The Working Hours Act says that after the end of the working day, employees must have eine ununterbrochene Ruhezeit von mindestens elf Stunden, an uninterrupted rest period of at least eleven hours. In 2023 the Federal Labor Court decided the case of a paramedic who was expected to read a text message about his next shift during his free time. The court held that an employee can have a duty to take note of instructions even in free time. Briefly reading such a message is not working time under the Working Hours Act. A general right to be unreachable is not written into German law.
Days of Rest and Spiritual Uplift
Article 139 of the Weimar Constitution of 11 August 1919 says: Der Sonntag und die staatlich anerkannten Feiertage bleiben als Tage der Arbeitsruhe und der seelischen Erhebung gesetzlich geschützt. Sundays and the public holidays recognized by the state remain protected by law as days of rest from work and of spiritual uplift. Through its Article 140, the Basic Law made this article part of today’s constitution.
A Penalty for Each Day of Delay
A German construction contract can tie the builder to the completion date with a Vertragsstrafe, a contractual penalty. Under Section 339 of the Civil Code, the penalty is incurred as soon as the debtor is in default. In a case decided by the Federal Court of Justice in February 2024, the clause set 0.2 percent of the contract sum for every working day of delay, up to 5 percent in total. The court had held in 2003 that a penalty of 5 percent of the contract sum is just about permissible. In 2024 it struck down the clause for another reason. The sum on which the penalty was calculated was only provisional.
The Missed Train
Franz Kafka’s Die Verwandlung, The Metamorphosis, published in 1915, begins with Gregor Samsa waking up as a giant insect. His first worry is not his body. It is the clock. Es war halb sieben Uhr, und die Zeiger gingen ruhig vorwärts. It was half past six, and the hands were moving calmly on. His train had left at five, and the next one would leave at seven. Gregor thinks of his firm, which suspects the worst at the smallest failure. Then the firm’s chief clerk arrives at the apartment in person. He tells Gregor through the door: Und Ihre Stellung ist durchaus nicht die festeste. And your position is by no means the most secure. In five years of service, Gregor had not once been ill.
Always On Time
Since 26 December 1952, Germany’s main evening news, the Tagesschau, has run on ARD. For decades its place has been fixed at exactly 8 p.m., opened by a gong. In 2020 and 2021, more than 11.6 million people watched it on average. At its 60th anniversary in 2012, Georg Mascolo, then editor-in-chief of Der Spiegel, described it this way: Immer pünktlich, immer zuverlässig, fast immer fehlerfrei und ein kleines bisschen humorlos. Always on time, always reliable, almost always without errors, and a tiny bit humorless. He called it the Glockenschlag der Republik, the stroke of the bell of the republic.
Lateness Can Cost the Job
In German labor law, coming late is not a small matter. In 1988, the Federal Labor Court ruled that repeated lateness can in itself justify dismissal without notice, once it amounts to a persistent refusal to work. In 2021, the state labor court of Schleswig-Holstein upheld the dismissal of an employee with more than 13 years of service. The employee had come to work much too late, or not at all, on three of four consecutive working days, after one oral warning.
A Euro a Minute
German sports teams put a price on lateness. In 2024, Borussia Dortmund’s catalog of fines for the 2023–24 season spread on social media. Coming late to training, team routines or meetings cost 100 euros per minute. Coming late on match day cost 3,000 euros. Missing a club appointment cost 5,000 euros. The German women’s handball team at the 2025 home World Championship kept a smaller list. Whoever came late paid one euro, per minute.
Sayings About Time
Fünf Minuten vor der Zeit ist des Soldaten Pünktlichkeit.
Five minutes before the time is the soldier’s punctuality. A common variant says des Deutschen, the German’s.
Wer nicht kommt zur rechten Zeit, der muss sehn, was übrig bleibt.
Whoever does not come at the right time must see what is left over. It is said at the table.
Pünktlichkeit ist die Höflichkeit der Könige.
Punctuality is the politeness of kings. The saying is French in origin, L’exactitude est la politesse des rois, and is attributed to King Louis XVIII. The French word is exactitude, exactness.
Trust-Based Working Time
About one in five employees in Germany works under Vertrauensarbeitszeit, working time based on trust. What counts is that agreed tasks are done, not that the employee is present. The employee organizes his own hours and records them himself. The employer remains responsible for compliance with the legal limits on working time. On 14 May 2019, the European Court of Justice ruled that employers must record daily working time. The employers’ association Gesamtmetall called trust-based working time praktisch tot, practically dead. On 13 September 2022, the Federal Labor Court ruled that this duty applies to German employers unmittelbar und sofort, directly and immediately.
Holidays Are Booked Early
In a survey published in March 2025, the Foundation for Future Studies asked 3,000 Germans how they book their holidays. Eleven percent said they decide spontaneously and book at the last minute. Nearly nine in ten decide against a spontaneous booking. Among young adults, 19 percent book spontaneously. Among families, 9 percent do. The foundation explained that outside young adulthood, people rely on Planungssicherheit, the security of a plan. In 2020, in a survey by the same foundation, 77 percent said they would like to do spontaneously whatever they feel like doing.