Overview

• Germany’s part-time employment rate reached 29% in 2024, one of the highest in the EU, with 48% of women and 12% of men working part-time
• Full-time employees average 40.2 hours per week, just below the EU average of 40.3 hours, while total weekly hours including part-timers stand at 34.8 hours
• The governing coalition has proposed scrapping the eight-hour daily cap in favor of a weekly maximum to bolster productivity and introduce greater scheduling flexibility
• A survey by the Institute for Employment Research found 73% of German workers reject lifting daily limits, though 45% of full-timers would take on more overtime for tax-free bonuses
• Younger employees show the strongest response to incentives, with 60% of under-30s willing to extend overtime for tax breaks and a third of part-timers open to permanent hour increases for bonuses