Handelsarbeiter-KV 2026 and 2027 forecast

How much salaries under the Handelsarbeiter-KV are expected to rise in 2027, what is left of it after tax and whether the rounds since 2017 kept up with inflation. With the 2026 salary table and minimum salaries, every raise against inflation over the reference period, a 2027 forecast and the net effect on your salary, for blue-collar workers in retail and wholesale in Austria.

Your net pay 2026 and 2027

+€73.74 vs. 2026
€2,642.23
per month from 1 January 2027 · forecast
€2,568.49
per month since 1 January 2026
Net 70.65% SI 18.14% Income tax 11.21%
Net raise
2.87%
net 2027 ÷ net 2026
Deductions on the raise
42.82%
SI + wage tax ÷ gross raise

2026 and 2027 compared

Value20262027 · forecast
Min. salaries
+2.55%≈ +3.00%
Actual salaries
––
Inflation
3.01%3.26%
Your gross €3,699.00€3,810.00
per year €51,786.00€53,340.00
Your net €2,568.49€2,642.23
per year €36,626.13€37,684.06
Purchasing power
−1.12%+0.26%

Raise compared with inflation

Minimum salaries (avg. of all steps)
Inflation, reference period

Main employment

€

2027 round

  1. 2027 deal, forecast≈ +3.00%
    range 2.70% to 3.30%, from inflation and the last 3 rounds · would apply from 1 January 2027
  2. Talks begin
    around November 2026
  3. Inflation over the reference periodØ 3.26%
    October 2025 – September 2026
  4. 2026 agreement
    agreed on 18 February 2026 · applies from 1 January 2026
    Minimum salaries+2.55%
    Actual salaries–
    over-payments kept in euros

No negotiations yet. According to vida they start in December 2026 for the roughly 150,000 workers.

Your grade in the agreement

Wage group 5 (professional drivers, skilled tradespeople)per month
Minimum 2026€2,507.00
per year€35,098.00
Minimum 2027, forecast≈ €2,582.21
Your gross€3,699.00
Above the minimum+€1,192.00 (+47.55%)
Above the minimum 2027, forecast≈ +€1,227.79 (+47.55%)

What the Handelsarbeiter-KV covers

The Handelsarbeiter-KV (Kollektivvertrag für Handelsarbeiter:innen) covers blue-collar workers in retail and wholesale. It is negotiated between Wirtschaftskammer Österreich, Bundessparte Handel and Gewerkschaft vida. It sets a minimum salary for 5 groups with up to 4 steps, currently from €2,146 to €2,507 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 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 Handelsarbeiter-KV rose by 33.09%, prices over the reference periods by 31.67%.

Minimum salaries
Inflation, reference period

Handelsarbeiter-KV: pay and prices since 2017. How much salaries have risen in total since 2017 (each minimum raise on top of the last, +33.09% so far), against inflation over the reference periods (+31.67%). Where the solid line is on top, salaries gained purchasing power.

Minimum salaries, blue-collar, from 1 January 2026

Group
up to 1 year
up to 10 years
up to 17 years
over 17 years
Wage group 1 (auxiliary work)
€2,146.00
€2,151.00
€2,173.00
€2,194.00
Wage group 2 (storage, goods receipt, shelf work)
€2,178.00
€2,211.00
€2,246.00
€2,271.00
Wage group 3 (picking, forklift, drivers up to 3.5 t)
€2,258.00
€2,278.00
€2,348.00
€2,380.00
Wage group 4 (drivers over 3.5 t)
€2,321.00
€2,331.00
€2,422.00
€2,464.00
Wage group 5 (professional drivers, skilled tradespeople)
€2,358.00
€2,374.00
€2,464.00
€2,507.00

Wage table A (general wholesale and retail): one collectively agreed minimum monthly wage per wage group 1–5, by years with the company (up to 1, up to 10, up to 17, over 17 years; group 2 also had "up to 3 years" until the end of 2022). Full time, gross, paid 14 times a year; the table also gives the hourly wage. Table B (wine and spirits wholesale, only for workers who joined before 2022), apprentices and allowances are not included.

