Fertility Benefits for Employers in Austria

Written by Anna Haotanto, Founder, Zora Health. Last reviewed: November 2026. General information, not legal or medical advice. This guide covers IVF and egg freezing costs, public funding, the rules and how to build a fertility benefit.

Why fertility is a business problem for employers

Fertility treatment does not fit around a work calendar. A clinic sets the date of a scan the day before. Egg collection happens when the body is ready, usually about 36 hours after a final trigger injection. Then comes a two-week wait, and for many couples, another cycle. Your team feels it: missed meetings, unexplained absences, a strong performer who suddenly goes quiet.

About 1 in 6 people worldwide are affected by infertility (World Health Organization). We found no Austrian survey on disclosing fertility treatment at work. In a 2026 survey for the women’s health company GYNIAL, more than half of young women in Austria feared they might not be able to have children (Vienna.at). In a 2023 Carrot Fertility survey of 5,000 people in Canada, India, Mexico, the UK and the US, 79% felt uncomfortable discussing fertility at work.

• Resignations. 39% of employees with fertility challenges had left or considered leaving their job during treatment, in Ferring‘s 2025 survey of more than 3,600 people in Australia, France, Japan, Poland and the UK.
• No clear time off. 60% in the same survey were not clearly entitled to time off for appointments.
• Dismissal during treatment. In the Mayr case (26 February 2008), referred by Austria’s Supreme Court, the EU Court of Justice ruled that dismissing a woman mainly because she is undergoing egg collection and embryo transfer is direct sex discrimination (Court of Justice of the EU).

What employers gain

What IVF costs, and what the state pays

The IVF Fund pays 70% of a fixed tariff for IVF and ICSI, including medication, at 27 contracted centres (Ministry of Social Affairs list, September 2026); the couple pays 30% plus extras such as anaesthesia. It requires damaged or blocked tubes, endometriosis, PCOS or male infertility, a main residence in Austria for one partner and health cover for both (IVF-Fonds-Gesetz § 4). In July 2026 Family Minister Claudia Bauer announced that the own share would fall to 25%, saving about €180 on average; by November 2026 no start date or bill had been published (ORF; ÖGK, 20 July 2026).

Sources: kinderwunschklinik.at, prices as of October 2026; Kepler Universitätsklinikum Linz, self-pay tariffs 2025; kinderwunschklinik.at, social freezing, September 2026; news.at, 29 July 2026. Private fees vary by clinic.

Sources: IVF-Fonds-Gesetz; oesterreich.gv.at, updated January 2026; VwGH, Ro 2025/13/0034, 29 January 2026.

Age is one of the strongest predictors of IVF success. In 2024 IVF Fund treatment, the clinical pregnancy rate per embryo transfer (a heartbeat on ultrasound) was 37.0% for women aged 31 to 35 and 28.9% at 36 to 40, and the baby-take-home rate per transfer for 2023 attempts was 29.7% across all ages (Gesundheit Österreich, IVF-Register Jahresbericht 2024). The register covers fund patients only, so it has no figures for women over 40.

Women in the register needed about 1.7 attempts on average in 2024, so the size of an allowance and when employees can use it matter as much as offering one.

Fertility support that fits your workforce and budget

You do not need to overhaul your existing health insurance to support employees through fertility treatment. Start with awareness and manager education, add confidential one-to-one support, or introduce a funded allowance across your offices. There is no minimum company size.

Where included in the employer programme, eligible employees can use talks and care navigation without paying Zora a separate fee. Care navigation allowances are set in each proposal. Treatment and other third-party costs are paid separately, either by employees or through the fertility allowance their employer provides.

Optional add-ons can be added to any programme, subject to availability: hormone and fertility diagnostics and telehealth with specialists. Pricing is tailored to your headcount, your countries and the services you choose. Most companies start with a single talk.

Request a proposal See how Zora works for employers

Plan your fertility benefit budget

Already have corporate health insurance? Here is where Zora fits

Your medical plan may cover some consultations and tests, but fertility treatment is often limited or excluded, so check your policy wording. Employees still need to understand their options, the public funding they qualify for and which clinic suits them.

