Germany's 12-Hour Workday Plan Stirs a Cross-Sector Clash Over Time, Exhaustion, and Flexibility

Germany's labour ministry plans to allow 12-hour daily shifts while keeping EU 48-hour week. Unions warn of employee exhaustion amid transit strikes and new collective deals.

Germany’s labour ministry is preparing to let employers schedule shifts of up to 12 hours, a move that unions call a “disservice” to workers and that arrives as separate disputes over hours are playing out in public transport, policing, and emergency services across the country.

Federal Labour Minister Bärbel Bas is set to unveil a draft bill in June 2026 to overhaul the Arbeitszeitgesetz (Working Hours Act). The core proposals: mandatory electronic time-tracking and a shift from daily to weekly maximum working hours. The EU-wide 48-hour week and the mandatory 11-hour rest period would remain untouched, but daily shifts could legally run as long as 12 hours — up from the current standard of eight and the already-permitted ten in certain cases.

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The German Trade Union Federation (DGB) in Lower Saxony immediately pushed back, warning that the extra flexibility would let employers demand shifts of up to 13 hours. “This is a disservice to employees,” the DGB said, citing its “Good Work” index, which shows only 40 percent of workers are satisfied with their hours. More than half of all respondents want shorter working days. Among women who report no conflict between job and family, 34 percent still say they feel exhausted after their shift.

Transit strike talks stall as police and firefighters agree new terms

That fatigue is already a flashpoint in Lower Saxony’s public transport sector. After a sixth round of negotiations on 4 June 2026, the employers’ association KAV and the Verdi union agreed to enter mediation. Verdi is demanding shorter weekly hours, improved shift plans, and higher bonuses. Employers offered an additional vacation day starting in 2027 — a step the union rejected as insufficient. Warning strikes in Hannover, Braunschweig, and Göttingen had already paralysed local bus and tram services.

In Austria, a different model is taking shape. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner held the fifth round of talks with police personnel representatives on 1 June 2026, aiming to modernise shift schedules for the first time in more than 50 years. The tentative deal reduces weekend duty hours from 48 to 40. Across five pilot districts, half of all officers will be allowed to work 24-hour shifts in exchange for a €600 premium.

Meanwhile, Hamburg’s emergency services have set their own benchmark. The German Fire Brigade Union (DFeuG) signed its first in-house collective agreement with the ASB ambulance service on 3 June 2026. It guarantees a 39.5-hour week and 30 days of annual leave, plus night-work supplements of 20 percent, Sunday pay of 25 percent, and holiday pay of 35 percent. Sick employees receive full net pay for up to 26 weeks.

Courts draw lines on vacation, sick leave, and office streaming

The judiciary is also reshaping workplace boundaries. The Thuringia State Labour Court ruled on 2 March 2026 that company policies capping consecutive vacation at two weeks are invalid. Under the Federal Vacation Act, employees are entitled to at least 12 consecutive working days of leave — a floor, not a ceiling.

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A separate case from the Heilbronn Labour Court in March 2026 sided with an employer who refused to pay an employee who took sick leave immediately after a holiday period. The court found that the sick note’s credibility was undermined because its duration exactly matched a previously denied request to extend the vacation. Germany’s Federal Court of Justice had already clarified in 2025 that in such scenarios the burden of proof shifts to the worker.

On a lighter note, legal experts have confirmed that while listening to radio broadcasts of football matches at work is generally acceptable as long as colleagues are not disturbed, streaming video is not a right. Employers can issue warnings or even dismissals for unauthorised streaming. A survey of 1,100 employees found that 59 percent schedule their viewing around kick-off times, and 28 percent stay awake past midnight for international matches.