is that you’re already immersed in the language. You speak every day with the person you’re caring for, with their relatives, and with doctors and pharmacists. What you usually still lack for your training and recognition is the specialist vocabulary – care documentation, clinical presentations, handover phrases. You’ll learn these most quickly using real specialist texts rather than textbook dialogues.

Incorporate language learning into your rotation schedule right from the start: short daily sessions whilst at work, focused study blocks or a course during your weeks off. This way, you’ll reach your target level alongside the accreditation process – and won’t waste any time.

Your 12-month plan

The change may seem like a big one, but it consists of many small steps. Here’s what your year could look like:

1. Months 1–2: Seek advice. Book an appointment at a recognition advice centre (AST – contact point for people with qualifications obtained abroad) or at the AMS. There, you’ll find out free of charge which route suits your situation and what support is available.
2. Months 1–3: Obtain documents from your home country. Diplomas, certificates, training records with timetables, birth certificate – ideally with a certified translation straight away. Use your scheduled time off to sort out administrative matters in Slovakia or Romania.
3. From month 1 onwards, on an ongoing basis: systematically improve your German. Study every day – in short, regular sessions, at home using a course or study blocks. Register early for an exam at your target level; having a fixed date helps with motivation.
4. Months 4–6: Submit your application. Submit your application for recognition to the relevant authority – or enrol on the care assistant or home help training programme and apply for the care grant from the AMS in good time.
5. Months 6–10: Fulfil the requirements. Take any supplementary exams or complete any work placements if the authorities require them, and sit your German exam.
6. Months 9–12: Apply in parallel. Don’t wait for the final decision: contact care homes and mobile care services in your preferred region beforehand. Many organisations reserve posts for staff whose application process is nearing completion – and your years of experience in 24-hour care are a strong selling point.
7. Finally: Register and get started. As soon as you receive your decision or certificate, apply for entry into the healthcare professions register – and sign your first employment contract.

Not every application process is completed within twelve months – some take longer, some are quicker. The key is to tackle the steps in parallel rather than one after the other: learning German, gathering documents and working are not mutually exclusive. And until you make the switch, you’ll continue to earn a normal income from your care work. Incidentally, this article is not a substitute for legal advice – binding information regarding your specific procedure can be obtained from the relevant authorities, the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Chamber of Labour.

Frequently asked questions

Read more in the guide: German B2 for care workers · Getting foreign qualifications recognised · Domestic help jobs in Vienna