Recommendation on minimum fee levels
The State Association of Independent Theatres in Saxony (LFTS) is the representative body for all self-employed artists and cultural practitioners, as well as independent groups, production houses, and theatres within the independent performing arts sector in Saxony.
As one of 16 state associations, it is a member of the Federal Association of Independent Performing Arts (BFDK). In addition, eight other nationwide performing arts associations are affiliated with the BFDK. Altogether, the BFDK represents around 27,000 independent dance and theatre professionals across Germany.
With its recommendation of minimum fee guidelines (HUG), the federal association aims to improve the social conditions of solo self-employed practitioners in the performing arts. Since 2015, these minimum fee guidelines have provided orientation for negotiating fees, budgeting projects, and structuring funding programmes. The HUG have been revised several times at the federal level - most recently increased significantly in 2022 and 2026 - and are now widely established across Germany as a professional reference framework for fee negotiations, project budgeting, and funding schemes. Since 1 July 2024, minimum fees based on the BFDK’s HUG recommendations have been made binding within federal cultural funding for the performing arts.
The State Association of Independent Theatres in Saxony supports the minimum fee guidelines and recommends them to its members and to funding institutions in the Free State of Saxony as a binding framework for the calculation of fees.
Based on this, the LFTS has compiled a document intended to facilitate the application of the minimum fee guidelines, illustrate the calculation of project-based fees, and raise awareness of the additional costs and efforts that solo self-employed practitioners must consider compared to employees. The association thus issues a recommendation addressed to both funding bodies and freelancers. Both sides must take responsibility to ensure that the minimum fee - intended as a lower threshold, not an average - is actually realized.
Our guideline was first presented in November 2023 during the Fair Pay Workshop, a collaborative event between the LFTS, the Thuringian Theatre Association (Thüringer Theaterverband e.V.), and the Federal Association of Independent Performing Arts (BFDK), and was most recently updated in May 2026 based on the new recommendations.