Germany's plan for more flexible working hours: What you need to know

Germany’s CDU/CSU-SPD coalition government is planning to shake up the country’s working hour laws. How might the German working week look different in the near future?

What is the German government’s plan to change working hours?

In April, Germany’s CDU/CSU-SPD government announced in its coalition agreement that it would, “according to the European working hours directive, introduce maximum weekly working hours instead of maximum daily working hours”. 

Put plainly, if the directive is adopted, the eight-hour working day will no longer be the standard in Germany. The European directive outlines that employees can work a maximum of 48 hours within a seven-day period and can work a maximum of 10 hours per day, rather than eight. When it comes to time off, employees must have at least 11 hours off between each 10-hour shift.

Currently, employees in Germany are limited to working a maximum of eight hours per day. In exceptional circumstances, this can be extended to 10 hours per day, provided that, within six months (or 24 weeks), the overall average working time does not exceed eight hours per day.

The coalition has yet to hammer out the details of the new German directive with employers and trade unions. Existing collective bargaining agreements would not be affected by the changes.

Why does the German government want to change working hours?

“Our wealth, our social security system, but also the functional capabilities of our country rely upon us being productive,” CDU general secretary Carsten Linnemann recently told RND when discussing the government’s plan.

With the German economy now in recession for two years, the coalition is scrambling for new ways to increase productivity. A record-high worker shortage, financially insecure businesses reluctant to take on new employees and a rapidly ageing population are among specific challenges compounding the problem.

“We will never preserve this country’s wealth with a four-day week and work-life balance,” Linnemann told the public broadcaster. Others see the coalition’s planned approach entirely differently. Economists Amélie Sutter-Kipping and Laurens Brandt of the Hugo Sinzheimer Institute warn that working longer shifts leads to employees becoming sick more frequently.

According to Süddeutsche Zeitung, working longer than eight hours per day significantly endangers employees' health, namely increasing their chance of stress-related illnesses, cancer and diabetes. Indeed, a four-day week trial carried out in Germany in 2024 found that reduced hours improved employees’ productivity, physical and mental health.

How do people in Germany feel about the shift?

So, how do Germany’s employees feel about the prospect of rearranging their working hours? According to a dpa poll carried out by YouGov, 38 percent of respondents are in favour of the government’s plans, 20 percent are opposed and 37 percent are neutral.

Despite the CDU’s increased dismissal of the four-day week model, support for the new plan is particularly strong (82 percent in favour) among those who work regular Monday to Friday hours, since a 10-hour day would allow more workers to have a three-day weekend.