Which trade do you need as a care worker?

For 24-hour care, you need the free trade "personal care" — set out in law under §§ 159 f GewO 1994.[2] This means:

If you have lived in Austria for less than five years, or live abroad, the authority also requires a criminal record certificate from your home country that is no older than three months.[1] How registration works exactly: Registering a business in Austria.

Important: do not confuse "personal care" with "organising personal care" — that is a separate trade for placement agencies. As a care worker, you only need the first one.

How do the care worker, the family, and the placement agency fit together?

Almost all self-employed care workers work in alternation with a second person — usually on a 14-day cycle, so the person being cared for is looked after continuously. A placement agency establishes the first contact with the family, but your contract runs directly between you and the person being cared for, or their relatives — usually as a contract for work (Werkvertrag).[1] The agency is not your employer, and you are not employed by either side.

For your self-employment to actually count as such

To satisfy the SVS and the tax office, you need to genuinely work self-employed, or you risk being classified as "bogus self-employment": you set your own schedule within the agreed framework, you have the right to arrange a substitute if needed, and you are not subject to close, employee-style instructions. Clarify these points with the agency before you sign — for what else to watch out for when choosing an agency, see Placement agency: what to watch out for.
SVS at the start
approx. €161/month
minimum contribution base, including accident insurance
Registration
€0
free trade, no exam
VAT
none
up to €55,000 turnover (small business rule)
Family subsidy
up to €400/month
per self-employed care worker, from care level 3

What do you pay to the SVS — and what do you get for it?

As a trade holder, you pay contributions to the commercial social insurance scheme (GSVG): health, accident, and pension insurance, plus the self-employment provision. In the first year, contributions are set based on the statutory minimum contribution base — currently around €161 a month.[3] As soon as your first income tax assessment is available, the SVS recalculates: if you earned more, a back payment follows; if you earned little, the minimum stands. More on this: SVS: insurance for the self-employed.

What does the subsidy mean for you?

From care level 3 onward, the family being cared for can apply to the Sozialministeriumservice for a subsidy for 24-hour care — up to €400 a month for you if you work self-employed, and the same amount for the person you alternate with, so up to €800 a month in total.[4] This noticeably lowers the monthly burden for the family — an argument you can raise openly in price negotiations instead of giving ground on your day rate.

How do you set your day rate correctly?

Calculate backwards, not forwards. From your day rate, the following come off: SVS contributions and later income tax, travel to your first and from your last placement, unpaid weeks between assignments — and, if an agency places you, their placement fee. Ask every agency openly how high their share is and what it is calculated from, before you agree. bop shows you what is standard in your region and language, so you can price with confidence.

Read the contract carefully

Clarify in writing: who pays for travel there and back, what happens if you fall ill during a placement, how much notice can the family or the agency give to cancel? bop comes with clear explanations of standard contracts for work in personal care — in your language.

And who handles the paperwork?

bop does. The app guides you through business registration and SVS, automatically writes the invoice after every placement, shows you how much to set aside for taxes — and explains every letter from an authority in your language.