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🇦🇹Minimum Wage in Austria: No Statutory Minimum

Austria has no statutory minimum wage that applies to all employees. Minimum pay is set in collective agreements (Kollektivverträge), mostly one for each sector, negotiated by employer and employee representatives.1,2

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Statutory national minimum wage
None1
Pay floors set by
Sector collective agreements (Kollektivverträge)1,2
Employees covered by a collective agreement
94.9% (2023)8
Average gross annual salary, 2024 (Eurostat)
€58,600

How pay floors work instead

A collective agreement is concluded between bodies of employers and employees that have the capacity to do so (Labour Constitution Act, section 2). Its terms are directly binding within its scope (section 11) and also apply to employees of a bound employer who are not union members (section 12).3

Employers in the trades and sectors that the Federal Economic Chamber (WKO) covers are members of it by law (Economic Chambers Act, section 2). Eurofound names this obligatory membership, together with the rule that agreements also cover employees who are not union members, as the main reason coverage is so high.4,5

Where an employer is not covered by an agreement, the Federal Arbitration Office (Bundeseinigungsamt) can extend an agreement by declaring it a Satzung (section 18). For groups of employees for whom no agreement can be concluded it can set a minimum wage tariff (Mindestlohntarif, sections 22 to 25); the labour ministry lists tariffs for groups such as caretakers, domestic workers, private education and childcare institutions, assistants in private kindergartens and au pairs.3,6

According to the labour ministry (page of August 2025), most collective agreements already provide minimum wages of at least 1,700 euros gross, paid 14 times a year.2

The labour ministry names three free databases of the collective agreements currently in force: the ÖGB’s KV information platform, the WKO’s collective agreement register and the Entsendeplattform.7

Austria reported to the European Commission a collective bargaining coverage rate of 94.9% for 2023. The labour ministry puts it at about 95% of employees.2,8

The EU minimum wage directive

Austria is an EU member state, so Directive (EU) 2022/2041 applies. It does not oblige a state whose wages are set exclusively by collective agreements to introduce a statutory minimum wage (Article 1(4)). A state whose collective bargaining coverage is below 80% must adopt an action plan (Article 4(2)); the labour ministry states that Austria has no obligation to draw one up because its coverage is above that threshold, and the Commission’s July 2026 report also lists Austria above it.8,9,10

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Frequently asked questions

Does Austria have a minimum wage?
Austria has no statutory minimum wage that applies to all employees. Minimum pay is set in collective agreements, which cover 94.9% of employees (2023, as reported to the European Commission).
How is the minimum pay set in Austria?
Employer and employee representatives negotiate collective agreements (Kollektivverträge), generally by industry. Most agreements contain a pay scale that sets the minimum pay for each job group they cover.
Do collective agreements apply to employees who are not union members?
Yes. A collective agreement applies to the employees within its scope who work for an employer it binds, whether or not they are union members (Labour Constitution Act, sections 11 and 12).
Does the EU minimum wage directive apply to Austria?
Yes, Austria is an EU member state. The directive does not oblige a member state whose wage formation is ensured exclusively through collective agreements to introduce a statutory minimum wage (Article 1(4)).

Sources

  1. 1.Minimum wages (earn_minw): reference metadata · Eurostat ·
  2. 2.Mindestlohn in Österreich · Bundesministerium für Arbeit, Soziales, Gesundheit, Pflege und Konsumentenschutz ·
  3. 3.Arbeitsverfassungsgesetz (ArbVG), BGBl. Nr. 22/1974 · Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS) ·
  4. 4.Wirtschaftskammergesetz 1998 (WKG), § 2 · Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS) ·
  5. 5.Minimum wage in Austria · Eurofound ·
  6. 6.Mindestlohntarife und Lehrlingseinkommen · Bundesministerium für Arbeit, Soziales, Gesundheit, Pflege und Konsumentenschutz ·
  7. 7.FAQ: Mindestlohn in Österreich · Bundesministerium für Arbeit, Soziales, Gesundheit, Pflege und Konsumentenschutz ·
  8. 8.Report on minimum wage protection and the action plans to promote collective bargaining, COM(2026) 388 · European Commission ·
  9. 9.Directive (EU) 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages in the European Union · European Parliament and Council of the EU (EUR-Lex) ·
  10. 10.EU-Mindestlohnrichtlinie · Bundesministerium für Arbeit, Soziales, Gesundheit, Pflege und Konsumentenschutz ·

Every statement on this page cites a numbered source and was read at that source on the date shown. This page gives information, not advice. Last checked: .