Will employees in Germany be working longer shifts in the future?

Local Germany

16-04-2025

As CDU leader Friedrich Merz prepares to be sworn in as Chancellor this May, he has set himself one primary goal: getting the economy moving again.
Facing sluggish growth and back-to-back recessions, Germany has been slowly regaining its unflattering reputation as the "sick man of Europe" - a mantle it last shook off in the mid-2000s. For Merz, who wants Europe's largest economy to also become its strongest, the answer is drastic reform.
Alongside other structural issues, one of the key things holding Germany back is its chronic shortage of workers. With the so-called Baby Boomer generation retiring in their droves, there aren't enough young and qualified employees to plug the widening skills gap.
For the incoming government, there are two answers to this: more immigration, and getting people working more. For the first, the black-red coalition want to make it quicker and easier for skilled workers to move to the country and get their qualifications recognised. For the second, a number of new tax breaks and amendments are underway.
How does Merz want to get people working more?
In the coalition pact set out at the start of April, Merz has taken a two-pronged approach, with incentives for overtime as well as changes to existing workers' rights laws.
In future, the government will encourage employees to take on extra hours with a new 'tax-free overtime' rule. If this sounds a little too good to be true, it is: the tax exemption only applies to overtime bonuses, rather than the hourly wage itself.
READ ALSO:
Is Germany set for a €15 an hour minimum wage?
So if a worker is contracted to work 40 hours per week for €20 per hour, and earns €30 per hour for overtime, €10 of every overtime hour they work will effectively be tax-free. Workers in hospitality, care, logistics or other industries with night shifts and unsociable hours are likely to get the most out of these new incentives.
Advertisement
For pensioners, there's an even more generous scheme in the pipeline. Under the parties' plans, people of pension age could earn up to €2,000 per month tax free for staying in work for longer.
More controversially, the CDU/CSU and SPD are also planning a shake-up of current working time regulations. Instead of the current eight hours per day, the parties want to move to a weekly maximum of 48 hours, which they say will give employers and their workers more "flexibility".
What are people saying?
Particularly in industries like care and hospitality, employers' associations have been thrilled at the news that regulated working hours in Germany could be re-jigged.
"This gives hotels, restaurants, caterers and their employees more flexible options for reconciling working hours," said Sandra Warden, chief executive of the gastronomy association DEHOGA.
Meanwhile, Isabell Halletz, CEO of the association of care employers, said the move reflected the more flexible working hours permitted during the pandemic.
"The employees actually handled the additional room for manoeuvre very responsibly," she told MDR. "And they had the feeling that they could set their own individual working hours."
A care home in Filderstadt, southern Germany. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Marijan Murat
Trade unions, however, have sounded the alarm. Many warn that tax-free overtime could lead to a quiet erosion of working conditions, and that these policies could push employees to work longer hours as an obligation rather than a choice.
According to the Federal Association of Unions (DGB), longer work days could also threaten the health of employees in the long run.
"Employees who do not have strong union representation behind them are at risk of having to work 13-hour shifts," DGB director Yasmin Fahimi told the
Augsburger Allgemeine
. "Parcel delivery workers, for example, are already working far too long shifts."
These long shifts will be "legitimised" by the shift in working hour regulations, the association warned.
Unions have called for protections against abuse to be written into the law.
READ ALSO:
What are the results of Germany's four day work week trial?
What are the current rules around working hours?
Germany's working time laws - among the strictest in Europe - limit the standard working day to eight hours.
This can be extended to ten hours during busy periods, but only if average working hours over six months don't exceed eight hours per day.
Employees are entitled to at least eleven hours of rest between shifts, and work on Sundays and public holidays is generally prohibited, with limited exceptions.
Advertisement
Working hours tend to be dictated by workers' employment contracts and wider collective agreements, which specify a certain number of contracted hours per week. But generally, these hours can be extended in agreement with the employer, as long as they stay within the bounds of German law.
If the law does change, the incoming government says they want to consult with employees and employers first. They suggest this will help them amend the law in a socially responsible way.