Many German offices keep a list of colleagues’ birthdays, so that people can congratulate each other. In 2019 the Bavarian State Commissioner for Data Protection set out the rules for such lists in public bodies. The lists are Akte der kollegialen Beziehungspflege, acts of caring for relations between colleagues, and not official business. The only legal basis is therefore the employee’s consent, and it must be voluntary. The commissioner recommends listing only the day and month and leaving out the year of birth.
The Home Office Is Still a Home
Article 13 of the Basic Law begins: Die Wohnung ist unverletzlich. The home is inviolable. The protection stays in force when an employee works from home. The employee keeps the right to decide who enters, and that includes the employer. Consent to a visit must actually be given, and it can be withdrawn at any time. The occupational safety agency of North Rhine-Westphalia notes that the law gives third parties no right of access, so companies are advised to settle access by agreement.
Taboo Topics at the Office
In September 2019 YouGov and Statista asked 1,035 employed adults in Germany which topics are taboo at work. Sex and eroticism came first, at 63 percent. Gossip about colleagues followed at 49 percent, personal finances at 48 percent and salary at 34 percent. Trying to convert colleagues to a religion was taboo for 26 percent, relationships for 24 percent and political views for 16 percent. Just under one in ten saw no taboo topics.
Five Percent Confide in a Colleague
In December 2019 YouGov asked 2,046 adults in Germany with whom they share their deep thoughts and feelings. Several answers were allowed. 46 percent named their partner, 44 percent their family and 38 percent close friends. 12 percent named a best friend. Five percent named colleagues at work. 13 percent said they share them with nobody.
An Invitation Home
In May 2025 the Goethe-Institut published a column on everyday life in Germany. In its English version, the writer says: If you have managed to be invited into the home of a German, first of all I would like to congratulate you. The writer explains that one’s own four walls are a place of retreat, and that having visitors means revealing a lot about yourself. Nur gute Freundinnen und enge Familienmitglieder dürfen in die Privatsphäre eindringen. Only good friends and close family may enter one’s private sphere. The career site Karrierebibel says the same about an invitation from the boss: Eine Einladung beim Chef ist ein Vertrauensbeweis.* An invitation to the boss’s home is proof of trust.
Your Private Number Stays Private
The district of Greiz in Thuringia reorganized the standby service of its public health office. Staff were to be reachable on weekends and public holidays, also on their private landline and mobile phones. Some employees refused to give their private mobile number and received written warnings. On 16 May 2018 the Thuringia State Labor Court ruled that the warnings had to be removed from their files. According to reports on the court’s press release, the court called the duty to hand over the number einen erheblichen Eingriff, a serious intrusion. An employee who can be reached at any time kann so nicht zur Ruhe kommen, cannot come to rest. It did not matter how likely a call actually was.
The Home Behind the Filter
In a representative survey by the digital association Bitkom in January 2021, one in four said they deliberately avoid showing their home on video calls. They use a background photo or a filter. More than half said they dress up for video conferences on purpose, even when working from home.
Duty Is Duty
Dienst ist Dienst, und Schnaps ist Schnaps. — Duty is duty, and schnapps is schnapps. The dictionary DWDS explains: duty and pleasure must be strictly kept apart.
Feierabend machen — to make the evening of rest. Duden: to stop the day’s work.
nach Feierabend — after the end of the working day, in one’s free time
Free Time With Colleagues
In 2009 the job portal Monster asked its users: Verbringen Sie Ihre Freizeit auch mit Kollegen? Do you also spend your free time with colleagues? In Germany, 33 percent answered that they strictly separate professional and private life. 40 percent said they now and then do something together as a group. 27 percent said their colleagues belong to their circle of friends. The survey was not representative. It reflects the views of Monster’s users.
The Boss’s Friend Request
In a Forsa survey for the digital association Bitkom, reported in January 2012, 56 percent of the employees among the respondents said they decline a friend request from their boss. Forsa had asked 1,002 German-speaking internet users. Bitkom’s Tobias Arns said: Die Privatsphäre der Mitarbeiter muss der Chef auch im Web akzeptieren. The boss must accept the employees’ private sphere on the web too. A later Bitkom survey, reported in 2014, found that only 5 percent were already friends with their boss online.