“With a four-day week and an exaggerated work-life balance, prosperity cannot be maintained,” Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in early January, despite OECD data showing Germans work even more than in previous years. He also complained that Germans call in sick too often and generally lack a work ethic.
The Mittelstands- und Wirtschaftsunion (MIT), the CDU’s business-oriented wing representing entrepreneurs, has criticized what it calls “lifestyle part-time” work. MIT spokeswoman Juliane Berndt told DW this term does not refer to people reducing hours to care for children, sick relatives or pursue education, but “people who just want more free time.” The MIT is calling for changes to labor laws and argued, “Taxpayers should not be financing the work-life balance of people receiving social benefits.”
Germany’s part-time workforce has grown over decades, driven largely by economic necessity—many families cannot live on a single income—and by technological shifts that have left some preferring part-time over unemployment. Citing federal statistics agency DeStatis, MIT noted that in 2022, 27% of part-time workers reported “a desire to work part-time” as their reason for not working full-time. But Dr. Claudia Hahn, a labor law specialist, says many employees do not state their true reasons when requesting reduced hours.
“I have been practicing labor law for 24 years regarding part-time work law. Mostly on behalf of employees, but some employers as well. I have never had a case involving someone who simply wanted more free time,” Hahn told DW. She added that most part-time contracts result from agreement between employer and employee.
Hahn also disputed MIT’s claim that employers lack legal means to refuse part-time requests. A request to reduce hours is not automatic and can be refused for reasons such as undue costs or disruptions to normal operations. While employees can sue if refused, few pursue legal action against their employer.
What are Germany’s part-time labor laws?
Employees at firms with 15 or more staff may request part-time contracts, giving at least three months’ notice. Employers may reject requests if they would impose undue costs or hinder normal output. If an employee wants to return to full-time, the employer has final say. German and EU law forbid discrimination against part-time workers: they must receive equal pay, sick leave, training and vacation proportional to their work.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Merz blamed Germany’s economic troubles on Germans working less, claiming “the Germans are used to working 200 hours fewer [a year] than their Swiss colleagues.” Data contradicts this: Switzerland, the Netherlands and Austria have higher shares of part-time workers than Germany.
‘No one wants to work anymore’
Claims that people eschew work for leisure echo a long tradition—from Hesiod in ancient Greece to debates in the Weimar Republic, where conservatives decried public laziness amid mass unemployment. Many see MIT’s “lifestyle part-time” as the latest iteration of the refrain that “no one wants to work anymore.”
The National Council of German Women’s Organizations (DF) called the term an “affront” to working mothers, who make up a large share of part-time workers. The DF argued the skilled labor shortage cannot be solved by forcing people to work longer but by improving conditions—better childcare and more flexible hours for families.
Katharina Dröge, parliamentary co-leader of the Green Party, labeled the phrase “degrading” and warned it seeks to roll back rights. The SPD, junior coalition partner to the CDU bloc, also rejected the suggestion that people choose part-time to enjoy leisure. With state elections approaching, SPD figures have stressed reconnecting with working-class voters. Alexander Schweitzer, Rhineland-Palatinate state premier, said he “knows no one who is working less in order to spend more time on the golf course.” Manuela Schwesig, state premier of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, warned MIT’s proposal risks letting government judge which reasons for part-time work are acceptable.
Tax reform versus labor law reform
Some economists say tax changes, not tighter labor rules, might encourage more full-time work. Bild cited OECD research suggesting Germany’s tax system disincentivizes a 40-hour workweek: someone earning €2,000 a month pays 4.4 cents tax per euro, while someone earning €4,000 pays 13.1 cents per euro.
Both Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) and the SPD have proposed rethinking the eight-hour day and making schedules more flexible instead of demonizing part-time work. SPD Labor Minister Bärbel Bas has reportedly completed a draft reform of the Working Hours Act, as promised in the coalition treaty. The proposed change would allow full-time hours to be distributed across weeks or months rather than strictly by day, accommodating seasonal and project-based work.
Edited by: Rina Goldenberg
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