Germany is heading towards a debate on one of the most profound labor transformations in recent decades: the government wants to move away from the historical eight-hour workday limit and replace it with a system focused on the total number of hours worked per week.
The initiative, which would be presented to the Bundestag in June 2026, aims to make the organization of the workday more flexible and open the door to much more variable workweeks.
The proposal, at least on paper, does not imply an increase in the total number of hours worked. The official goal is to allow each employee to distribute their hours differently, according to their needs or the needs of the company. In practice, this could mean longer workdays on some days, which would then be compensated with fewer hours or even with complete days off later.
Currently, German law stipulates that the regular workday cannot exceed eight hours per day. In exceptional cases, it is permitted to reach ten hours, provided that the average over a six-month period respects the limit of eight hours per day. In addition, the maximum weekly hours allowed—including overtime—is 48 hours.
With the reform, the focus would shift from daily control to weekly calculation. In other words, as long as the total number of hours per week does not exceed 48, companies could reorganize shifts with greater freedom. For the German government, this would allow for a better adaptation of work to life.
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The labor initiative aims to make work schedules more flexible, allowing for more variable work weeks based on needs. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner. Germany is heading towards one of the most profound labor transformations in recent decades: the government wants to move away from the historical eight-hour workday limit and replace it with a system focused on the total weekly working hours. The initiative, which will be presented to the Bundestag in June 2026, aims to make work schedules more flexible and open the door to much more variable work weeks. The proposal does not, at least on paper, imply an increase in the total number of working hours. The official objective is to allow each employee to distribute their working hours differently according to their needs or the needs of the company. In practice, this could mean longer workdays on some days, followed by fewer hours or even complete days off later. Currently, German law stipulates that the regular workday cannot exceed eight hours. Only in exceptional cases is it permitted to reach ten hours, provided that the average over a six-month period respects the eight-hour daily limit. In addition, the maximum weekly hours allowed, including overtime, is 48 hours. The German Trade Union Confederation warns that eliminating the daily hour limit could expose workers to excessive working hours. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer. With the reform, the focus would shift from daily control to weekly calculation. In other words, as long as the total of 48 hours per week is not exceeded, companies could reorganize shifts with greater freedom. For the German government, this would allow for better adaptation of work to family life and to the changing demands of certain economic sectors. The project also includes modifications to other sensitive points of labor law. Currently, the law requires a minimum rest period of eleven hours between workdays and establishes mandatory breaks when the workload exceeds certain consecutive hours. These protective mechanisms are precisely some of the aspects that could be reviewed within the new framework. The political impetus to move forward with this reform arose after a ruling by the European Union Court of Justice in 2019, which required member states to guarantee an accurate record of working hours. Germany has not yet implemented a widespread timekeeping system, so the government is seeking to combine flexibility with mandatory electronic timekeeping to prevent abuses. The Minister of Labor, the Social Democrat Bärbel Bas, argues that digital monitoring of working hours will be key to preventing labor exploitation, especially in more precarious sectors such as logistics, delivery, and parcel services. The Minister of Labor, the Social Democrat Bärbel Bas. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch. However, the initiative has already sparked strong resistance from unions. The German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) warned that eliminating the daily limit could leave many workers exposed to excessive working hours, especially in companies where there are no strong collective agreements or strong union representation. For the unions, the problem is not only how many hours are worked per week, but how long a person can work continuously in a single day. The president of the DGB, Yasmin Fahimi, publicly questioned the project and defended the validity of the eight-hour workday as a historical achievement linked to health and social protection. At the same time, labor law experts began to warn about the potential effects of extreme flexibility. Studies prepared by the Hans Böckler Foundation indicate that, under the broader margins allowed by European law, there could be theoretical scenarios of up to 73.5 weekly working hours if there were no clear daily limit.