When a German work-visa application is refused or sent back, the reason is more often salary than law. Germany has three overlapping pay floors — the statutory minimum wage, sector minimum wages, and collective agreements — and the FEG routes sit on top of them. Getting the classification right before filing is the single highest-value thing an employer can do.
The Three Floors
1. Statutory minimum wage. €13.90 per hour in 2026, applying to essentially all employment in Germany.
2. Sector minimum wages. Several sectors have their own minimum above the national floor, declared generally binding (allgemeinverbindlich) so they apply to every employer in the sector regardless of membership: construction, building cleaning, care, and others. In these sectors there is no option to pay the national minimum.
3. Collective agreements (Tarifverträge). Negotiated by sector and region — IG Metall for metal and electrical, DEHOGA for hospitality, the public-sector and church agreements for care. They bind employers who are members of the signatory association or who apply the agreement contractually.
How the FEG Floor Interacts
The experience-based route requires either a wage set by an applicable collective agreement, or roughly €43,000 gross per year where no agreement binds the employer. That "or" is the detail employers miss.
- If a collective agreement applies, its grid governs — even where the figure is below €43,000
- If no agreement binds you, the FEG floor applies — even where local market pay is lower
The second case is where cases fail, especially in eastern Germany and in sectors without strong agreements. A wage that is entirely normal locally can sit below the FEG floor and stop the application.
What the Federal Employment Agency Checks
At pre-approval, the BA verifies that pay and conditions are comparable to those of German employees doing the same work. It compares against the applicable agreement or regional norms. A contract that pays the foreign worker less than a comparable German colleague is refused — this is the equal-treatment principle, and it is checked, not assumed.
Where Classification Goes Wrong
- Job title inflation. A "senior technician" title with an operator's salary flags immediately
- Hourly roles projected wrong. The annual figure must reflect actual contracted hours, not a best case with overtime
- Accommodation deductions. Deducting housing cost cannot push effective pay below the minimum wage
- Assuming shortage status lowers the floor. It lowers the Blue Card threshold only — not the FEG floor or the agreement
The Practical Check
Before scoping any German requirement we ask three questions: which agreement, if any, binds you; what grade this role sits at; and what the resulting gross annual figure is. If the answer is below the FEG floor and no agreement binds, we say so before anyone is shortlisted rather than after the BA says it.
More on the routes in the FEG employer guide, and on compliance in employer obligations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can we pay less than €43,000 if our collective agreement says so?
Yes. Where a collective agreement binds the employer, its wage grid governs the experience-based route even if the figure is below the FEG floor. The floor applies only where no agreement binds you.
Does a shortage occupation reduce the salary requirement?
It reduces the EU Blue Card threshold to €45,934.20 in 2026. It does not change the FEG floor for the experience-based route or any collective agreement obligation.
