Dienstleistungsscheck 2026: Legal Cleaning, Babysitting and Household Work in Austria

If you clean an Austrian home, look after children, shop for everyday essentials or do simple gardening, you can perform this work legally using the Dienstleistungsscheck, or DLS. This guide explains who can use it, how much you can earn and what insurance applies in 2026.

What is the Dienstleistungsscheck?

The DLS is a payment and registration method for simple household services performed in private households. The employer—the household—buys the check and uses it to pay for the work.

Eligible work can include:

• Help with household management, such as cleaning
• Childcare or babysitting
• Shopping for food and everyday necessities
• Simple gardening work

The DLS applies only to a fixed-term employment relationship lasting no more than one month. Such employment can be agreed repeatedly, but this does not create an indefinite employment relationship.

Who can work with a DLS?

The following people may be paid using a DLS:

• Austrian citizens
• Citizens of EU member states
• Citizens of the EEA states— Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway—and Switzerland
• Non-EU citizens who have unlimited access to the Austrian labour market, as stated on their residence permit
• People with refugee status and people granted subsidiary protection
• Asylum seekers whose asylum procedure has been admitted for at least three months and who have a white card
• People displaced from Ukraine who have a blue card, the Vertriebenenausweis

You must show your right to work, together with your e-card, to the employer before starting the work.

How much can you earn in 2026?

The parties can generally agree on the pay freely, but the applicable minimum wage tariffs, or Mindestlohntarife, must be taken into account.

• Maximum monthly amount with one employer: 755,01 euros
• Low-income employment threshold, Geringfügigkeitsgrenze: 551,10 euros
• Monthly cost of voluntary health and pension insurance: 83,49 euros

The 755,01-euro limit consists of the 551,10-euro Geringfügigkeitsgrenze plus holiday compensation and proportional special payments.

What insurance does the DLS provide?

Every employee working with a DLS is automatically covered by accident insurance. This insurance falls under the ASVG. On a working day, protection begins on the journey to work and ends on the journey home.

If your total DLS income does not exceed the Geringfügigkeitsgrenze, you may voluntarily join health and pension insurance. The monthly contribution in 2026 is 83,49 euros and must be paid by you. Health insurance entitlement begins on the first working day of the calendar month.

If you work for several households

If you work for several employers and your combined income exceeds the Geringfügigkeitsgrenze, compulsory health and pension insurance applies. In this situation, you must pay a total of 14,7 percent in social insurance contributions.

How much does the check cost?

The employer pays an additional 2 percent on top of the value of the check. This covers the accident insurance contribution and proportional administration costs.

• A 5-euro check costs 5,10 euros
• A 10-euro check costs 10,20 euros

The DLS is available from tobacco shops, known as Trafik, at the post office, in the Dienstleistungsscheck App and through the DLS-Online portal. At these locations, the check value can be selected individually up to 160 euros. The free app has been available in every app store since 2019.

How does the process work?

1. The employer buys the check.
2. The employee performs the work.
3. The employer completes the check with both parties’ names, social insurance numbers and the date of the work.
4. For the first submission and whenever details change, both parties complete an additional form, the Beiblatt.
5. The employer gives the check to the employee immediately after the work.
6. The employee submits the check.
7. The employee receives the pay by bank transfer or postal payment order.

The check can be submitted to Business Center 280 (8000 Graz) through the DLS app, DLS-Online, in person or by post. It can also be submitted through the Austrian health insurance fund, ÖGK.

Deadline: the check must be submitted no later than the end of the following month.

Practical steps

1. Confirm that the planned work is a permitted simple household service.
2. Show your work authorisation and e-card to the employer before starting.
3. Agree the pay while taking the Mindestlohntarife into account.
4. Make sure the employer buys the DLS and pays the additional 2 percent.
5. Check that the names, social insurance numbers and work date are entered correctly.
6. Complete the Beiblatt when submitting a check for the first time or after a change.
7. Submit the check through the DLS app, DLS-Online, Business Center 280 (8000 Graz), in person, by post or through ÖGK before the deadline.
8. If you work for several households, monitor your combined income and whether compulsory insurance applies.

For questions, the DLS service can be reached at 050405-40500 at local rates, Monday to Thursday from 7 to 16 and Friday from 7 to 14.

This information is based on sources available online and is not professional advice. Use it at your own risk. For specific guidance, contact a lawyer, legal professional, health professional, employment-law or labour-market specialist, or another relevant professional.

Source: oesterreich.gv.at