Chemical industry tariff: Hamburg
Wage table, working hours and special payments for the Hamburg chemical-industry bargaining region.
Table of Contents
As a port and industrial city, Hamburg is its own bargaining region for the chemical industry, separate from the surrounding regions Schleswig-Holstein, Niedersachsen and Bremen. Despite the geographic closeness to all three, Hamburg negotiates its own wage agreement with its own figures.
The figures shown come from the WSI Tarifarchiv (April 2025). No state-registry publication like Nordrhein's exists for Hamburg, so holiday pay, the annual bonus and apprentice pay remain open questions here.
Pay groups E1 through E13
The lowest group E1 sits at 3,148 EUR a month in Hamburg - the highest E1 figure among the four northern comparison regions. E6, entry after completed vocational training, starts at 3,679 EUR and rises across four steps to 4,268 EUR after six years. The top commercial group E13 sits at 6,740 EUR - here Hamburg sits at the bottom of the same comparison group, despite leading at the entry level.
This swing from "highest entry" to "lowest top figure" within the same comparison set shows that a single pay group says little about a region's overall wage structure. Always compare the specific group relevant to you, not the table as a whole.
| Pay group | Occupational variant | ab 18. Lebensjahr | Anfangsstufe | nach 2 Jahren | nach 3 Jahren | nach 4 Jahren | nach 6 Jahren |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | einheitlich | 3,148.00 € | – | – | – | – | – |
| E2 | einheitlich | 3,382.00 € | – | – | – | – | – |
| E3 | einheitlich | 3,443.00 € | – | – | – | – | – |
| E4 | einheitlich | 3,505.00 € | – | – | – | – | – |
| E5 | einheitlich | – | 3,589.00 € | – | 3,679.00 € | – | 3,768.00 € |
| E6 | einheitlich | – | 3,679.00 € | 3,900.00 € | – | 4,084.00 € | 4,268.00 € |
| E7 | einheitlich | – | 3,792.00 € | 4,020.00 € | – | 4,247.00 € | 4,475.00 € |
| E8 | einheitlich | – | 3,900.00 € | 4,134.00 € | – | 4,407.00 € | 4,680.00 € |
| E9 | kaufmaennisch | – | 3,705.00 € | 4,056.00 € | – | 4,456.00 € | 5,007.00 € |
| E10 | kaufmaennisch | – | 4,137.00 € | 4,518.00 € | – | 4,953.00 € | 5,443.00 € |
| E11 | kaufmaennisch | – | 4,579.00 € | 4,990.00 € | – | 5,342.00 € | 5,870.00 € |
| E12 | kaufmaennisch | – | 4,920.00 € | 5,362.00 € | – | 5,803.00 € | 6,308.00 € |
| E13 | kaufmaennisch | – | 6,740.00 € | – | – | – | – |
What the pay groups describe
E1 covers tasks needing only a brief introduction, E6 marks entry after completed vocational training, E13 covers independent commercial or technical work with extensive professional experience. This structure is nationally consistent in substance.
Working hours
The contractual week is 37.5 hours, with a divisor of 163.1 - as in practically every western German region in this calculator. At 37.5 weekly hours (full-time), the full E9 starting wage of 3,705 EUR applies directly, with no scaling needed.
The 2026-2028 settlement
Hamburg follows the national settlement: unchanged pay through end December 2026, then 2.1% in January 2027 and 2.4% in January 2028. No region-specific published table exists for Hamburg for these two steps, so the calculator shows them as derived, labelled accordingly.
For employers applying the increase three months early under the settlement, the calculator only reflects that option once you explicitly confirm it.
Special payments
No independently confirmed source exists for Hamburg's own holiday pay or annual bonus, so the calculator shows Nordrhein's confirmed figures as the nationwide default pattern. The Zukunftsbetrag (23% of a month's pay), by contrast, applies regardless of bargaining region and is directly available for Hamburg.
Hamburg compared with Schleswig-Holstein, Niedersachsen and Bremen
Hamburg leads at E1 (3,148 EUR), narrowly ahead of Bremen (3,097 EUR), Niedersachsen (3,084 EUR) and Schleswig-Holstein (3,095 EUR). At E13, Hamburg trails all three neighbors instead. Anyone moving between these regions shouldn't assume "Hamburg pays more" across the board - compare the specific group that matters to you.
The annual view
Twelve monthly salaries at E6 entry level (3,679 EUR) total an annual gross of 44,148 EUR in Hamburg - the highest figure among the four northern comparison regions for this group. At E13 (6,740 EUR), it's only 80,880 EUR a year, the lowest in the same comparison set.
That contrast - leading at E6, trailing at E13 - reinforces the point: a region doesn't pay uniformly more or less, it varies by pay group.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Hamburg lead at E6 but trail at E13?
Each pay group is set independently in the agreement, not as a fixed gap from another group. A high figure at one group says nothing about the relative position at another.
Is the Zukunftsbetrag different for Hamburg?
No. The Zukunftsbetrag (23% of one month's pay) is a nationwide IGBCE/BAVC entitlement, independent of the specific bargaining region - the same rule applies to Hamburg as to every other region in this calculator.
Who this page is for
This table applies to the Chemische Industrie Hamburg bargaining region. For a complete calculation with working hours, allowances and an optional net-pay estimate, use the interactive calculator above this page.
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 "HH | E", April-2025 wage step)