Overview

• The CDU/CSU–SPD coalition proposes replacing the current eight-hour daily limit with a flexible weekly cap to modernize labor regulations.
• Officials say the reform aims to boost scheduling flexibility and help address persistent labor shortages by balancing longer and shorter workdays.
• An IW study of over 8,600 office employees based on a 2021 BAuA survey found no significant increase in exhaustion or health issues among those working ten-hour days.
• The Hugo Sinzheimer Institut and major trade unions such as the DGB counter that extended workdays carry proven health risks and threaten nearly a century of worker protections.
• A YouGov survey shows 38 percent support for the weekly cap and 20 percent opposition, with opinions diverging along political, gender and educational lines.