KV minimum salary (Mindestgehalt)

Definition

The KV minimum salary (often Mindestgrundgehalt) is the monthly gross salary for full-time work that the collective agreement guarantees you at least for your grade. Paying less is not allowed, paying more is (§ 3 ArbVG). Austria has no general statutory minimum wage; the floor comes from your branch's KV. Your grade and the amount of your base salary must be stated on your Dienstzettel (written statement of terms).

What sets the amount

• Group: you are graded by your work. The groups have different names per KV: Verwendungsgruppe, Beschäftigungsgruppe, in the IT-KV Tätigkeitsfamilie (job family), where what you mainly do counts.
• Step and progression (Vorrückung): within the group the minimum usually rises with years of experience or service. In the IT-KV, for example, you move from the entry to the regular step after three years at most, and to the experienced step after at most four more years. A raise that follows from this is yours.
• Part-time: the minimum applies in proportion to your hours. The KV says how to convert it: the IT-KV divides the full-time minimum by 167 and multiplies it by your agreed monthly hours.
• 14 times a year: holiday and Christmas pay are not in the statute but in the KV. The IT agreement, for example, grants a 13th and 14th monthly salary, the 14th by 30 June, the 13th by 1 December. There the basis is the monthly base salary without allowances and overtime.

When the KV rises or too little is paid

• KV raise: when the minimum of your group and step rises, your employer has to pay at least the new amount from the effective date. If your salary is already above it, the agreement decides whether it rises too (see over-payment).
• Claiming back: if you were paid below the KV, you can claim the difference, but only within a certain time.
• Forfeiture periods (Verfallsfristen): many agreements set short deadlines after which claims lapse. The IT agreement, for example, requires overtime pay to be claimed within four months. Check your KV and talk to your works council, union or the Chamber of Labour early.

Further reading

Collective agreements overview, with the minimum salaries per group and step per branch.

See also

• Collective agreement, who concludes it and whom it covers.
• Over-payment, the part of the salary above the minimum.
• Special payments, how the 13th and 14th salary are taxed.