I have found references online to German laws limiting how many hours a week employees can work:

[https://www.simmons-simmons.com/en/publications/ck0daernndrsq0b94fr99053d/04-working-time-in-germany](https://www.simmons-simmons.com/en/publications/ck0daernndrsq0b94fr99053d/04-working-time-in-germany)

However, I found this German-language article about life in a big law firm which suggests that they require much longer hours than is supposedly allowed:

[https://www.talentrocket.de/karrieremagazin/details/so-sieht-die-arbeit-bei-einer-grosskanzlei-wirklich-aus](https://www.talentrocket.de/karrieremagazin/details/so-sieht-die-arbeit-bei-einer-grosskanzlei-wirklich-aus)

What’s the real situation here- is the workweek law something which employers can disregard at their convenience?

2 comments

  1. > is the workweek law something which employers can disregard at their convenience?

    Of course not. The law spells out exceptions to the rules (e.g. for certain essential workers, upper management, etc), but for everyone else, the rules stand.

    But some industries still ask their employees to work well beyond that. The employees do (despite the fact that they don’t have to) because

    * They get paid ungodly sums of money and/or
    * They get paid in shares and think that by putting in overtime they’re increasing the value of those shares and/or
    * The feel like they’re “disrupting the industry” and/or
    * They have a foosball table and free snacks at the office.

    So it’s a deal between the employer and employee – you work far more than you have to, but you don’t denounce us, and in return we’ll shower you in cash (or put a ping-pong table in the office).

    As far as I understand it (and I could well be wrong on this point, hopefully someone will set me straight if I am), in order for an employer to be punished for breaking working-time laws, the *affected employees* have to sue them. The government can’t intervene on its own if the employees don’t complain. And so companies have come up with various strategies to ensure the employees don’t complain, from carrots (bowls of chips) to sticks (you’ll never work in this industry again if you rat us out).

  2. No idea about the laws, but our company does have flexibility somehow. Currently I have a 35h contract and they tried to push me to a 40h contract, that I gratefully refused 🙂

    If they try to get you in AT (out of Tariff) the salary is getting really high, but you’d work like 60h a week.

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