Collective agreement (Kollektivvertrag)

Definition

A Kollektivvertrag (KV, collective agreement) is a written agreement between bodies entitled to bargain for employers and for employees (§ 2 (1) ArbVG). On the employer side it is usually concluded by the trade organisations of the Chamber of Commerce (WKO), on the employee side by the unions in the ÖGB. Within its scope it is directly binding (§ 11 ArbVG). Above all it sets the minimum salaries. Austria has no general statutory minimum wage; according to the WKO, just under 98.00 % of employees are covered by a KV.

How a KV works

• Who may conclude one: only bodies entitled to bargain (§ 4 ArbVG): statutory interest groups such as the Chamber of Commerce and voluntary associations such as the ÖGB that are independent of the other side.
• The employer decides: a KV applies to employers who are members of the organisation that concluded it (§ 8 ArbVG). Which KV applies therefore depends on your employer's branch, not on your job.
• Outsider effect (Außenseiterwirkung): the KV applies to every employee of a covered employer, union member or not (§ 12 ArbVG).
• Favourability principle (Günstigkeitsprinzip): neither the employment contract nor a works agreement may set the KV aside or limit it. Deviations are valid only if they are better for you or cover something the KV leaves open (§ 3 ArbVG). A salary above the minimum is allowed, one below it is not.

What a KV settles

The minimum salaries per group and step, the special payments (holiday and Christmas pay), allowances and premiums, working hours and partly also rules on notice. Holiday and Christmas pay are not in the statute: their amount and payment date come from the KV. Which KV applies to you is on your Dienstzettel (written statement of terms), and the KV must be available for inspection at the workplace.

Without a collective agreement

• Satzung (extension order): where a KV has gained predominant importance, the Federal Conciliation Office (Bundeseinigungsamt) can, on application of a party to it, declare it a Satzung. It then also applies to similar employment outside its scope that no KV covers (§ 18 ArbVG).
• Mindestlohntarif (minimum wage tariff): for groups for which no KV can be concluded, the Federal Conciliation Office sets minimum pay on application of the employee side (§ 22 ArbVG). This concerns only a few occupations, such as domestic workers and caretakers.
• Otherwise the contract applies: where neither a KV nor a minimum wage tariff applies, you get the agreed salary. If nothing is agreed, you are owed appropriate and customary pay.

The annual wage round

In most branches salaries are renegotiated every year, around 450 collective agreements in total. The metal industry traditionally opens the round in autumn. There are usually two figures: the raise of the minimum salaries and an actual raise for the salary really paid. What that means for a salary above the minimum is explained under over-payment (Überzahlung).

Further reading

• Collective agreements overview, raises and ongoing talks per branch.
• IT-KV, minimum salaries by job family and step.
• Handels-KV, minimum salaries by employment group and step.
• Metaller-KV, the round that opens every autumn.
• SWÖ-KV, social and care sector: care, support and social services.
• Gewerbe-KV, salaried staff in trades and crafts, minimum salaries only.
• Gastro-KV, restaurants and hotels, wages per wage group.
• Bau-KV, construction workers, hourly wages per wage group.
• Elektro-KV, electrical and electronics industry, spring round from 1 May.
• Banken-KV, bank employees, scheme salaries from 1 April.
• Beamten-KV, federal civil servants and contract staff, pay set by law.

See also

• KV minimum salary, the floor per group and step.
• Over-payment, what lies above the minimum and how it behaves when the KV rises.
• Wage worker, wage workers and salaried employees often have separate agreements, as in retail.