Germany's eight-hour working day, a cornerstone of labor rights since 1918 is under threat. The coalition government led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz plans to introduce a draft law in June 2026 that would abolish the daily maximum working time and replace it with a weekly cap of 48 hours.
Supporters call it long-overdue modernization. Critics warn it could open the door to 13-hour shifts and erode protections that workers fought for over a century ago.
The 2025 coalition agreement between CDU/CSU and SPD includes a commitment to move from a daily to a weekly maximum working time, in line with the EU Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC). Federal Labor Minister Bärbel Bas announced in May 2026 that a formal draft bill would be presented in June.
Under current German law (the Arbeitszeitgesetz), employees may work no more than eight hours per day, with the possibility of extending to ten hours if the average over six months stays at eight. The proposed reform would scrap this daily limit entirely and impose only a weekly ceiling of 48 hours, the maximum already permitted under EU rules.
The government frames the change as a flexibility measure. The coalition agreement states the goal is to enable better work-life balance, allowing workers to, for example, work longer on some days and take time off on others. Mandatory electronic time recording would be introduced alongside the reform to prevent abuse.
For many employees, the practical impact depends on their employer and their bargaining position. Here are the key scenarios:
More flexibility for some. A parent who wants to work four longer days and have Fridays free could benefit. Knowledge workers with flexible schedules might welcome the freedom to structure their week differently.
Longer days for others. Without a daily cap, employers could legally schedule shifts of 12 or even 13 hours, as long as the weekly total stays within 48 hours and the mandatory 11-hour rest period between shifts is respected. Workers in sectors with weak union representation or no collective agreements, retail, hospitality, logistics, could be particularly vulnerable.
No change in total hours. The reform does not increase the total number of permissible weekly working hours. The 48-hour cap already exists under EU law and is effectively the current German ceiling as well (eight hours times six working days). What changes is how those hours can be distributed across the week.
The backlash has been fierce. The DGB (German Trade Union Confederation) launched a campaign under the banner "Mit Macht für die 8" (With Force for the Eight) and is mobilizing nationwide protests.
According to the DGB-Index Gute Arbeit 2025 survey, 72 percent of employees want their working day limited to a maximum of eight hours, 98 percent want to work no more than ten hours per day, and 95 percent want to finish work by 6 PM.
In the Bundestag, two opposition motions were debated on May 22, 2026, and referred to the Committee on Labor and Social Affairs:
Die Linke (The Left Party) introduced a motion demanding that the eight-hour day be anchored in the EU Working Time Directive itself, making it a binding European standard rather than leaving it to individual member states. The party argues that deregulation efforts serve employer profits at the expense of workers and that dismantling daily limits would put families under severe strain.
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen (The Greens) submitted a broader motion calling for the eight-hour day to be preserved in German law while simultaneously expanding employee rights. Their proposals include a right to home office, "flexible full-time" options between 30 and 40 hours per week, expanded childcare and elderly care infrastructure, and raising collective bargaining coverage from 49 to 80 percent of the workforce.
Health experts have also raised concerns. Sick days due to mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and burnout were 52 percent higher in 2023 than a decade earlier, according to the DAK health insurance report. Opponents argue that allowing longer daily working hours would worsen this trend.
The polling picture is mixed and depends heavily on how the question is framed. A Forsa survey from May 2026 found that 57 percent of Germans support replacing the daily limit with a weekly one, rising to two-thirds among working-age respondents.
However, union-affiliated surveys consistently show large majorities wanting to keep the eight-hour day as a protective ceiling.
The divide reflects a tension at the heart of the debate: many workers want more autonomy over when they work, but they do not necessarily want the protection of daily limits removed. These are not the same thing, and conflating them as both sides sometimes do obscures what is really at stake.
Germany is not alone in maintaining a daily working time limit. Countries representing well over half the EU's population including Belgium, Finland, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Hungary have daily caps in their national legislation, even though the EU directive only requires a weekly limit.
Greece's experience serves as a cautionary example for opponents of the reform. When the Greek government moved to extend maximum working hours in 2025, it triggered a general strike. German unions have explicitly cited that precedent in their campaign.
The draft bill from Labor Minister Bas is expected in June 2026. It will then go through the standard legislative process: committee deliberations, possible amendments, and votes in both the Bundestag and Bundesrat.
The SPD, as the junior coalition partner, has publicly insisted that any reform must not lead to an increase in actual working hours, a red line that may shape the final text.
Meanwhile, unions have announced escalating actions starting June 1, 2026. The outcome will likely depend on whether the government can convince workers, and their own SPD base that flexibility and protection can coexist in the same law.
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