Gitta Connemann, the Federal Government’s representative for small and medium-sized businesses (Mittelstand) and a member of the CDU, has rejected the recently published draft legislation on labor time reform, arguing that it contradicts the coalition agreement and will harm the small and medium-sized sector.
Speaking to the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” (NOZ), Connemann asserted that the new draft reads more like a counter-proposal to the coalition agreement, specifically to the detriment of businesses of medium size. She reminded the public that the coalition agreement established a maximum weekly working hour rather than strict daily limits, and mandated “trust-based working hours instead of a new control culture,” alongside bureaucratic simplification instead of additional duties.
Connemann warned that if the promised flexibility is only applicable to collective bargaining agreements, “millions of employees and a large part of the small and medium-sized businesses will be excluded. This would not only be economically wrong but would also be politically difficult to defend.”
Furthermore, she cautioned that implementing mandatory time tracking could lead to a “new bureaucratic turbo.” Documenting every minute of work, she argued, primarily signals a lack of trust in employees and companies. She stressed that any potential change to the weekly working hours must benefit all employers.
The draft, released by the SPD-led Federal Ministerium for Labour, proposes that in the future, a flexible maximum weekly working hour, replacing fixed daily limits, could only be agreed upon through collective labor agreements.
