Domestic help jobs in Vienna: pay, registration and how to get ahead

Where to find domestic help jobs in Vienna

Domestic helpers are always in demand in Vienna: families with children, working people with little time, and older people who need support with everyday tasks. If you’re reliable, you’ll usually find more enquiries quickly than you can fit into a week. The main ways to find work are:

• Recommendations: The most effective way to find work in this sector. Satisfied households pass the word on to neighbours, friends and colleagues. Feel free to tell your first clients that you still have some free hours.
• Online job boards and placement platforms: You’ll find plenty of opportunities in Vienna on general job portals and on platforms that connect households with domestic helpers. Platforms often handle the arrangements, but in return they take a cut of the hourly rate or charge fees.
• Notices: Noticeboards in supermarkets, in building entrances, in parishes or community centres still work in Vienna – both for reading others’ notices and for putting up your own.
• Cleaning firms and agencies: If you’d prefer to be employed, apply directly to building cleaning firms or domestic services agencies. There, you’ll get fixed working hours and full social security cover.

The AMS Vienna also arranges jobs in the cleaning and domestic sectors and offers free advice on job applications and further training – it’s particularly worth booking an appointment if you’re just starting out.

How to spot genuine offers: The hourly wage is clearly stated before your first appointment, registration (for example, via a service voucher or as marginal employment) is discussed openly, and nobody asks you for money before you’re allowed to work. Be wary of “free trial shifts” lasting several hours, pressure to accept the job immediately, and households that refuse any written agreement. It’s best to clarify in writing before your first appointment – a short message will do – what work needs doing, how many hours will be paid for, and whether cleaning products are provided.

What you actually earn

Pay depends heavily on how you work:

• Private households: In Vienna, rates of 15 to 25 euros per hour are usually standard, depending on experience, tasks and district. Important: You must not be paid less than the statutory minimum – for simple cleaning work using a service voucher, this is 16.76 euros per hour in 2026, according to the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK), this will be 16.76 euros per hour. Higher minimum rates apply for housekeeping involving cooking (17.28 euros) or childcare (18.07 euros).
• Employed by a cleaning company: The collective agreement applies here. The starting hourly wage, at around 13 to 15 euros gross, is lower than for private work – but in return you receive paid holiday, sick pay, holiday pay and a Christmas bonus, as well as full social security cover. Salary comparison websites quote gross monthly figures of around 1,100 to 1,850 euros for full-time domestic helpers and cleaners in permanent employment, depending on the source; average figures are usually around 1,450 to 1,650 euros.
• Via an agency platform: Hourly rates often fall somewhere between the two. Work out exactly how much you’ll actually receive after commissions or fees have been deducted.

When comparing, always look at both gross and net figures: 20 euros ‘in hand’ without registration sounds like more than 16.76 euros with a service voucher – but only until something goes wrong. You can see everything you’re missing out on without registration in the next section.

Two points that are often overlooked: travel time and materials. If you’re working privately for several households, plan your appointments so that the flats are close to one another – unpaid travel time between districts can quickly drive down your actual hourly rate. And clarify in advance who provides the cleaning products and equipment: if you have to bring your own, this should be factored into the price.

Working legally: your options

In Austria, there are three common legal ways to work in private households:

1. The service voucher (DLS): This was created specifically for this situation: simple tasks in private households – cleaning, shopping, childcare, light gardening. The household buys the cheques at a tobacconist’s, a post office or online via the official portal dienstleistungsscheck-online.at and uses them to pay you per working day. You submit the cheques to the relevant insurance institution (BVAEB) by the end of the following month and the money is transferred to you. The big advantage: you’re covered by accident insurance from your very first day of work and can take out voluntary health and pension insurance for 83.49 euros a month (2026 figure). In 2026, you may earn up to 755.01 euros per month in cheques per employer – but you can work for several households at the same time. Full details are explained on the official information page at oesterreich.gv.at.

2. Marginal employment: In this case, the household or company registers you as an employee with the ÖGK. The marginal employment threshold for 2026 is 551.10 euros per month. Here too, you are covered by accident insurance and can take out voluntary health and pension insurance. Please note: If you have several marginal employment jobs and your total earnings exceed the threshold, you will become fully liable for social insurance contributions and may have to pay back contributions.

3. Employment: If you work for a cleaning company, an agency or directly in a private household and earn above the marginal earnings threshold, you are fully covered by social insurance: health, accident and pension insurance, plus unemployment insurance. You accrue pensionable service, are entitled to unemployment benefit and receive paid holiday and sick pay. For many, this is the most stable option – similar to moving from 24-hour care work to a permanent position.

And what about undeclared work? Cleaning without being officially registered is illegal and can result in fines for both parties. For you, the risk is particularly unfairly distributed: if you fall off a ladder, you’re not covered by accident insurance, you don’t accrue pension contributions, and you have no way of proving your income – not for a flat, not for a loan, not for a residence permit. Don’t panic if you’ve been working without being registered so far: switching to the ‘Dienstleistungsscheck’ scheme is simple and costs the household hardly any more. Bring it up proactively – reputable households are on board.

Your rights as a domestic worker

Even in a private household, you’re not at the mercy of others – you have clear rights:

• Minimum wage: A minimum wage rate applies to domestic helpers and domestic workers, which has been set at a uniform level across Austria since 1 January 2026. No one is allowed to pay you less than the rates specified there – for basic cleaning work in 2026, the aforementioned €16.76 per hour – not even ‘in cash and between friends’.
• Holiday and sick pay: As an employee, you are entitled, like all workers in Austria, to five weeks’ paid holiday per year and continued pay whilst on sick leave.
• Special payments: If you are employed under the minimum wage scale or a collective agreement, you are also entitled to holiday pay and a Christmas bonus – that’s two additional months’ pay per year.

If something isn’t right – your wages aren’t paid, your hours aren’t paid for, or you’re being treated badly – the Vienna Chamber of Labour is the place to turn to. As an employee, you are automatically a member; advice is free of charge, and the AK also offers support in many languages. This article is not a substitute for legal advice – if you have specific problems, seek personal advice there.

Just a stop along the way: if you’ve actually trained in a different field

Now for the part you’ll hardly find in any job guide: many domestic workers in Vienna have completed vocational training or even a degree in their home country – as teachers, accountants, nurses or technicians. They aren’t cleaning because they can’t do anything else, but because their qualifications aren’t (yet) recognised in Austria and their German isn’t (yet) good enough. Domestic work is valuable, honest work – but if you’ve actually trained in a different field, it doesn’t have to be your final destination.

There are two key steps to getting back into your profession. The first is the recognition of your foreign qualification (also known as ‘nostrification’, depending on the profession): an official process that makes your qualification from your home country valid in Austria. Advice on this is free, and for many professions the process is simpler than most people think.

The second key is German – and not just any German, but the language of your profession. For many regulated professions, you’ll need a certificate at B1 or B2 level; our guide to German B2 explains exactly how this works, using the nursing sector as an example. The good news is that you’re right in the heart of Vienna, you hear German every day, and you can use every spare quarter of an hour to study.

A realistic plan looks like this: you carry on working as a domestic helper – legally, with accident cover and a fair wage – whilst at the same time starting the process of having your qualification recognised and learning a little German every day. In one to two years, this stopgap role can become the profession you actually trained for.

Frequently asked questions

Read more in the guide: Getting foreign qualifications recognised · German B2 for care workers · From 24-hour care to a permanent position