NCLA for the Tertiary, Distribution and Services Sector – Minimum Basic Salary Table 2026 and 2027

The National Collective Labour Agreement (NCLA) for the Tertiary, Distribution and Services sector, renewed through the agreement of 22 March 2024, has established a structured framework for the adjustment of economic treatments, with effects extending until 31 March 2027, the contract’s expiry date.

Although the agreement was formally signed in March 2024, the salary increase plan has retroactive effect, as the Extraordinary Sector Protocol of 12 December 2022 – later incorporated into the contractual renewal – had already provided for a first instalment effective from April 2023, paid as an advance on future contractual increases (“A.F.A.C.” – Acconto sui Futuri Aumenti Contrattuali).

Within this framework, the agreement provides for a total, fully phased‑in contractual increase of EUR 240.00 gross per month for level IV, to be recalculated proportionally for the other classification levels. More specifically, the increase is split into six instalments, with effective dates ranging from April 2023 to February 2027, defining a gradual and planned evolution of the minimum basic salary levels.

How will minimum wages change in 2026 and 2027?

Considering the increases already applied in April 2023 and April 2024, as well as those effective as of March and November 2025, the contractual calendar provides – during the final phase of validity of the NCLA – for further increases to the minimum basic salary levels, effective from 1 November 2026 and 1 February 2027.

Below is the table of the updated minimum monthly basic salaries applicable as of the above dates:

With the increase effective from 1 February 2027, the economic adjustment provided for by the NCLA will be fully implemented, thereby bringing the agreed increase fully into effect and definitively consolidating the new minimum basic salary levels, which will remain applicable until the next contractual renewal.

Will the 2026 increase be absorbable?

An important aspect concerns the possibility of absorbing contractual salary increases. As a general rule, the 2026 increase is subject to the principle of absorbability. This means that such increases may be offset, in whole or in part, by salary components already included in the employee’s payslip, such as an absorbable discretionary salary supplement (the so‑called superminimo) granted at the employer’s discretion.

As a result, in certain situations the employee’s actual salary increase may be lower than the amounts set out under the NCLA, or may even be fully absorbed.

The NCLA, however, clearly specifies the conditions under which absorption is permitted. In particular, contractual salary increases may be absorbed only by amounts that:

• do not qualify as merit‑based increases or seniority increments;
• were not paid during the six months immediately preceding the contract’s expiry date;
• were expressly designated as advances on future contractual increases and paid from 1 January 2022 onwards, with the exception of the advance paid in April 2023 under the Extraordinary Sector Protocol of 12 December 2022, which cannot be absorbed.

Accordingly, the actual impact of the increases must be assessed on a case‑by‑case basis, taking into account the specific structure of the employee’s individual remuneration.