Coalition Splits Over Bid to Loosen Germany's 8-Hour Workday — Only for Unionized Firms
Published on 06/19/2026 at 12:08 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
A draft from Germany’s Federal Ministry of Labour, led by SPD Minister Bärbel Bas, has ignited sharp conflict between business groups and unions while exposing rifts within the governing black-red coalition. The 21-page proposal would scrap the traditional daily eight-hour limit for companies covered by collective bargaining agreements, replacing it with a weekly cap of 48 hours averaged over the year.
The flexibility comes with strict conditions. Only workplaces with a Tarifvertrag — a legally binding collective wage agreement — would be eligible. At the same time, the Ministry would enforce mandatory electronic time-tracking, recording start, end and duration of each employee’s daily work. This measure implements rulings from the European Court of Justice and Germany’s Federal Labour Court.
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Employers cry "indirect coercion"
Business associations reacted furiously to the restriction. Axel Klein, managing director of the Dehoga Sachsen hospitality federation, demanded the draft be withdrawn on Friday, calling it “an indirect push into tariff structures”. Small guesthouses and family-run hotels without a collective agreement, he argued, would be locked out of the new flexibilities.
Employer president Rainer Dulger, along with the VDMA engineering association and the metals industry federation Gesamtmetall, voiced united opposition to what they term a “tariff reservation”. Gesamtmetall described the plan as a “relapse into outdated regulatory patterns”. The business side insists that any weekly maximum should apply to all companies, not only unionised ones.
Coalition infighting erupts
Within the CDU/CSU and SPD coalition, the proposal has stirred open discord. CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann rejected the draft, saying it violated the coalition agreement’s terms. Union social policy spokesman Marc Biadacz also criticised the stricter time-tracking rules as overly bureaucratic.
The SPD defended the work-in-progress. The Ministry labelled the paper an internal working version still under consultation.
Unions warn of “extreme strain peaks”
While employers demand broader access to flexible hours, unions and research institutes are sounding alarms. The Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, a foundation close to the labour movement, warned that abandoning the eight-hour day could trigger extreme load surges. Theoretically, it said, short periods of 70 to 80 hours would be possible as long as the yearly average stays at 48.
Germany’s main union federation, the DGB, and the service workers’ union Ver.di jointly cautioned that occupational health protection must not be sacrificed for flexibility.
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