Overview
- Government SME envoy Gitta Connemann urged abolishing the Reformation Day public holiday, which is observed on 31 October in nine northern and eastern states, arguing Germany needs more working time.
- Connemann also called for ending telephone sick notes, pointing to rising employer costs for continued wage payments that companies estimate at about €82 billion a year.
- Linke leader Jan van Aken rejected the idea and instead pressed to make Reformation Day a nationwide holiday, while the Protestant EKD defended its cultural significance.
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently named Whit Monday as a theoretical candidate yet stated there is no societal consensus to remove any holiday and said none will be abolished.
- Economic institutes offer conflicting assessments of potential GDP gains from dropping a holiday, polling shows large majorities oppose cuts, and state authority over holidays makes rapid change unlikely.