Overview

• Formal negotiations with employers, unions and the government have commenced to modernize the Working Time Act.
• BDA president Rainer Dulger is pushing to replace the eight-hour daily limit with a flexible weekly cap suited to digital-era work patterns.
• Trade unions led by DGB chair Yasmin Fahimi argue that eliminating the eight-hour day will fuel unpaid overtime and ignore workers’ real conditions.
• A Hugo Sinzheimer Institut study warns that allowing daily shifts beyond twelve hours could heighten accident rates and long-term health risks.
• Final legislation will depend on social partner agreements to ensure flexibility under collective contracts alongside robust rest and safety safeguards.