Charities demand overhaul of Austria’s 24-hour live-in care regime ahead of government talks

Austria’s three biggest non-profit care providers—Caritas, Hilfswerk and Malteser Care—have called a press conference for 17 February to present an action plan aimed at fixing what they label the “hypocrisy” surrounding the country’s 24-Stunden-Betreuung model.(ots.at) An estimated 60 000 mainly Slovak, Romanian and Croatian caregivers rotate through private households on short-term trade-licence visas, providing round-the-clock assistance to the elderly.

The charities argue that wage dumping, excessive agency fees and opaque social-security rules have turned Austria into a revolving-door employer that depends on a constant stream of low-paid mobile workers. They want the federal government and the Länder to use the upcoming meeting of the Pflege­entwicklungs­kommission on 20 February to introduce sector-wide collective bargaining, compulsory quality audits and simplified residence permits that allow carers to access Austrian health insurance from day one.



For global mobility teams the topic is more than social policy: family members who accompany expatriate managers to Austria frequently hire live-in carers for ageing relatives. Any tightening of licensing requirements or minimum-wage floors will feed directly into cost-of-living packages and home-care allowances offered under assignment policies.

The providers also propose a fast-track Red-White-Red Card variant for certified geriatric nurses from non-EU states, arguing that Austria’s own training pipeline covers barely half the 7 000 additional caregivers the labour ministry expects to be needed by 2030. They cite Germany’s recent bilateral agreements with the Philippines and Mexico as templates.

Should the government fail to act, Caritas warns of a “grey market explosion” as households bypass agencies altogether. Mobility advisers therefore urge HR to track the legislative outcome and update relocation guides on legal pathways for hiring in-home care workers.