Chemical industry tariff: Bremen
Wage table, working hours and special payments for the Bremen chemical-industry bargaining region.
Table of Contents
Bremen is the smallest of the 13 bargaining regions in this calculator by employee count, but still negotiates its own wage agreement. For pay groups E6 through E13, Bremen's figures match neighboring Niedersachsen exactly - while E1 through E5 differ slightly between the two.
That match at the upper groups is a good example of how two neighboring regions can negotiate formally separately yet land on very similar results - without the two tables needing to be merged into one.
Pay groups E1 through E13
E1 sits at 3,097 EUR in Bremen, slightly above Niedersachsen's 3,084 EUR. E6, entry after completed vocational training, starts at 3,542 EUR and reaches 4,109 EUR after six years - identical to Niedersachsen. The top commercial group E13 sits at 7,200 EUR, also identical.
Between E8 (starting at 3,790 EUR) and E9 (starting at 4,000 EUR), Bremen - like Niedersachsen - shows a noticeably larger jump than between most other neighboring groups, suggesting a deliberate break between the "industrial" groups up to E8 and the more demanding E9 positions.
| Pay group | Occupational variant | ab 18. Lebensjahr | Anfangsstufe | nach 2 Jahren | nach 3 Jahren | nach 4 Jahren | nach 6 Jahren |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | einheitlich | 3,097.00 € | – | – | – | – | – |
| E2 | einheitlich | 3,255.00 € | – | – | – | – | – |
| E3 | einheitlich | 3,325.00 € | – | – | – | – | – |
| E4 | einheitlich | 3,382.00 € | – | – | – | – | – |
| E5 | einheitlich | – | 3,463.00 € | – | 3,550.00 € | – | 3,636.00 € |
| E6 | einheitlich | – | 3,542.00 € | 3,755.00 € | – | 3,932.00 € | 4,109.00 € |
| E7 | einheitlich | – | 3,668.00 € | 3,888.00 € | – | 4,108.00 € | 4,328.00 € |
| E8 | einheitlich | – | 3,790.00 € | 4,017.00 € | – | 4,283.00 € | 4,548.00 € |
| E9 | kaufmaennisch | – | 4,000.00 € | 4,378.00 € | – | 4,810.00 € | 5,405.00 € |
| E10 | kaufmaennisch | – | 4,454.00 € | 4,864.00 € | – | 5,333.00 € | 5,860.00 € |
| E11 | kaufmaennisch | – | 4,924.00 € | 5,366.00 € | – | 5,745.00 € | 6,313.00 € |
| E12 | kaufmaennisch | – | 5,281.00 € | 5,755.00 € | – | 6,228.00 € | 6,770.00 € |
| E13 | kaufmaennisch | – | 7,200.00 € | – | – | – | – |
What the pay groups describe
The group structure follows the same real job descriptions as every region in this agreement family: a brief-introduction task at E1, a completed vocational training at E6, and independent commercial or technical work with substantial experience at E13.
Working hours
The contractual week is 37.5 hours, with a divisor of 163.1. At 35 contracted hours (about 93.3% of full-time), a full E8 starting wage of 3,790 EUR would come to roughly 3,537 EUR of part-time base pay.
The 2026-2028 settlement
Bremen follows the same national steps as every other region: unchanged through end 2026, then 2.1% in January 2027 and 2.4% in January 2028. No region-specific published table exists for Bremen for these two steps; the calculator shows them as derived, not confirmed.
The optional three-month early adoption of a step is, for Bremen too, only active in the calculator after explicit confirmation.
Special payments
No independently confirmed source exists for Bremen's own holiday pay or annual bonus, so the calculator shows Nordrhein's confirmed figures as the nationwide default pattern. The nationwide Zukunftsbetrag (23%) is available, but only counts as cash once you explicitly select that usage.
Bremen compared with Niedersachsen
The direct comparison shows: from E6 upward, Bremen and Niedersachsen are practically the same table under this agreement, while E1 through E5 are negotiated independently. For planning around a specific position, it's always worth checking the exact pay group rather than the bargaining region as a whole.
The annual view
Twelve monthly salaries at E6 entry level (3,542 EUR) total an annual gross of 42,504 EUR in Bremen, identical to Niedersachsen. At E13 (7,200 EUR), that's 86,400 EUR a year.
At E1 (3,097 EUR), the annual gross comes to 37,164 EUR - 156 EUR more than Niedersachsen (3,084 EUR, 37,008 EUR a year). That small but real gap at the lowest group shows Bremen and Niedersachsen aren't a copied table despite matching upper groups.
Frequently asked questions
Why do Bremen and Niedersachsen differ at E1-E5 but not E6-E13?
The source alone doesn't fully explain this - plausibly, both regions follow a shared line for the more qualified groups from E6 up, while negotiating the lower groups independently.
Does Bremen have its own annual bonus?
Probably, but not yet independently confirmed. The calculator shows no figure for Bremen rather than borrowing an assumption from Nordrhein.
Who this page is for
This table covers employees in the Chemische Industrie Bremen bargaining region. For a full calculation with working hours, allowances and a net-pay estimate, use the interactive calculator.
Sources
- https://www.bavc.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/2492-pi-25-03-26 (BAVC press release - 2.1%/2.4% increases, Jan 2027/2028, agreement duration, 300 EUR/year demographic-fund contribution)
- https://igbce.de/igbce/chemie26-faq-zum-abschluss-269474 (IGBCE FAQ - Zukunftsbetrag 23% national framework confirmation, early-adoption option)
- WSI Tarifarchiv, Chemische Industrie workbook: https://www.wsi.de/data/p_ta_tarife_chemische_industrie_2026.xlsx (sheet "HB | E", April-2025 wage step)