Agreements since 2017

Year
From
Minimum salaries
Actual salaries
Inflation in period
2027
1 January 2027
Next round from 1 January 2027
3.26%
2026
1 January 2026
+2.55%
over-payment kept in euros
3.01%
2025
1 January 2025
+3.30%
over-payment kept in euros
3.82%
2024
1 January 2024
+8.00%
over-payment kept in euros
9.17%
2023
1 January 2023
+7.00%
over-payment kept in euros
6.90%
2022
1 January 2022
+2.55%
over-payment kept in euros
2.06%
2021
1 January 2021
+1.50%
over-payment kept in euros
1.46%
2020
1 January 2020
–
over-payment kept in euros
1.71%
2019
1 January 2019
–
over-payment kept in euros
2.02%
2018
1 January 2018
+2.32%
over-payment kept in euros
1.88%
2017
1 January 2017
+1.30%
over-payment kept in euros
0.75%

Related agreements

Branch
2026
Inflation
2027
History
Handels-KV
+2.55%
3.01%
≈ +2.70%in talks
Metaller-KV
+1.90% (2027)
3.26%
≈ +2.10% (2028)forecast
IT-KV
+2.75%
3.52%
≈ +2.90%in talks
SWÖ-KV
+2.40%
3.19%
+2.30%agreed
Gewerbe-KV
+2.70%
3.19%
≈ +3.20%forecast

Frequently asked questions

Not agreed yet. Our forecast: minimum salaries about +3.00% (range 2.70% to 3.30%). It starts from inflation over the reference period October 2025 – September 2026 (3.26%) and adds how far above or below inflation the branch settled in its last 3 rounds.
Under the salary table from 1 January 2026, between €2,146.00 (Wage group 1, auxiliary work, up to 1 year) and €2,507.00 (Wage group 5, professional drivers, skilled tradespeople, over 17 years) gross a month, paid 14 times a year. It is a floor: your employer may pay more (over-payment), never less.
Talks usually start in November; the new salaries apply from 1 January. The round is negotiated against inflation over the reference period, the twelve months before it (last time October 2024 – September 2025: 3.01%).
The minimum raise lifts the salary table, the floor per group and step. The Handelsarbeiter-KV has no separate actual raise: anyone paid above the minimum keeps their over-payment in euros, so their salary rises by the same euro amount as the minimum of their step.
Yes. The minimum salary applies in proportion to your hours: at 20 of 40 weekly hours, half of it. The raise in percent is the same as for full-time.
Yes. Holiday and Christmas pay follow the monthly salary in force when they are paid. So you get a raise 14 times a year, and both special payments stay taxed at the preferential rate up to the annual sixth.
Then your employer has to top you up to the new minimum of your group and step from the effective date. Check your grade with the table on this page. You can claim shortfalls back, but many agreements set short deadlines for that, so talk to your works council, union or the Chamber of Labour early.
From 2018 to 2026 minimum salaries rose by 33.09% in total, inflation over the reference periods by 31.67%. In 5 of 7 years the raise matched or beat inflation. Over the whole period the rounds kept up with inflation.
  • Table · WKO: Lohntafeln für Arbeiter/innen im Handel, gültig ab 1.1.2026
  • 2027 · vida, 5.10.2026: Herbstlohnrunde 2026 (Handelsarbeiter:innen-KV: Verhandlungen ab Dezember)
  • 2026 · WKO: Information zum Kollektivvertragsabschluss für Arbeiter/innen im Handel 2026
  • 2025 · WKO: Information zum Kollektivvertragsabschluss für Arbeiter/innen im Handel 2025 (inkl. Formel für 2026)
  • 2024 · WKO: Information zum Kollektivvertragsabschluss für Arbeiter/innen im Handel 2024
  • 2023 · WKO: Information zum Kollektivvertragsabschluss für Arbeiter/innen im Handel 2023
  • 2022 · WKO: Abschlussprotokoll zum Kollektivvertrag für die Handelsarbeiter per 1.1.2022 (Wien, 2.12.2021)
  • 2021 · WKO: Information zum Kollektivvertragsabschluss für Arbeiter/innen im Handel 2021
  • 2020 · WKO: Information zum KV-Abschluss für Arbeiter/innen im Handel 2020
  • 2019 · WKO: Information über die Änderungen zum Kollektivvertrag für Handelsarbeiter mit 1.1.2019
  • 2018 · WKO Salzburg: Abschlussprotokoll zum Kollektivvertrag für die Handelsarbeiter per 1.1.2018 (Wien, am 05. Dezember 2017, PDF)
  • 2017 · WKO Kärnten: Information zum Abschluss des Kollektivvertrags für Handelsarbeiter per 1.1.2017 (PDF)