Zora works alongside your existing insurance and benefits. We help employees get reliable information, navigate their care options and reach suitable specialists, and we give HR manager guidance, policy templates and, on the Complete programme, anonymised reporting. You strengthen fertility support without replacing your medical plan.

How Zora works

For your employees

Employees join the Zora app with a company code, or single sign-on for larger teams. They can learn about fertility and egg freezing, understand what your benefit covers, book a confidential care navigation call and find partner clinics and specialists.

For HR

1. Kick-off, week 1. Agree goals, countries and which employees are eligible.
2. Policy and benefit design, weeks 2 to 4. Draft or update your fertility policy using our templates.
3. Launch, typically weeks 4 to 6. A launch talk for employees and managers, plus a communications pack for HR to send.
4. Live support. Employees book care navigation calls and use the Zora app.
5. Reporting, every 3 months, on the Complete programme. Anonymised usage, common themes and our recommendations, reviewed with your account manager.

Privacy

Employee privacy is central to our programmes. On the Complete programme, routine employer reports contain aggregated engagement and utilisation information, with safeguards to prevent identification of individual employees. On every programme, personal health information is not included in standard HR reporting, and employees can get help without telling their manager. Where eligibility checks or claims administration need individual-level data, access is limited to authorised parties for defined purposes, as agreed in writing before launch. Employee data is handled in line with Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act and Austria’s application of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act (DSG), which treat health data as special category data.

Clinics and doctors in Austria

Zora’s clinic and doctor directory does not list providers in Austria yet. It lists 421 clinics and 1,185 doctors across 25 countries, mostly in Asia Pacific and the Middle East (browse clinics or browse doctors). Employees in Austria can still use Zora’s education and the Zora app. Ask us how your team in Austria would use Zora before you launch. See Zora’s employer guides for every country.

Rules and eligibility in Austria

Why employers choose Zora

Companies including Hilton, LinkedIn, Sanofi, HSBC, Mastercard, Carousell and Singapore Management University work with Zora Health. We work alongside your existing insurance, helping employees use the cover they already have and find suitable specialists based on their needs.

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Trying to conceive with a heavy workload took a toll on my husband and me. It helped us understand our options.

Questions HR teams ask us

Is fertility leave mandatory in Austria?

No. Austrian law has no fertility leave, so time off for appointments depends on the employer’s policy or the employee’s own leave. Maternity protection applies once a woman is pregnant, and the EU Court of Justice has ruled that dismissing a woman mainly because she is undergoing IVF is sex discrimination.

Does the IVF Fund pay for IVF in Austria?

Partly. The IVF Fund pays 70% of a fixed tariff for up to 4 IVF or ICSI attempts per couple, with 4 more after a pregnancy, including medication, if the couple is married, registered or cohabiting, has a listed medical indication, and the woman is under 40 and the man or female partner under 50. In July 2026 the government announced that the own share would fall from 30% to 25%, without a start date.

Can employees freeze their eggs in Austria?

Only for medical reasons until 31 March 2027. The Constitutional Court struck down the ban on elective egg freezing with effect from 1 April 2027, and the government is preparing the new rules. One clinic estimates about €3,000 to 6,000 per cycle plus €200 to 400 a year for storage, self-paid.

Does Zora replace our health insurance?

No. Zora works alongside your insurance. We help employees understand their options, find suitable specialists and use the cover they already have.

How much does a fertility benefit cost an employer?

It depends on the allowance, eligibility and expected uptake. Use the budget planner on this page for a first estimate, then ask us for a tailored proposal based on your headcount and countries.

How quickly can we launch?

Typically 4 to 6 weeks from contract to launch, depending on scope and countries. Most companies start with a single talk.

Related guides for Austrian employers

Information on this page is correct as of 5 November 2026. Laws, public funding, insurance rules and treatment costs change often, so check current rules with the relevant authority, insurer or a qualified adviser before making decisions. This page is general information, not legal, financial, tax or medical advice.