Overview
- An official DGB survey of 4,018 employees finds 53% want shorter weekly hours, 40% are satisfied and 7% want more, with work organisation (63%), workload (60%) and insufficient pay (59%) cited as the main barriers.
- Women most often point to income constraints (66%) when unable to cut hours, while men most often cite rigid processes (66%); among those wanting more hours, 51% blame workflows and 36% say supervisors refuse increases.
- DGB chair Yasmin Fahimi argues employer decisions, not the Working Time Act, block desired changes, noting roughly 2.5 million part-time workers would work more but are turned down.
- A WSI study reports nearly three quarters fear negative effects if the daily cap is replaced by rules allowing days over 10 hours, and notes 12% already exceed 10 hours on some days, while the hospitality lobby Dehoga presses for weekly limits.
- Contrasting IW research says 77% could imagine working more if conditions improved, with lower taxes and social contributions, more home office options and flexible scheduling among key prerequisites.