Germany Moves to Replace Eight-Hour Day with 48-Hour Weekly Cap

Germany’s federal coalition government has proposed a major change in how working hours are regulated: moving away from a daily cap toward a weekly maximum of 48 hours. If adopted, the reform would align national law more closely with the EU Working Time Directive, and could reshape everyday life for workers across sectors.

What’s Changing

Under current German law, the standard workday is limited to eight hours, with provisions allowing extension to ten hours in certain circumstances—provided the average over a reference period does not exceed eight hours per day. The new proposal would remove most of the daily limit, instead focusing primarily on capping total weekly hours at 48.

Rest periods and minimum protections are expected to remain in place—for example, rules around how many hours must pass between shifts. The exact mechanisms and details such as how daily spikes are handled, how much flexibility there is, and how enforcement will work are still under negotiation with trade unions and employer associations.

Driving Factors Behind the Proposal

Several motivations are being cited for the proposed shift:

• Flexibility in scheduling: Employers argue that many businesses, particularly those facing seasonal or demand fluctuations, would benefit from more leeway in how they allocate working hours.
• Economic pressures: Germany is grappling with slowing productivity growth, labour shortages, and demographic challenges. Reforms in working-time law are seen as a way to optimize labour use without necessarily increasing headcount.
• Alignment with EU rules: The EU Directive already prescribes maximum weekly hours, and harmonizing national law is viewed as reducing legal complexity and bringing Germany in line with broader European norms.

Evidence & Concerns: What Data Suggest

While proponents emphasize flexibility, several studies and surveys highlight potential costs:

• A recent report shows that working more than 48 hours per week is associated with significantly higher rates of emotional exhaustion among employees. Those in managerial or highly skilled roles are especially likely to both experience and choose longer working hours Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW).
• Among office workers, only a small minority currently regularly work days longer than ten hours, and only a modest share report shortened rest periods. However, rest period dynamics are already affected when private duties (child care, interrupted work schedules) force people to resume work in the evening Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW).
• Data detecting shortened rest periods: a sizeable portion of full-time workers (especially those working more than 48 hours weekly) experience less than the required eleven hours’ rest between workdays baua.de.

These findings suggest that while many workers do not yet face extreme daily overload, the shift to a weekly cap could make spikes more common or normalized, with associated risks for health, well-being, and work–life balance.

Potential Benefits

• Greater scheduling flexibility could help both employers and employees manage workloads and private life more dynamically. For instance, some workers may prefer fewer, longer days in exchange for extended weekends.
• Better utilization of overtime and peak demand: Firms in sectors like hospitality, logistics, retail may use flexible daily hours to respond to fluctuating demand without violating legal daily caps.
• Reduced legal friction: If contracts or collective agreements currently have to constantly accommodate “exceptional” rules for daily overload, streamlining regulation to weekly limits may simplify compliance and reduce disputes.

Risks and Trade-Offs

• Health implications: Rising evidence links long workdays and insufficient rest to physical and mental health burdens. Stress, burnout, sleep disorders, cardiovascular risk are among the concerns.
• Family life and gender equity: Workers with caregiving duties may be disproportionately affected. Women, in particular, are more likely to shoulder unpaid domestic or care work, compounding pressure when workdays stretch into evenings.
• Possibility of exploitation: Without strong oversight, there is potential for employers to push long hours as the norm, rather than exception, especially in sectors with weaker union representation or high flexibility demands.
• Rest and recovery: Even if weekly caps are observed, days with little rest or short recovery periods can accumulate adverse effects.

Public Opinion & Social Response

Public sentiment is mixed but shows significant cautiousness:

• A poll found that roughly 38 percent of respondents support the shift to weekly maximum hours, while about 20 percent oppose it and a similar size remain neutral.
• Many who are favourable cite improved weekend rest or more control over working days. Those opposed tend to worry about overwork, diminished health, or erosion of existing protections.

Trade unions have voiced strong scepticism, stressing that flexibility must not come at the cost of worker well-being. Employer associations are more optimistic, seeing opportunities for efficiency and adaptation in changing work-life norms.

Key Questions Yet to Be Resolved

• How long can a “day” be under the new system? Will there be explicit legal or contractual upper limits, or will daily extremes be tolerated as long as weekly totals balance out?
• What is the mechanism for averaging hours? How long is the reference period, and how is carry-over of hours handled?
• How will rest periods, night work, and on-call or interrupted work be regulated to avoid fatigue and risk?
• What legal safeguards and enforcement tools will ensure that workers are not pressured or forced into longer days against their will?
• How will small and medium businesses handle scheduling, recording, and compliance under more flexible but also more complex rules?

Ultimately, Germany is at a crossroads in defining how much flexibility its working time laws should allow. Replacing the daily cap with a 48-hour weekly limit could modernize the regulatory framework, fitting diverse work patterns better and potentially aiding productivity. But much hinges on how the reform is crafted—for example, how daily extremes and rest obligations are managed, and how worker protections are preserved.

If the law shifts as proposed, it could reshape both daily lives—especially for families and caregivers—and workplace norms across industries. The coming legislative process will determine whether this change becomes a net gain or introduces new burdens masked by promises of flexibility.

Source: Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW) baua.de