Is Germany's eight-hour workday under threat?

Germany’s Working Hours Act normally limits employees to eight hours per day. A day can reach ten hours when overtime is balanced with later time off. Workers must also receive at least 11 hours between shifts. The rule matters because employers want more flexibility, while unions fear longer days could damage health and family life.

The 2025 coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and SPD proposes changing the system. Instead of focusing mainly on a daily limit, it would allow a maximum weekly working time, in line with the European Working Time Directive. The agreement also says the change should support a better work-life balance.

The rule is therefore under political pressure, not already abolished. A ministry draft from June 2026 proposed safeguards, including collective agreements, health and safety rules, and electronic tracking. Employers support greater flexibility, while parts of the SPD and trade unions resist changes that could pressure workers into longer shifts.

For most employees, Germany’s standard daily limit is eight hours. Employers may extend a day to ten hours if workers receive compensatory time off for the extra hours. Between two shifts, employees must have at least 11 hours of rest. These rules are designed to limit fatigue while allowing some operational flexibility.

Certain sectors have exceptions. Workers in power plants, refineries, and the chemical industry may work up to 12 hours at a time. Similar longer shifts are allowed in emergency services, health care, and security services. At UPM’s Leuna facility, continuous 12-hour shifts operate with works council approval.

The European Working Time Directive allows a maximum weekly working time of 48 hours. The coalition agreement proposes using a weekly rather than daily limit. The exact future rules remain unsettled, because employers want flexibility and unions demand stronger protections for health and worker choice.

The eight-hour rule has exceptions for work that must continue without interruption or respond quickly to urgent needs. The article identifies power plants, refineries, chemical industry facilities, emergency services, health care, and security services. In these areas, employees may work up to 12 hours at a time under existing permissions.

UPM’s biorefinery in Leuna provides a concrete example. Its facilities operate continuously on 12-hour shifts after approval by the works council. A shift supervisor described the arrangement as a three-day work week, which Chancellor Friedrich Merz presented as giving workers more time for their families.

These exceptions do not mean every German workplace can impose 12-hour days. The general daily rules remain in place, while specific sectors can use approved arrangements. The broader reform debate asks whether similar flexibility should become available more widely, with safeguards such as collective agreements, health rules, and electronic time records.

In their 2025 coalition agreement, the CDU/CSU and SPD agreed to reform Germany’s Working Hours Act. Their central idea was to permit a maximum weekly working time instead of relying primarily on a daily maximum. This would give employers and employees more room to arrange hours around changing workloads and personal needs.

The agreement explicitly connected the proposal to the European Working Time Directive. It also said the reform should promote a better work-life balance. That could mean allowing someone to handle a family commitment during the day and continue working later, rather than following one fixed block of hours.

The agreement did not itself create the new rules. A June 2026 ministry draft proposed conditions for any schedule changes, including collective bargaining agreements between employers and unions, health and safety protections, and electronic working-time records. The SPD accepted the broader direction despite preferring to leave the law unchanged.

The proposed reform has not produced agreement because the sides want different protections and freedoms. Business groups say the current rules are too rigid for seasonal work, projects, and sudden workload peaks. They argue that a weekly limit would let companies organize staff more efficiently. Employers also point to the European 48-hour weekly allowance.

Trade unions, including Verdi, warn that longer workdays could harm employees’ health. They fear workers with family or caregiving duties could be disadvantaged, and that employers might pressure staff to accept very long shifts. The SPD is divided as well. Some members support flexibility only when it is genuinely voluntary and balanced.

A June 2026 ministry draft tried to bridge the divide. It required collective bargaining agreements for schedule changes, health and safety rules, and electronic time tracking. The CDU/CSU immediately rejected the draft, while union and SPD resistance continued. The article therefore presents a contested reform, not a settled law.

Flexible schedules can change how people divide work and free time. A longer shift may produce more consecutive days away from work, as at UPM’s Leuna facility, where a supervisor described three-day work weeks. Supporters say such arrangements can give families more usable time and help businesses cover continuous operations.

The risks are also clear in the debate. Verdi says significantly longer workdays could harm employees’ health. Workers with children or caregiving responsibilities could be disadvantaged, especially if shifts are imposed rather than chosen. SPD spokesperson Annika Klose gave the example of taking a child to football practice and working afterward, not being ordered into a 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. shift.

The proposed safeguards aim to shape that balance. They include collective bargaining agreements, health and safety rules, and electronic records of working time. Whether reform improves work-life balance will depend on how much real choice workers have and how strictly those protections are applied.

The European Working Time Directive is the European framework cited in Germany’s working-hours debate. The article identifies one central provision: it allows a maximum weekly working time of 48 hours. This gives countries a weekly ceiling that can support different daily schedules, provided other protections are respected.

German employers say the country is failing to use that available flexibility. BDA president Rainer Dulger argues that the 48-hour allowance is used almost everywhere else, but not in Germany. Business groups therefore support replacing the strict daily focus with a weekly maximum, especially for seasonal, project-based, or irregular work.

The 2025 coalition agreement adopts that direction in principle. It proposes a maximum weekly rather than daily working time, while also mentioning better work-life balance. The directive shapes the debate, but it does not automatically rewrite Germany’s law. National lawmakers still must settle safeguards, worker choice, and the conditions for longer shifts.