Guide
Retail collective agreement: what it means for the schedule
The collective agreement for retail employees and apprentices in Austria governs working time, Saturdays and time off in more detail than the law. The rules for the schedule, as of 1 January 2026.
General information, not legal advice. The law, your collective agreement and your works agreement prevail.
Besides the Working Time Act, employees and apprentices in Austrian retail are covered by the collective agreement for employees and apprentices in retail businesses (Kollektivvertrag Handel). It governs working time in more detail than the law, above all on Saturdays. This overview follows the version as of 1 January 2026 and gives the sections; the text of the collective agreement itself prevails.
Normal working time: 38.5 hours
Normal weekly working time is 38.5 hours excluding breaks (A.1). If less than 8 hours or no work at all is done on a working day, the time may be spread over the other days, at most 9 hours a day (A.2.2). The hours between 38.5 and 40 are additional hours without a supplement; with additional hours, the week may not exceed 44 hours and the day 9 hours (E.1, E.3).
Agreed two weeks in advance
Where the timing of normal working hours varies, it must be agreed at least two weeks in advance for each week, without prejudice to § 19c (3) AZG (A.2.3). More in Changing the schedule.
Four-day week and averaging
At the employee’s request, normal working time is to be spread regularly over four days or fewer. The employer may refuse within two weeks only if business operations or the running of the business would otherwise be at risk. Full-timers may then work up to 10 hours a day, part-timers as well if they work at least 4 consecutive hours on each working day (A.4).
Normal working time may be extended to up to 44 hours in individual weeks of a 26-week period if it does not exceed 38.5 hours on average (A.7). By works agreement, or otherwise by individual contract, the period can be extended to at most one year; time off in lieu is granted in at least half days.
Shorter rest in individual cases
The daily rest period of 11 hours under § 12 AZG may be shortened to as little as 10 hours in individual cases, and to as little as 8 hours in further individual cases. The shortfall must be made up within ten calendar days; for a reduction to 8 hours, an additional compensatory rest of the same length must be granted within a month (A.8). Young workers are covered by the KJBG.
The free Saturday: the Schwarz-Weiß rule
Employees and apprentices in shops may work on Saturdays after 1 pm as far as opening hours permit. The following Saturday must then stay entirely free (C.2.1). In practice this basic rule is called the Schwarz-Weiß rule. Among other things, it does not apply
- to the four Saturdays before Christmas,
- to finishing serving customers and to necessary closing work,
- in shops that, apart from the Christmas Saturdays, are open after 1 pm on at most one Saturday a month (C.3.1),
- to certain part-timers, for example those who work only on Saturdays (C.2.2).
Instead of the basic rule, businesses may agree other models:
| Model | Core | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Two in four | work on two Saturdays within four weeks | works agreement or written individual agreement (C.2.3) |
| Small businesses | for example 4 of 8 or 5 of 10 Saturdays, in companies with at most 25 employees | works agreement or written individual agreement (C.2.4.1) |
| Block time off | ten times in 52 weeks three consecutive free days including Saturday and Sunday | works agreement or written individual agreement (C.2.5) |
Block time off cannot be paid out in money and does not apply, among others, to apprentices and Saturday-only part-timers.
New since 1 January 2026
- Waiving the free Saturday (C.2.2.6): employees may waive the free Saturday at their own request, by works agreement or by written notice with the works council’s consent in each case, without a works council by a written individual agreement. The waiver can be revoked in writing with two months’ notice, supplements and time credits remain, and time off in lieu must be agreed.
- More hours for part-timers (A.11): if additional hours in a calendar quarter exceed the agreed working time by at least 20 per cent, the employee may apply in writing for an increase in weekly hours. The employer may refuse within four weeks for economic or significant organisational reasons; without agreement, the previous working time remains.
- Five-day week (C.1.1, version from 1 January 2026): the parties to the collective agreement recommend the five-day week, and businesses with a works council may conclude a works agreement on it. It does not create a legal entitlement to a five-day week. From January to November employees are entitled to two free half-days a week, with exceptions for example for small grocery shops (C.1.3).
Evening and Saturday work
Work in the evening and on Saturday afternoons is only permitted as far as legitimate interests of the employee do not stand in the way, such as caring for children and parents, unreasonable journeys home or school and further education (F.1.10). For work from Monday to Friday after 6:30 pm and on Saturdays between 1 pm and 6 pm, the collective agreement provides time credits (F.1).
Apprentices and young workers
Young workers are generally not to be called on for overtime. For them Sunday stays free without exception, and the time from 6 pm on Saturday to 7 am on Monday must always be free. The KJBG applies on top, with the statutory free Saturday under § 19a, see Apprentices and young workers.
In eutempus: eutempus plans long Saturdays in rotation: anyone available on more than four days a week gets no two long Saturdays in a row, except in weeks with a Saturday setting of their own. eutempus does not force an entirely free following Saturday automatically: you set free, short and full Saturdays per week, and whether the “free” setting counts as a hard or a soft rule is set in the rule set during onboarding.