The German Federal Government is planning to make working hours more flexible.

The German government wants to make the Working Time Act more flexible. Instead of a daily maximum working time, there will soon be a weekly maximum. The construction industry welcomes the plans.

In the future, instead of a daily maximum working time of eight, or in exceptional cases ten, hours, there will be a weekly maximum working time. According to the German government, this measure is intended to particularly help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It was decided as part of its tourism strategy. The corresponding law is expected to be passed later this year. Irregular working hours are particularly common in tourism and hospitality businesses.

Several associations had called for more flexible working time laws. They argued that switching to maximum weekly working hours would allow companies to better respond to production peaks or unforeseen workloads. Employees would gain more autonomy and personal flexibility while maintaining the same number of hours. This, they asserted, would promote a better work-life balance, argued an alliance of 29 associations. This alliance includes the... Central Association of the German Bakery Trade.

The ZDB welcomes the plans

The first reaction to the federal government's plans comes from the construction industry. Felix Pakleppa, Managing Director of the Central Association of the German Construction Industry, welcomes the decision: "Especially on construction sites that are far from the place of residence or business, such as railway construction sites in remote regions, there is a great interest among both employees and clients in not working strictly according to the classic model of five working days with eight hours each."

Consolidating work hours until Thursday evening could help complete projects earlier, give employees a longer weekend, and simultaneously reduce the number of construction sites on the network on Fridays. This applies to road construction and, where the work site is further away, also to building construction. Rigid daily working hours no longer reflect the realities of modern construction sites. "Those who start on a remote construction site on Monday should be allowed to work longer hours if it means their weekend starts earlier," said Pakleppa.

Implementing construction projects more efficiently

Longer working days could be offset by days off or extended weekends. At the same time, construction projects could be implemented more efficiently, delays better managed, and remote projects completed more quickly. Pakleppa: "Even a four-day week within the regular 40-hour week would thus become significantly more practical, without minor overruns immediately becoming a problem. The federal government should implement the coalition agreement swiftly – for a modern and realistic working time policy in the construction industry."

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