Wochengeld: what the health insurer pays during maternity leave
How ÖGK, Austria’s health insurer, works out maternity pay from your net salary, how long it runs and why it later sets your earnings-related childcare allowance.
Wochengeld is Austria’s maternity pay: it replaces an employee’s income during the statutory maternity protection period (Mutterschutz). It runs for 8 weeks before the expected due date, on the day of birth and for 8 weeks afterwards, or 12 weeks after multiple, premature or caesarean births. It is based on your average net pay over the last 3 full calendar months before maternity protection starts, converted to a daily rate. Holiday and Christmas pay are left out and replaced by a flat surcharge: 14 % if your special payments total up to one month’s salary, 17 % up to two and 21 % above that. With average net pay of €2,100 a month and 14 salaries a year you receive about €80.78 a day, roughly €2,423 per 30 days. Wochengeld is tax-free, paid monthly in arrears and can be claimed from the start of the eighth week before the due date. It also sets the earnings-related childcare allowance, which is 80 % of it, €64.62 a day in the example.
Maternity pay from your net earnings
Maternity pay per day (estimate)
€80.78
| Special payment surcharge | 17 % |
| for 30 days | €2,423 |
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Calculation method
When Wochengeld is paid
From the eighth week before the expected due date, pregnant employees in Austria may no longer work. For this period your employer stops paying salary and the health insurer, for most employees ÖGK, pays Wochengeld instead. According to oesterreich.gv.at:
- before birth: 8 weeks, based on the due date certified by your doctor;
- on the day of birth;
- after birth: 8 weeks, or 12 weeks after multiple, premature or caesarean births.
If the baby arrives early, the period after birth is extended, up to 16 weeks. If a specialist, a labour inspectorate doctor or a public health officer has already banned you from working earlier (individual employment ban), Wochengeld covers that time too. Additional income during maternity protection can cause the Wochengeld to be suspended up to that amount.
How it is calculated for employees
Wochengeld is meant to neither cut nor raise your income, so it starts from the net pay you actually earned most recently. ÖGK works as follows:
- Period: the three full calendar months before the month in which maternity protection starts.
- Net pay: regular pay in cash and in kind, even above the contribution ceiling, minus your social insurance share and the wage tax your employer withheld. Holiday and Christmas pay are taken out.
- Per day: net pay for the three months is divided by the number of calendar days.
- Surcharge: 14.0 %, 17.0 % or 21.0 % is added for special payments, depending on whether yours add up to one, two or more than two monthly salaries.
| Net per month | Wochengeld per day | for 16 weeks | earnings-related KBG per day |
|---|---|---|---|
| €1,400 | €53.85 | €6,031 | €43.08 |
| €1,800 | €69.24 | €7,755 | €55.39 |
| €2,100 | €80.78 | €9,047 | €64.62 |
| €2,600 | €100.01 | €11,201 | €80.01 |
| €3,200 | €123.09 | €13,786 | €80.12 |
The table uses the average number of calendar days per year; ÖGK divides by the actual days of your three months, so the decision may differ by a few cents. The 16-week column covers the standard protection period without the day of birth.
Maternity pay from your net earnings
Maternity pay per day (estimate)
€80.78
| Special payment surcharge | 17 % |
| for 30 days | €2,423 |
What counts as net pay
- Counts: regular overtime in the three months, commission earned on ongoing sales, benefits in kind such as a company car that you hand back during maternity protection.
- Does not count: special payments (covered by the surcharge), one-off performance bonuses, back pay for earlier periods, benefits in kind you keep, and expense allowances.
- Gaps: sick leave on half pay or unpaid leave are taken out of the period; the divisor shrinks and the daily average stays fair.
One detail matters in euros: ÖGK deducts only the wage tax that payroll actually withheld. If you claimed Familienbonus Plus, the sole earner credit or the commuter allowance through your employer, your net pay is higher, and so is your Wochengeld. A later annual tax return does not change that. If you already have a child, hand form E 30 to payroll before the three reference months begin.
From Wochengeld to childcare allowance
Wochengeld matters beyond maternity protection. For mothers who received it, the earnings-related childcare allowance is 80.0 % of the Wochengeld, capped at €80.12 a day (Federal Chancellery). In the example on €2,100 net that is €64.62. From around €3,200 net you hit the cap: Wochengeld is then €123.09 but the childcare allowance stays at €80.12. Afterwards the insurer compares the result with your tax assessment for the year before the birth; this comparison can only raise the rate.
Claiming and payment
Apply to your health insurer from the start of the eighth week before the due date. You need the employment and earnings confirmation (Arbeits- und Entgeltbestätigung) from your employer and a medical certificate of the due date, or the exemption certificate for an early employment ban. After the birth, add the birth certificate and, where relevant, the hospital’s confirmation of a premature, multiple or caesarean birth. Payment is monthly in arrears.
Wochengeld is tax-free, yet it counts as the mother’s income for the partner limit of the sole earner credit. Other groups receive different amounts: women on unemployment benefit or emergency assistance 180.0 % of that benefit, marginal employees with self-insurance €12.19 a day, and self-employed women without farm or business help possibly €72.18 a day.