Collective agreement for building cleaning in Austria explained

Contents

1. Wage groups 2026
2. What changes on 1 January 2027
3. Cost example: what does the increase cost?
4. Special payments
5. Working time and surcharges
6. Travel time and costs
7. Grading in practice
8. Paying above the minimum
9. Common mistakes
10. Passing the increase on to clients – how we do it
11. Frequently asked questions
12. Sources

In short: Blue-collar cleaning staff fall under the collective agreement for monument, façade and building cleaning. Per the 2026 wage scale the minimum hourly wage for ongoing contract cleaning (wage group 6) is €12.37, for special cleaning incl. windows and façades (wage group 2) €13.30. From 1 January 2027 the wage groups are restructured; contract cleaning (new wage group 4) rises to €12.73 according to the agreement. Normal hours: 40 per week. As of October 2026.

Wages are by far the largest cost in a labour-intensive service like cleaning. If you don’t know the collective agreement (in German: Kollektivvertrag, KV), your pricing will be wrong – and you risk back-payments and penalties for underpayment under the Wage and Social Dumping Act (LSD-BG).

Wage groups 2026

Minimum hourly wages under the 2026 wage scale:

The exact assignment of activities to groups 1, 3, 4 and 5 is in the agreement text – read it before you grade anyone. For most founders WG 6 (ongoing office cleaning) and WG 2 (windows, glass, special cleaning) are what matter.

What changes on 1 January 2027

According to the agreement, the wage groups are restructured from 2027 (please check the current text):

For contract cleaning that is an increase from €12.37 to €12.73 – about +2.9 %. Special cleaning (WG 2) rises from €13.30 to €13.54 (about +1.8 %). Because the structure changes, review every employee’s grade with your payroll provider.

What to do now:

1. Check existing contracts for an adjustment clause: Writing a quote for contract cleaning – with service specification
2. Inform clients in good time about the price adjustment at the turn of the year
3. Calculate new quotes with 2027 wages: Calculating the hourly rate for cleaning – the right way
4. Update written statements where grades change: Registering employees in Austria – employer account, ELDA, written statement

Cost example: what does the increase cost?

Assumption: full-time contract cleaner, 40 hours, minimum wage.

That is about €1,130 extra per full-time employee per year – over €11,000 for ten full-time equivalents. Without a price adjustment it comes straight out of your profit.

Special payments

Holiday and Christmas bonuses are paid by default in quarters with the February, May, August and November wages. For pricing that means 14 instead of 12 monthly wages – one sixth more labour cost.

Working time and surcharges

• Normal hours: 40 per week.
• Night work within normal hours between 21:00 and 6:00: 50 % surcharge.
• Sunday work: 100 % surcharge.
• Part-time overtime: 25 % surcharge unless compensated 1:1 within three months.

Breaks, rest periods and record-keeping: Working time, breaks and records in the cleaning industry.

Travel time and costs

Travel time within working hours counts as working time. With several sites on the same day the agreement reimburses the cheapest public transport from the second trip; staff with up to 25 weekly hours generally get travel costs reimbursed unless the company organises transport.

Grading in practice

What counts is the activity actually performed for the majority of the time, not the job title. Someone mainly doing windows and special cleaning is graded differently from someone in ongoing office cleaning. Record the grade in the written statement and review it when tasks change.

Example: an employee cleans offices Monday to Thursday and does windows on Fridays. Contract cleaning predominates – but clarify with your payroll provider how the special-cleaning hours are treated.

Paying above the minimum

The agreement wage is a minimum. In Vienna many companies pay more to keep good staff. Price with the wage you actually pay, not the minimum.

Common mistakes

1. Putting everyone in the lowest group.
2. Forgetting special payments in pricing.
3. Not paying travel time.
4. Not passing the annual increase on to clients.
5. Missing the new 2027 group structure.

Marginal employment threshold 2026: €551.10 per month – the agreement applies to marginal and part-time staff too.

Passing the increase on to clients – how we do it

1. In October/November, check the new wages per the agreement and update your own calculation.
2. For each contract, determine the labour share of the price (in contract cleaning usually most of it).
3. Calculate the adjustment: labour share × agreement increase, material share by the agreed index.
4. Inform clients in writing – in good time before the new year, referring to the contract clause with a short calculation.
5. Invoice the new price from January.

Example (assumptions): monthly fee €660 net, labour share 75 % = €495. Contract-cleaning increase about 2.9 % → +€14.36. Material share €165, index +2 % → +€3.30. New fee about €677.66 net. Without a clause the difference stays with you – over €4,000 a year across 20 contracts.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. WKO – wage scale 2026
2. WKO – collective agreement 2026
3. RIS – Wage and Social Dumping Act (LSD-BG)