Like other European countries, Austria introduced employment restrictions for foreigners after World War I. Access to the labor market was to be reserved primarily for Austrian citizens. These new regulations related exclusively to dependent employees and allowed exceptions in view of family reunification, among other things. They were based on official labor market categories and reflected widely accepted imaginations of gender-specific abilities and responsibilities. However, many foreigners earned their living in a household context and their activities hardly matched the official categories of work and family. Since decision-making on employment permits required unambiguous categorization, this situation posed a dilemma for the authorities in charge. Given the vast variety of work arrangements and relations, they struggled to clearly draw the line between “employed” and “not employed” workers. Using the example of domestic help and Bulgarian gardeners, this article investigates administrative authorities' attempts to make such distinctions and it examines migrants' efforts to occupy labor market niches. While migrants un/intentionally circumvented regulations and made their living in Austria, the ongoing disputes paradoxically contributed to an enforcement of restrictions. Administrative authorities gradually increased their endeavor to locate unauthorized foreign workers even within households and they sharpened the criteria for their categorization.

与其他欧洲国家一样，奥地利在第一次世界大战后对外国人实行了就业限制。劳动力市场的准入主要保留给奥地利公民。这些新规定仅涉及受抚养雇员，并允许考虑家庭团聚等例外情况。它们基于官方劳动力市场类别，反映了广泛接受的对特定性别能力和责任的想象。然而，许多外国人在家庭环境中谋生，他们的活动很难符合官方的工作和家庭类别。由于就业许可的决策需要明确的分类，这种情况给主管部门带来了两难的境地。鉴于工作安排和关系千差万别，他们很难在“就业”和“非就业”工人之间明确划清界限。本文以家庭佣工和保加利亚园丁为例，调查了行政当局做出此类区分的尝试，并考察了移民为占据劳动力市场利基所做的努力。尽管移民无意/有意规避法规并在奥地利谋生，但矛盾的是，持续不断的争端却促成了限制的执行。行政当局逐渐加大力度寻找未经授权的外籍劳工，甚至在家庭内寻找此类外籍劳工，并提高了分类标准。