Particle.news
Download on the App Store

CSU Presses 2026 Overhaul of Germany’s Working-Time Law to Replace Daily Limits With Weekly Cap

The SPD signals conditional support with safeguards such as electronic time tracking, guaranteed pay, unchanged breaks.

Overview

  • CSU general secretary Martin Huber urges the government to launch the agreed weekly working-time model this year so reforms can take effect.
  • SPD labor committee chair Bernd Rützel backs a weekly framework only with protections that bar coercion into longer hours and require full pay for every recorded minute.
  • Chancellor Friedrich Merz reignited the issue by saying he would probably scrap the Arbeitszeitgesetz when asked which law he would remove.
  • Saxony’s minister-president Michael Kretschmer calls for a fundamental shift to weekly scheduling to increase flexibility and competitiveness, especially for eastern regions.
  • Trade unions and the Left warn a weekly cap could permit much longer single-day shifts and harm health and family life, with no bill yet tabled and details still unresolved.