Germany’s Home-Office Split: Chancellor Preaches Hard Work While Ministries Embrace Full Flexibility

Germany failed to meet the EU pay transparency deadline, exposing a disconnect between reform ambitions and generous home-office policies that clash with Chancellor Merz's work-ethic demands.

Germany has failed to meet a European Union deadline for implementing pay transparency rules, raising the latest disconnect between the coalition government’s reform ambitions and its internal operations. The EU’s pay-transparency directive was due to be transposed into national law by June 7, but Berlin missed the cut-off—leaving public-sector employees free to invoke the EU rules directly. The gender pay gap in Germany stands at 15.6 percent, and Family Minister Karin Prien has promised a “bureaucracy-light” implementation process.

The missed deadline highlights a broader paradox inside the government. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) has publicly called for a stronger work ethic and rejected concepts such as the four-day week. Yet several of his own ministries grant staff the right to work remotely with almost no limits. A recent internal report found that multiple departments impose little or no mandatory in-office presence.

At the Defence Ministry, led by Boris Pistorius, there is no cap on mobile working. The Chancellery and the Environment Ministry also allow up to 100 percent home office. The Health Ministry goes even further: its so-called “Mallorca rule” permits employees to work remotely from other EU countries after a simple notification. Similar arrangements exist at the Justice and Family ministries, subject to prior approval or notification.

The Interior Ministry takes a harder line, capping mobile work at 60 percent, but with a twist—holiday and sick days count as in-office days. The Foreign Office is the strictest, limiting remote work to 40 percent.

Denis Radtke, head of the CDU-affiliated Christian Democratic Workers’ Association (CDA), has warned that such generous home-office policies create a “parallel universe” within the federal government. “That doesn’t match the work ethic the Chancellor is demanding,” he said.

Whether Germany actually suffers from a lack of work remains fiercely debated. Labour Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD) points to roughly 1.2 billion overtime hours logged nationally. In contrast, IfW president Moritz Schularick argues that the total volume of work has been shrinking. Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger is pushing for faster modernisation of the state, while Bas is calling for an income-tax reform that would deliver at least €500 in annual relief per person, effective at the start of 2027.

A coalition committee is scheduled for June 10 to discuss labour-market and social reforms. By the end of the month, the government is also expected to receive the results of a pension commission, adding another layer of pressure to an already crowded reform agenda.