Finnish retail TES wages 2026

Pay groups

What pay groups A–D mean

The pay group follows the demands of the work, not the job title and not the employee's personal qualities.

A

Avustava työ (assisting work)

B

Ammattitehtävä (professional task)

C

Vaativa ammattitehtävä (demanding professional task)

D

Erityisammattitehtävä (specialist professional task)

Four assessment elements

The demands of a job are assessed using four elements:

• Osaaminen (competence)
• Itsenäisyys (independence)
• Vuorovaikutus (interaction)
• Vastuu (responsibility)

The assessment is of the job, not of the person doing it. Explicitly excluded are the employee's personal qualities, individual performance, experience relative to colleagues, and the workload and working conditions of the job.

The pay group is chosen as a holistic assessment. The elements are not scored or added up.

In force until 30 September 2026

These leave the commerce collective agreement

If a line disappears from your payslip in October, it is probably on this list. The following structures remain in force until 30 September 2026, after which they are no longer part of the commerce collective agreement.

The Myyjä I / Myyjä II split

Splitting sales staff into two groups ends. Minimum pay then follows from pay groups A–D.

Myyjien vastuulisä (sales staff responsibility allowance)

This separate responsibility allowance leaves the collective agreement.

Myymälänhoitajan sijaisuuslisä (shop manager deputising allowance)

This separate deputising allowance leaves the collective agreement.

A line leaving the agreement does not mean pay goes down. The pay-system reform as such does not reduce wages.

Pay protection

The reform does not cut wages

Scope

Who the new pay system covers

Warehouse workers and clerical staff moved to the equivalent model back on 1 January 2024. The 2026 reform brings the sales side into the same system.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about Finnish retail wages

How much is the Finnish retail wage in 2026?

Commerce-sector table wages rose on 1 August 2026. The lowest table wage is pay group A in the rest of Finland, 1979 €/month or 12,37 €/h. It is also the minimum for a brand-new worker, even though the first column refers to the second year of service: the steps were renamed on 1 February 2025 to match actual years of service, and the pay did not change. In the capital region the corresponding figure is 2061 €/month. The highest figure in the table is capital-region group D in the ninth year of service, 2928 €/month. A table wage is a minimum, so an employer may pay more.

What does the commerce pay-system reform mean?

The reform takes effect on 1 October 2026. After that the minimum pay for a job follows the demands of the work rather than the job title. Demands are assessed with four elements: competence, independence, interaction and responsibility. The assessment is of the job and not of the employee, and the pay group is chosen holistically without scoring. The reform itself neither raises nor cuts anyone's pay.

Will my pay go up on 1 October 2026?

Not automatically. The change taking effect on 1 October 2026 is a reform of the pay system, not a pay increase. The 2026 general increase took effect on 1 August 2026 and the wage table on this page already includes it. If the table wage of your new pay group is higher than your current pay, your pay rises to that extent. It does not fall because of the reform.

Are Myyjä I and Myyjä II disappearing?

Yes. The Myyjä I and Myyjä II split remains in the commerce collective agreement until 30 September 2026. The sales staff responsibility allowance and the shop manager deputising allowance leave the agreement at the same time. Minimum pay then follows from pay groups A–D. None of this means a pay cut: the reform as such does not reduce wages and existing higher pay is retained.

What do pay groups A, B, C and D mean?

The pay group describes how demanding the job is. In the agreement the groups are A = Avustava työ (assisting work), B = Ammattitehtävä (professional task), C = Vaativa ammattitehtävä (demanding professional task) and D = Erityisammattitehtävä (specialist professional task). The group follows what the work actually involves, not the job title and not how well the individual performs. The table wage rises both with the pay group and with years of service.

Who does the commerce pay system apply to?

The new system covers sales staff, shop floor staff, visual merchandisers and window dressers, technical wholesale, installation and maintenance tasks, kiosk sales staff, porters, couriers, cleaners and repair seamstresses. Logistics supervisors, retail supervisors, ICT clerical staff and service and petrol station staff are outside it. Warehouse workers and clerical staff moved to the equivalent model on 1 January 2024.