Germany’s labour minister Bärbel Bas has presented a draft reform of the country’s Working Hours Act that would introduce greater flexibility—but only for companies bound by collective bargaining agreements. The proposal, which keeps the standard eight-hour daily limit intact, has drawn sharp criticism from business associations, the opposition, and workplace psychologists alike.
Under the outlined changes, unionised employers could shift from a daily to a weekly maximum working time. Across a twelve-month averaging period, employees in those firms could work up to 48 hours per week. However, barely a quarter of German companies—roughly 24 percent—are covered by a collective agreement, representing about 49 percent of the workforce. The Federal Association of Medium-Sized Construction Companies (BVMB) called the draft inadequate, demanding that the flexibility be opened to all businesses. Conservative politicians swiftly joined the protest. CDU general secretary Carsten Linnemann rejected the plan outright, and MP Florian Müller argued that the current law no longer fits a workplace where evening emails repeatedly break rest periods.
A second pillar of the reform mandates electronic timekeeping. Employers would be required to record the start, end, and duration of each working day on the same day. Trust-based working time would remain permissible only if tracking is guaranteed. The phase-in periods are staggered: one year after the law takes effect for most firms, two years for companies with fewer than 250 employees, five years for those with fewer than 50. Micro-enterprises with up to ten staff and agricultural businesses may qualify for partial exemptions. Still, the agricultural employers’ association warned of a heavy bureaucratic burden, estimating one-off transition costs for the economy at roughly €76.7 million, offset by projected annual savings of €168.6 million from more efficient processes.
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Health researchers have raised red flags over the proposed relaxation. The AOP-GA initiative, backed by professional bodies including the German Psychological Society (DGPs), pointed to evidence that overly long workdays reduce performance and increase the risk of mental illness, absenteeism, and turnover. The experts urged lawmakers to preserve existing protective standards rather than dilute them. Employees themselves show little appetite for longer shifts: a survey by the German Trade Union Federation (DGB) found that around 75 percent of workers want to clock no more than eight hours a day.
Not everyone agrees. Martin Brudermüller, chairman of the supervisory board at Mercedes-Benz, has called for a return to the 40-hour week across the board to safeguard Germany’s international competitiveness. His reasoning: labour in Germany has become too expensive relative to other countries—either wages must fall or hours must rise at the same pay.
The political fault lines run deep. The Union parties denounce the draft as overly bureaucratic and demand more freedom for both employees and employers, regardless of union coverage. Within the CDU’s own labour wing (CDA), however, the eight-hour day is seen as a historic achievement, and overtime levels in many industries are already high. Public opinion is divided: a YouGov poll found that about 38 percent of respondents support shifting to a weekly rather than daily calculation of working hours.
The draft now enters the legislative process, where fierce parliamentary debates are expected given the wide range of conflicting positions.
