JIB Rates 2026 Explained – Full Breakdown of the New Pay Deal
The new JIB wage agreement covering 2026 to 2028 has landed, and reactions across the electrical industry range from cautiously optimistic to openly frustrated. The headline figures look decent at first glance: a 3.95% increase from January 2026, followed by 4.6% in 2027 and 4.85% in 2028. That's roughly 14% total across three years for nearly 10,000 electricians employed by around 550 contractors under the Joint Industry Board agreement. But peel back the surface and the conversation gets more complicated. Is a 4% rise in 2026 actually keeping pace with real inflation after years of cost-of-living pressure?
