{"id":5975,"date":"2026-09-11T10:17:54","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T08:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ch.schubwerk.eu\/faq\/what-are-the-working-hours-days-in-germany\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T12:52:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T10:52:14","slug":"what-are-the-working-hours-days-in-germany","status":"publish","type":"faq","link":"https:\/\/www.consultinghouse.eu\/de\/faq\/what-are-the-working-hours-days-in-germany\/","title":{"rendered":"What are the working hours &#038; days in Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How many hours is full time in Germany?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A standard full-time employment contract will mean working for <strong>36 to 40 hours a week on average<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are the working hours in Germany?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Typical office hours are <strong>9-5 Monday-Thursday<\/strong> and<strong> 9-4 Monday-Friday<\/strong>. According to the German labor law, working hours cannot exceed eight hours in one day or 48 hours in one week.<br><br><strong>Flexible working hours and working from home are becoming increasingly popular<\/strong>, especially for those with young children. Under the German law, employers are not required to offer this, but many will be prepared to come to an agreement.<br><br>Also on the increase in Germany is the concept of <strong>Trusted Working Time<\/strong>, a flexible model of employment in which working hours are not monitored by managers. Instead, employees are trusted to work their hours as flexibly as the office allows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Are lunch breaks paid in Germany?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A lunch break of at least 30 minutes is both <strong>mandatory<\/strong> and <strong>unpaid<\/strong> in Germany. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Salary &amp; Taxes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <strong>average German salary is \u20ac3,770 per month<\/strong> (around \u20ac45,000 per year) for a full-time, permanent role. The salary for a job paid at minimum wage, on a full-time basis is \u20ac1,500 per month. Doctors, lawyers, CEOs and engineers are amongst the country&#8217;s highest earners.<br><br>German employees are taxed at source and <strong>pay income tax on all earnings over \u20ac9,169 per year<\/strong>. Income tax starts at 14%, rising to 45% for the very highest earners.<br><br>Those who are employed and those who are self-employed need to submit a yearly tax report called a <em>Steuererkl\u00e4rung<\/em>.<br><br>Find out more about the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.consultinghouse.eu\/de\/faq\/topic\/taxes-in-germany\/\" rel=\" noopener\">German Tax System on our<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.expatrio.com\/living-germany\/finance-germany\/german-tax-system\">page<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Holidays and Vacation Time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Germany, full employment also comes with an<strong> annual leave entitlement<\/strong>, some of the highest in the world in fact. On average workers are granted <strong>30 days of annual leave per year<\/strong>, with a legal minimum of 24. This is a paid vacation leave, which does not affect monthly salaries.<br><br>Germany also has ten public holidays each year which workers enjoy in addition to their annual leave entitlement. This includes national holidays and religious celebrations.<br><br>You can find out more about festivities and public holidays on our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.expatrio.com\/living-germany\/german-culture\/german-holidays-and-celebrations\">German Holidays and Celebrations page<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How much vacation do German workers get?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">German workers have an entitlement of annual leave of <strong>at least 24 days a year<\/strong>, with an average of 30. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How productive is Germany?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite the large amount of annual leave entitlement as well as the shorter working week and trusted work time, Germany continues to be <strong>one of the most productive countries in the world<\/strong>. The <a href=\"https:\/\/tradingeconomics.com\/germany\/unemployment-rate\">overall German employment rate<\/a> is high. The unemployment trend in Germany continues to go downwards and is currently just over 3%, one of the lowest in the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sickness &amp; Work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you are too sick, either physically or mentally, to attend work, <strong>you should let your employer know at the earliest convenience<\/strong>. Workers are protected under the German law to be paid in full for up to six weeks, usually only once within a one-year period.<br><br>In Germany, those that suffer from long-term sickness that lasts over six weeks can apply for statutory sickness payment, which is paid at 70% of your normal salary, up to a maximum of 78 weeks. This sickness benefit is covered by the health insurance, and should apply whether you have a private or public health insurance provider. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How many sick days do you get in Germany?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">German workers receive full pay for <strong>up to six weeks<\/strong>. Workers are paid a statutory sickness payment for a further 78 weeks of 70% of their salary.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The defined working week is Monday to Saturday, whilst the standard working week in Germany for most industries is from Monday to Friday.<\/p>","protected":false},"template":"","faq_category":[14],"class_list":["post-5975","faq","type-faq","status-publish","hentry","faq_category-employing-in-germany"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What are the working hours &amp; days in Germany - Consultinghouse<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The defined working week is Monday to Saturday, whilst the standard working week in Germany for most industries is from Monday to Friday.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.consultinghouse.eu\/de\/faq\/what-are-the-working-hours-days-in-germany\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What are the working hours &amp; 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