The following table represents a MINIMUM FEE GUIDE for our members. Except in well-founded exceptional cases, the minimum fees listed here should not be undercut. Such exceptions may include: non-commercial projects, student and debut films, or “favor-based collaborations.” The demand for these minimum fees is based on the professional roles defined by the ADU and reflects the high qualifications of its members.

The listed minimum fees were derived from an extensive anonymous survey conducted within the ADU, based on over 350 data sets. The survey includes fees and data from the years 2022 to 2024.
We believe this minimum fee proposal to be fair in both directions: fair to our qualified members, whose working time is compensated accordingly without fundamentally challenging the existing fee structure, and fair to production companies, as we offer not only the industry-standard 50-hour model but also tiered flat-rate models.
These alternatives are still based on a 5-day work week but allow for the possibility to waive the overtime surcharges defined by the TV FFS agreement within the set hour limits. Any overtime exceeding these flat-rate models must still be recorded precisely and compensated with all applicable surcharges as outlined in the TV FFS.

The ADU Minimum Fee Table includes three weekly working hour models. In addition to the standard 50-hour rates for 5-day weeks (plus all applicable surcharges in accordance with the TV FFS agreement), we also offer tiered flat-rate models for 55 and 60 hours per week, also based on a 5-day work week.
In these flat-rate models, working hours from 51 to 55 or 56 to 60, along with the corresponding standard overtime surcharges, are already included. The goal is to offer a simplified compensation model for time-intensive, demanding productions in which the majority of overtime hours are handled in a straightforward and transparent way.
However, unused hours within an agreed flat-rate model cannot be deducted or carried over to offset weeks with longer working hours.
We also wish to clarify that, under the current TV FFS agreement (as of 01.01.2025), even in the 50-hour model, surcharges may become applicable before the 50-hour threshold is reached (see Section 5.4.3.2). Such surcharges are notincluded in our 50-hour rate and must be fully compensated according to the collective agreement.
The ADU expressly rejects any further flat-rate arrangements outside the models mentioned above—especially as exceeding 60 working hours per week is no longer permitted (see TV FFS Section 5.2.5). This also applies explicitly to pre-production periods.

All other provisions of the TV FFS agreement, in its most current version, apply to ADU members regardless of the fee negotiated. This includes, in particular, regulations on vacation, surcharges (for night work, work on the 6th and 7th day of the week, Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays), as well as per diems and contributions to pension funds and/or other retirement schemes.
Additionally, for every additional working day beyond the standard 5-day week, a full daily rate is to be paid.
These provisions cannot be offset against so-called “above-scale” fees and therefore remain fully valid and unaffected.

The ADU is firmly opposed to any violation of rest and break times and advocates for the introduction of shift systemsin critical situations. If, in exceptional cases, it is not productionally feasible to fully grant the required rest and break periods, any shortened rest time may only be compensated as overtime with full surcharges, and only with the explicit consent of the employee.