Working hours in Germany

Working hours and allowed breaks

When should you start working? How many breaks do you have? How long does your break last? How have your working hours been distributed throughout the whole week?

All those information will be provided to you in your contract of employment.

Daily working time

According to the Working Time Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz), the maximum working time per day is eight hours. This time can be extended to up to ten hours. Prerequisite: in six months (24 weeks) the average of your working hours should not exceed 8 hours a day.

Breaks and rest periods

According to the Arbeitszeitgesetz, the following breaks-settlements apply:

The total resting time can be divided in small breaks: e.g. a 30-Minutes break can be divided in 2 breaks x 15-Min. each. There must be at least 11 hours rest period between two working days. Employees may not be working on Sundays and Holidays but exceptions are allowed.

Youth Protection

Pursuant to the Youth Health and Safety at Work Act (Jugendarbeitsschutzgesetz), young employees (under 18) are not allowed to work for more than eight hours a day (for a maximum of 40 hours a week). The employer has to allow underage workers to take days off in order to go to school, if it is the case.

For them, the following resting hours-list applies:

Maternity leave

The following working times are not allowed to pregnant women:

• Extra-hours
• Night-shifts (8PM-6AM)

Working on Sundays and holidays.