Working Conditions in Germany
Permits
Germany is part of the EU. No special permits for EU members (including the Swiss) needed. Non-EU (f. e. US) collaborators need permits.
Union agreement
There is a union agreement between the „Allianz Deutscher Produzenten – Film & Fernsehen e.V.” and “Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft – ver.di”. The union agreement is not binding for all productions, but is the base for following info, as most of the filmmakers refer to the agreement.
Working Hours
- 40 — 65 hours a week. The minimum union salaries cover up to a 50 hrs week.
- 5 days a week — a 6th + 7th day is possible, but usually paid pro rata with a markup (25% for Saturdays and 75 % for Sundays)
- 8-13 hours a day (13th hour only under exceptional circumstances and particular shooting days even more, but approval of the entire crew would then be obligatory and the following turnaround 12 hours minimum). Exceptional circumstances are f. e. limited location availability, huge crowd scenes, weather problems, force majeure, unforeseen events beyond the producer’s responsibility.
- 11 hours minimum turnaround obligatory without exception (safety issue…). After 13 hours work the turnaround is 12 hours (union agreement). This applies if the crew member enters the 13th hour. If the working period is longer than 21 days a break of 2 x 2 days in a row is obligatory (meaning 2 weekends of 48 hrs + 11 turnaround).
- Flat fees (generated from the anticipated daily / weekly working hours and number of night shoots are common (up to 40% and more above minimum)
- Break: at least 45 minutes between the 5th and 6th hour (there is some flexibility though with regard to certain shooting conditions) After the 6th hour the break is paid.
- Shooting days longer than 10 hours require a second warm meal / break (minimum 15 minutes); after 12 hours another such break is obligatory — preferably both breaks should be merged
The actual collective agreement stipulates that two consecutive days of rest must be granted at least twice per month during shooting periods, and three consecutive days of rest must be granted from the second month onwards for longer productions with more than 40 days of shooting. After a night shoot into the weekend, a rest period of 48 hours and a further eleven hours must follow at least twice per month after the end of the shooting day. For work at weekends, a general surcharge of 25% will apply from September. The existing Sunday supplement will be increased from 50% to 75%.
Overtime
week
- from the 51st to the 60th hour + 25%
- from the 61st on + 50%
day
- 13th hour + 60%
- from 14th hour on + 100%
- Night work is considered between 22:00 and 06:00 and requires a markup of 25%
- A very complicated “time account” computation has been introduced recently (see www.gagenrechner.de) however don’t implement it to your budget, it only slightly increases employers fringes in some cases.
- Sundays require a markup of 100% + Extra day off or paid vacation day (Sundays can be part of a 5-day week and no markup can be up to negotiation)
- Holidays require a markup of 100% + Extra day off or paid vacation day
- Both, Sundays and public holidays, require special shooting permits (including permission costs)
- For each Sunday on which work was performed, a paid day of rest must be granted as compensation on a working day. This also applies to public holidays if work was performed on them. If this day of rest cannot be granted, an additional day of paid leave shall be granted. For work on Saturdays, a surcharge of 25% shall be paid in principle and in addition to the pro rata salary. For work on Sundays, a surcharge of 75% shall be paid in addition to the pro rata fee, and 100% on public holidays.
- If shooting on distant location (at least 20km from the border of the municipality of residence), working hours count between departure of / return to hotel. They are payed, but don´t count as overtime.
Social Insurances
These figures depend on two variables: the actual salary (with a cap per week or day) and the length of employment. These are the 2019 rough caps for:
- Health: per month € 4,537.50
- Pension: per month € 7,100.00
These apply to crew and cast. Fringes are roughly split 50/50 between employer and employee (for health / long term care insurances, only employees have to pay additionally 0.9% / 0.25%). These are the current employer’s shares (varying slightly from year to year):
- pension insurance 9.3% (under 70 social insured days in the year 7,8%)
- health insurance 8.1%
- compulsory long term care insurance 1.525 %
- unemployment insurance 1.3%
- employer’s liability insurance association 2.92% (cap 75,000)
- employer’s insolvency fund 0.06%
- contribution to continuation of payments to sick employees and pregnancy 1.3%
- holiday entitlement 10% (half a day per week)
Total fringes to be paid by the employer amount to an average of approx. 23% plus the additional 10% holiday entitlement (on this holiday entitlement again 23 % of fringes must get budgeted). For budget purposes this average is not very precise but practically — due to the cap, for the lowest salaries the highest percentages apply, for the highest salaries much lower percentages instead. The average therefore depends on the numeric relation between low paid and high paid crew members.
