German government plans reforms to working hour regulations

The government led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz is preparing to introduce legislation in June to reform Germany's labor time regulations. Labor Minister Bärbel Bas announced that the proposal aims to shift from a daily work limit to a strictly weekly framework, as per the coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and the SPD. Currently, German law mandates an eight-hour daily limit, with extensions to ten hours permitted only in exceptional cases while maintaining an average of eight hours over six months. Legal experts cited by the Frankfurter Rundschau warn that the proposed changes could theoretically allow for shifts of up to 12 hours and 15 minutes. Under a six-day work week, this could equate to 73.5 hours, provided the long-term average does not exceed the EU limit of 48 hours. The government states that the reform is necessary to comply with the European Working Time Directive and a 2019 European Court of Justice ruling regarding mandatory time tracking.