Chemical industry tariff: Nordrhein (North Rhine)
Wage table, working hours and special payments for the Nordrhein (North Rhine) chemical-industry bargaining region.
Table of Contents
Nordrhein is the one bargaining region in this calculator whose figures were independently cross-checked beyond the base wage table: North Rhine-Westphalia's own state wage registry publishes a summary for the chemical industry in Nordrhein, and six anchor figures - the lowest pay group, the four-step entry group E6, and the top group E13 - match the figures used here exactly.
For you, that means Nordrhein's figures here carry a "published table value" badge for six positions, including both future 2027 and 2028 increases - not just a "currently in force" one. The remaining roughly 30 cells of the table still rely on the general WSI Tarifarchiv source.
Pay groups E1 through E13 in Nordrhein
The lowest pay group E1 starts at 3,117 EUR a month with no tenure steps - it applies to tasks that only need a short introduction. E6, the entry group for a completed vocational training, starts at 3,651 EUR and rises over four steps to 4,235 EUR after six years. The top group E13 is split into two genuinely different, independently confirmed variants in Nordrhein: 7,304 EUR for commercial staff and 7,484 EUR for technical staff.
That split matters when classifying your own role: a commercial and a technical E13 position are not paid the same under this agreement, even though both are formally "E13". Check which variant actually applies to your role before using either figure for your own planning.
| Pay group | Occupational variant | ab 18. Lebensjahr | Anfangsstufe | nach 2 Jahren | nach 3 Jahren | nach 4 Jahren | nach 6 Jahren |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | einheitlich | 3,117.00 € | – | – | – | – | – |
| E2 | einheitlich | 3,300.00 € | – | – | – | – | – |
| E3 | einheitlich | 3,382.00 € | – | – | – | – | – |
| E4 | einheitlich | 3,479.00 € | – | – | – | – | – |
| E5 | einheitlich | – | 3,567.00 € | – | 3,656.00 € | – | 3,745.00 € |
| E6 | einheitlich | – | 3,651.00 € | 3,870.00 € | – | 4,053.00 € | 4,235.00 € |
| E7 | einheitlich | – | 3,763.00 € | 3,989.00 € | – | 4,215.00 € | 4,440.00 € |
| E8 | einheitlich | – | 3,870.00 € | 4,102.00 € | – | 4,373.00 € | 4,644.00 € |
| E9 | kaufmaennisch | – | 3,919.00 € | 4,290.00 € | – | 4,713.00 € | 5,296.00 € |
| E10 | kaufmaennisch | – | 4,403.00 € | 4,809.00 € | – | 5,273.00 € | 5,794.00 € |
| E11 | kaufmaennisch | – | 4,914.00 € | 5,355.00 € | – | 5,733.00 € | 6,300.00 € |
| E12 | kaufmaennisch | – | 5,308.00 € | 5,784.00 € | – | 6,261.00 € | 6,805.00 € |
| E13 | kaufmaennisch | – | 7,304.00 € | – | – | – | – |
| E13 | technisch | – | 7,484.00 € | – | – | – | – |
| Meister-unterste | meister | – | 3,763.00 € | – | – | – | – |
| Meister-hoechste | meister | – | 7,266.00 € | – | – | – | – |
What the pay groups actually describe
Each pay group is tied to a real job description, not just a number. E1 applies, per the state registry, to "tasks that require only a brief introduction and can be carried out by any other employee at any time". E6 marks the entry point after training: tasks needing the skills from a vocational training of at least three years. E13 (the top group) covers employees who independently perform commercial or technical tasks under general guidelines, drawing on extensive professional experience and specialist knowledge.
Working hours and the monthly divisor
The contractual working week in Nordrhein is 37.5 hours, with a monthly-to-hourly divisor of 163.1. At 30 contracted hours, that's 80% of full-time - a full E6 starting wage of 3,651 EUR becomes 2,920.80 EUR of part-time base pay.
The 2026 settlement: 2.1% and 2.4%, with real anchor figures
Per the BAVC press release of 25 March 2026, wages stay unchanged through the end of December 2026, then rise 2.1% on 1 January 2027 and a further 2.4% on 1 January 2028. For Nordrhein, the actually published figures for six positions are available - and they differ from a pure percentage calculation by a euro in several places (e.g. E6 after two years: 3,870 EUR times 1.021 works out to 3,951 EUR, but the published figure is 3,952 EUR).
For roughly 30 other positions in the Nordrhein table, the calculator still uses the derived figure, clearly labelled as such. An employer can bring either increase forward by three months under the settlement - the calculator only applies that after you explicitly confirm it.
Holiday pay, annual bonus and the Zukunftsbetrag
For Nordrhein, the state registry directly confirms: 40 EUR additional holiday pay per tariff vacation day, times 30 vacation days, equals 1,200 EUR a year. The annual bonus (Jahresleistung) has been 100% of one month's tariff pay since 1 January 2021. The four-step apprentice pay table (1,204 to 1,484 EUR across the first to fourth training year) is also directly confirmed.
The Zukunftsbetrag - 23% of one month's pay since 2022 - is instead a nationwide IGBCE/BAVC framework entitlement, not specific to Nordrhein. Its use is decided at company level, so the calculator only counts it as cash once you explicitly select that option.
Nordrhein compared with Westfalen
Nordrhein and Westfalen negotiate separate agreements, even though both sit inside North Rhine-Westphalia. At E1 and E6 the two tables sit close together (E6 entry is exactly 3,651 EUR in both), but at E13 commercial, Westfalen's 7,363 EUR is already almost 60 EUR above Nordrhein's 7,304 EUR. Don't conflate the two regions just because they share a state.
The annual view: from monthly pay to the yearly total
Twelve monthly salaries at E6 entry level (3,651 EUR) come to an annual gross of 43,812 EUR from the table wage alone, before any special payment. Add the directly-confirmed annual bonus (100% of a month's pay, another 3,651 EUR) and holiday pay (1,200 EUR), and the annual cash total reaches 48,663 EUR - before any cash payout of the Zukunftsbetrag.
For E13 commercial (7,304 EUR), twelve months alone already total 87,648 EUR; for E13 technical (7,484 EUR) it's 89,808 EUR - a 2,160 EUR yearly gap from the variant alone, with the step itself unchanged.
Frequently asked questions
Does apprentice pay continue into an entry-level position after training?
No. The four-step apprentice table (1,204 to 1,484 EUR) only applies during training itself. After a successful qualification, pay group E6 applies instead, not a continuation of the apprentice table.
Why do commercial and technical E13 positions differ?
Both variants require extensive experience and specialist knowledge, but the nature of the work differs - commercially-oriented tasks are tariffed somewhat lower than technical ones, a distinction the state registry confirms is built directly into the table, not something that only emerged in practice.
Who this page is for
Use this table if your employer is assigned to the Chemische Industrie Nordrhein bargaining region - check that against your employment contract or payslip, not your home address. Then open the interactive calculator to add special payments and an optional net-pay estimate on top of the plain table wage.
Sources
- https://www.tarifregister.nrw.de/material/chemie_nordrhein2.pdf (NRW state Tarifregister - primary source for the 6 anchor cells in every period, the Ausbildungsvergütung table, Urlaubsgeld, Jahressonderzahlung, and the 37.5h working week; extracted via pdftotext -layout)
- 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 "NR | E" - the full E1-E13 ladder for April-2025; every one of the 6 anchor cells above matches this sheet exactly)