‘Creative’ crew members (such as production designers, conceptional artists etc.) entitled to issue invoices for their activities, are subject to KSK (artist’s social insurance) contributions: 4,2 % in 2021 (also their invoiced rented equipment is subject to 4,2 % KSK as well).
Cast has to be insured not only for shooting days, but also for additional preparation days as follows:
- up to 2 shooting days 3 additional insurance days
- up to 4 shooting days 4 additional insurance days
- up to 7 shooting days 5 additional insurance days
- up to 11 shooting days 6 additional insurance days
- up to 15 shooting days 7 additional insurance days
- up to 19 shooting days 8 additional insurance days
- up to 24 shooting days 9 additional insurance days
- up to 28 shooting days 10 additional insurance days
- up to 33 shooting days 11 additional insurance days
- up to 37 shooting days 12 additional insurance days
- up to 42 shooting days 13 additional insurance days
- up to 46 shooting days 14 additional insurance days
- up to 50 shooting days 15 additional insurance days
Actors working below one week per month (minimum 7 shoot days) have to be paid the entire month in social security (pension, healthcare but not unemployment fringes), which leads to much higher payments in social security for the actors. This regulation is called "disrupted engagement" and was created to give the actors bigger pensions. So, if an actor is engaged on 2 shooting days in i.e. January and 1 day in February the full insurance for two months must get paid.
Rates
Please refer to the crew rates, applicable from April 2021.
These are absolute minimum rates are usually applied to TV productions for max. 50 hrs / week. For theatrical movies, they can increase by 50% or even more, depending on experience, reputation and track record.
Electricians and grips are not yet included in union agreements: the usual (10 hrs) rate for a gaffer is about € 360 (in reality, because 10 hrs are rarely sufficient, between 450 — 500 per day, for a key / dolly grip about € 340,- (400 — 450), for a lighting technician about € 320,- (360).
It is not allowed to substitute a regular job with a trainee/intern!
Trainees/ interns fall under the minimum wage law since Jan 2015. Exceptions are obligatory internships during studies or internships for job orientation (up to 3 months and only one internship in a specific professional area is allowed).
The compulsory minimum wage in 2024 amounts to € 12,42 / hour. From 1st of January 2025 this raises to € 12,84 / hour.
For precise details, look at the union agreements, linked HERE
Allowances
Per diems are € 30 per day (24 hours) for domestic journeys, minus 20% if breakfast is provided, minus 40% if lunch is provided, minus 40% if dinner is provided.
For absence from home for less than 24 hrs but more than 14 hrs the amount is reduced to € 15.
These amounts are tax free for the employee — higher per diems can be negotiated (and often are for name actors for example) but are subject to taxation then.
Mileage allowances for the use of a car owned by the employee usually amount to € 0.38 / km from the 21. Km (sometimes daily or weekly flat amounts are being negotiated).
Actors' Rates
There are no minimum fees, beginners are paid +/- € 500, but fees usually start at € 900. A good actor will be paid between € 2,500 - € 5,000 per day, a German ‘star’ up to € 10,000 – 15,000 per day. Depending on the amount of shooting days, flat deals, reducing the ‘normal’ daily fee, are customary.
Extras
120 Euros per day at 10 hours+ 45 min lunch unpaid (including fringes). Markups are being paid for interviews, fittings, Corona-tests etc. (€ 20 per fitting). From the 11th hour Overtime at + 25% applies, from the 13th hours + 50 %
Funding
On these links, you find downloadable PDF files for the German Cash Rebate:
- DFFF (cash rebate): dfff-ffa.de/guidelines.html
- DFFF 2 (cash rebate): dfff-ffa.de/index.php?dfff-2-en
- This is the link for DFFF application forms including Test of Characteristics for Feature Films as PDFs: dfff-ffa.de/filing-an-application.html
- A link to the GMPF (German Motion Picture Fund) www.ffa.de/german-motion-picture-fund...
- Note: since October 2018,s rules have changed – the GMPF does not support feature films any longer – just TV series and movies, unlike its name seems to indicate!!!
Sources of Information
- connexx.av: www.connexx-av.de/…
- Directors Guild: http://www.regieverband.de/
- Producers Guild: http://www.bv-produktion.de
- Network: http://www.crew-united.com
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