Gewerbe-KV 2026 and 2027 forecast

The Gewerbe-KV (Kollektivvertrag für Angestellte im Gewerbe und Handwerk und in der Dienstleistung) covers salaried staff in trades, crafts and services. It is negotiated between WKÖ: Bundesinnungen und Fachverbände der Bundessparte Gewerbe und Handwerk and Gewerkschaft GPA (früher GPA-djp). It sets a minimum salary for 9 groups with up to 9 steps, currently from €2,059 to €6,853 gross a month. It is paid 14 times a year: the holiday pay and Christmas pay are set by the agreement and taxed at a preferential rate.

It is renegotiated every year, usually from November; the raise applies from 1 January. The starting point is inflation over the reference period, last time November 2024 – October 2025 at 3.19%. The union makes a demand, the employers an offer, and the deal lands in between. It lifts the minimum salaries only. Anyone paid above them gets the raise only where the new minimum exceeds their pay; the over-payment shrinks accordingly.

What is left of a raise after tax depends on your salary: each extra euro carries social insurance and wage tax at your marginal rate, so net pay usually grows a little less, in percent, than gross. Whether a deal is enough shows in purchasing power: since 2018 minimum salaries under the Gewerbe-KV rose by 41.50%, prices over the reference periods by 36.92%.

Gewerbe-KV: pay and prices since 2017. How much salaries have risen in total since 2017 (each minimum raise on top of the last, +41.50% so far), against inflation over the reference periods (+36.92%). Where the solid line is on top, salaries gained purchasing power.