Good Friday and the personal holiday in Austria: when to give notice
Choose the year and the day you want: the calculator shows the date by which you must notify your employer in writing and how many days off you get.
Personal holiday: Friday, 26 March 2027
notify by 26 December 2026
In writing, at least three months ahead (section 7a(1) ARG). The day comes out of your annual leave.
| Notify at the latest on | Saturday, 26 December 2026 |
| Days off in a row with this one leave day | 4 days |
| Working at the employer’s request | double pay, leave day kept |
| How often | once per leave year |
Prepared by Radif Partners · Method · laws checked on RIS on 28 October 2026
Good Friday has not been a public holiday in Austria since 2019. Until then only members of the Protestant churches of the Augsburg and Helvetic confessions, the Old Catholic Church and the Methodist Church had the day off; in January 2019 the European Court of Justice found this discriminatory. Parliament removed the special rule with Federal Law Gazette I No. 22/2019 and created the personal holiday for all employees, section 7a of the Rest Periods Act. It is not an extra day off: once per leave year you decide on your own which day to take one of your leave days, without your employer's consent. You must give written notice at least three months ahead. For Good Friday 2027, 26 March 2027, the deadline is 26 December 2026, itself a holiday, so notifying before Christmas is safer. If your employer asks you to work after all, you may agree: you keep the leave day and are paid double for that day, but the right is used up for the year. The day need not be Good Friday; a bridge day or your patron saint's day works just as well.
Good Friday and the notice deadline, 2027 to 2029
| Year | Good Friday | Notify by | Off in a row with 1 day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | Friday, 26 March 2027 | 26 December 2026 | 4 days |
| 2028 | Friday, 14 April 2028 | 14 January 2028 | 4 days |
| 2029 | Friday, 30 March 2029 | 30 December 2028 | 4 days |
One leave day on Good Friday gives four days off, from Good Friday to Easter Monday. Parents of school children often use it, since the Easter break is under way.
What section 7a of the Rest Periods Act says
Under section 7a(1) ARG an employee may unilaterally set the start of one day of their leave once per leave year. Written notice must be given at least three months in advance. Subsection 2 covers an employer who asks for work on that day: the employee may agree and is then paid double, keeping the leave day. The old Good Friday rule in collective agreements is void under section 33a(28) ARG.
Choosing the day well
Besides Good Friday, the calculator offers the bridge days, the patron saint's day, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve when they fall on a weekday. The personal holiday is best used for a day your employer would otherwise be reluctant to grant. Your total allowance is on leave entitlement; Easter dates for the coming years are on Easter 2027.
Vienna 2027: using 1 leave days
Vienna 2027: using 1 leave days
4 days off
| Thu 6 May – Sun 9 May | 1 → 4 days |