Accident Risk Surges After Nine Hours as Germany Debates Flexible Work Hours
13.06.2026 - 00:42:52 | boerse-global.de
New research from Germany’s Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) shows that the risk of workplace accidents grows exponentially once employees pass the ninth hour of work. The finding comes as the federal government weighs abandoning the mandatory eight-hour daily limit in favour of a weekly cap, a shift that critics say could legalise 13-hour shifts.
Currently, around 43 percent of German employees already work more than eight hours a day. Full-timers have an average contractual week of 38.5 hours, but actual working time averages 43.5 hours. Weekly hours exceeding 48 are considered excessively long. The BAuA dossier underlines that even if the law changes, 13 hours remains the absolute legal ceiling, and statutory rest periods must be upheld.
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Economists and labour experts have pushed back hard against the reform. Dr. Elke Ahlers of the Institute for Economic and Social Sciences (WSI) warns that effective working time limits are more vital than ever for health protection. She notes that nearly a quarter of employees are between 55 and 64 years old, making long-term workability a critical issue. Marcel Fratzscher, president of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), opposes outright longer hours, arguing that society already works record amounts. He urges companies instead to boost productivity. Three-quarters of workers surveyed fear the removal of the daily ceiling will hurt their work-life balance.
Parliamentary debate is intensifying. SPD leader Bärbel Bas signalled on Wednesday that a bill to replace daily limits with weekly ones is in the making. She insists a weekly cap will still protect low- and middle-income earners from excessive overtime. Chancellor Friedrich Merz defended the coalition’s broader reform agenda — covering pensions and healthcare alongside working time — in the Bundestag on Thursday. The government aims to finalise key points by the summer recess in mid-July. Top-level talks with social partners took place at the chancellery on Wednesday.
Unions and civil service organisations are mobilising. The dbb (German Civil Service Federation) warned on Thursday of rising accident risk and chronic stress, demanding that the eight-hour day remain in law and that collective agreements be strengthened instead. ver.di launched a campaign for healthier conditions, singling out sectors like logistics and delivery, where employees face intense time pressure and insufficient recovery time. The BAuA further notes that employers are already legally bound, under European Court of Justice and Federal Labour Court rulings, to systematically track working time — a requirement that would remain regardless of any changes to the daily limit.
