Handels-KV 2026 and 2027 forecast

The Handels-KV (Kollektivvertrag für Angestellte und Lehrlinge in Handelsbetrieben) covers employees in retail and wholesale. It is negotiated between Wirtschaftskammer Österreich, Bundessparte Handel and Gewerkschaft GPA (bis 2020: GPA-djp, Wirtschaftsbereich Handel). It sets a minimum salary for 8 groups with up to 5 steps, currently from €2,090 to €6,022 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 October; the raise applies from 1 January. The starting point is inflation over the reference period, last time October 2024 – September 2025 at 3.01%. The union makes a demand, the employers an offer, and the deal lands in between. It lifts the minimum salaries; anyone paid more keeps their over-payment in euros.

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 Handels-KV rose by 37.53%, prices over the reference periods by 36.62%.

Handels-KV: pay and prices since 2017. How much salaries have risen in total since 2017 (each minimum raise on top of the last, +37.53% so far), against inflation over the reference periods (+36.62%). Where the solid line is on top, salaries gained purchasing power.