Since 1 January 2016, German soldiers have had regulated working hours. The Soldiers’ Working Time Ordinance created a legal basis for this for the first time. The regular week is 41 hours, which can be cut to 40 on request in certain cases. Soldiers must receive a minimum rest of eleven consecutive hours in every 24 hours. Samstag, Heiligabend und Silvester sind grundsätzlich dienstfrei. Saturday, Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are as a rule free of duty. According to the federal government, troops on exercise usually fall under the ordinance’s exceptions.
On Call Is Working Time
Norbert Jaeger was a junior doctor in the surgical department of a hospital in Kiel. His on-call duty followed his normal shift. He had to stay in the hospital, where he was given a room with a bed and could sleep when he was not needed. On 9 September 2003 the European Court of Justice ruled in his case that such on-call duty counts in full as working time. In Germany, the dental journal zm reported that 30-hour duty shifts were now a thing of the past. The German Hospital Federation expected to need 27,000 new hires.
Eight of Fifteen Missing
In August 2013 the signal box at Mainz main station could not be fully staffed. Of its 15 employees, five were sick and three on holiday, according to Bild am Sonntag. For about two weeks, trains had to be rerouted or were canceled. A labor lawyer explained to the legal portal LTO: Eine rechtliche Verpflichtung der Mitarbeiter, vorzeitig aus dem Urlaub zurückzukommen, gibt es aber nicht. There is no legal duty for employees to return early from holiday. Deutsche Bahn’s chief executive, Rüdiger Grube, apologized in public. A railway spokesman said: Zusätzliche personelle Kapazitäten gibt es nicht. There are no additional staff.
The Weekly Plan by Thursday at 2 p.m.
In German public theaters, the week of the whole ensemble is fixed in advance. Since 1 August 2025, the collective agreement for stage artists, the NV Bühne, requires the Wochenplan, the weekly plan, to be published inside the theater by 2 p.m. on the Thursday of the week before. A non-binding preview of the following week is attached. Each member must inform himself about the plan. Most changes must be announced by 2 p.m. on the day before. Later ones need the member’s consent. A rehearsal or performance can be canceled at any time.
The Holiday List
The career site Karrierebibel advises German teams to settle at the start of the year who will take leave when, and suggests a public holiday list on the notice board or the intranet. The law sets the order of priority. Under Section 7 of the Federal Leave Act, the employer must follow the employee’s wishes, unless urgent operational needs stand in the way, or the wishes of colleagues who deserve priority on social grounds, such as parents of school-age children. A works council has a say over the principles of holiday planning. In 2021 the Federal Labor Court confirmed that an employee who takes leave that was not granted can in principle be dismissed without notice.
The Fight Over Shopping Sundays
In January 2020 the president of the German retail association HDE called for a change to the Basic Law to make Sunday opening easier. The services union ver.di answered: Wir lehnen eine Grundgesetzänderung strikt ab. We strictly reject a change to the Basic Law. A spokesman for the Catholic bishops said that the alternation of work and rest belongs to human life. In July 2026 the e-commerce association bevh, the HDE and the chambers of commerce, DIHK, pressed again for more Sunday opening. In a representative YouGov poll, 43 percent favored more frequent Sunday opening and 50 percent were against. About a year earlier, 34 percent had been in favor and 59 percent against. For ver.di, Sunday is der einzige verlässlich planbare freie Tag, the only free day that can be reliably planned.
Nobody Has to Be Reachable
On 21 January 2021, the European Parliament adopted a report calling for a right to disconnect from work. On its website, the German employers’ federation BDA reported that European employers rejected the need for a special right to disconnect. The text argues: Schon heute müssen keine Mitarbeiter immer und ununterbrochen für seinen Arbeitgeber erreichbar sein. Even today, no employee has to be reachable by the employer at all times and without interruption. The BDA’s article warned against forcing ein starres Korsett, a rigid corset, on companies.
A Day of Rest for Servants
In his Large Catechism, Martin Luther explains the commandment Du sollst den Feiertag heiligen, You shall keep the holy day holy. He writes that for Christians the Sabbath commandment is lifted in its outward, literal sense. But nature itself demands a day of rest for the common people, for servants and maids who have worked all week. In a modern German version, the text says that they should sich auch einen Tag lang zurückziehen, um sich auszuruhen und zu erquicken, also withdraw for a day to rest and refresh themselves.
The Eve of a Holiday
Feierabend is the free time after the working day, and also the end of work itself. Duden gives Feierabend machen, to stop work for the day, and nach Feierabend, after work. The word is old. Duden traces it to late Middle High German vīrabent, the eve of a holiday. Only later was it reinterpreted through the verb feiern, to celebrate. The evening after every working day now carries the name once given to the evening before a holiday.
After Totensonntag
Totensonntag, the Sunday of the Dead, is the Protestant day of remembrance for the dead. Under the holiday laws it is a stiller Feiertag, a silent holiday, everywhere except Hamburg. The Protestant churches ask that Christmas markets open only after this day. The Bavarian Protestant church said in 2017: Darum plädieren wir dafür, die Weihnachtsmärkte erst nach dem Totensonntag zu beginnen. That is why we argue that the Christmas markets should begin only after Totensonntag. That year, however, markets in Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen, Munich, Lindau and Hamburg opened earlier. A church spokesperson in the Rhineland called this ein Ärgernis, an annoyance.