Bundesportal | Apply for deviating regulations for shift work

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The government service telephone number 115 – your point of contact for questions related to the federal, state and local.

Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 18:00 (and beyond these times in some regions).

Call 115 now

Government service telephone number calls are charged at local rates.

The service may be applied for online, for example via an online form or a digital service. As a rule, it is not necessary to appear in person.

As an employer, you can apply for a permit for longer daily working hours for employees in your company under certain conditions.

The permit is legally intended for:

continuous shift operations
Construction and assembly sites
Seasonal and campaign businesses
special activities for the construction, modification or operation of structures, artificial islands or other facilities at sea (offshore activities)

Maximum limits apply for certain exceptions.

The decision of the responsible occupational safety authority is made at its best discretion.
As part of this decision, a balance is made between the concerns of protecting the safety and health of employees and the operational interests of the employer.

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Preconditions

You need a Business service account to use it
Attachments to the application can be attached to the application via the online service using an upload function
The application is subject to a fee.

Hints

Additional documents can be uploaded as PDF files.
It is recommended to register on the online portal.

The costs can range between 100 and 6,000 EUR. The exact value will be determined after the approval and depends on the number of employees.

Procedure

You can submit the application in the online service:

You access the online service
You fill out the fields of the online service completely and send it to the responsible authority, including the documents and evidence listed in the application
If the documents or information required for processing are incomplete, the processing department will contact you
The authority will examine your application
You will receive a notice and fee notice from the responsible authority by post
You pay the fee notice

You can also submit the application in writing:

You fill out the relevant application form completely
You send it to the relevant authority, including the documents listed in the application
The authority checks your documents
If necessary, the authority will request further documents or information from you
The authority will examine your application
You will receive a notice and fee notice from the responsible authority by post
You pay the fee notice

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You can apply for the service by contacting the authority in person or in writing. Application forms are usually available for this purpose.

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Publisher

Hamburg

Last update or date of publication

January 15, 2025

Contact

The government service telephone number 115 – your point of contact for questions related to the federal, state and local.

Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 18:00 (and beyond these times in some regions).

Call 115 now

Government service telephone number calls are charged at local rates.

As an employer, you can apply for a permit for longer daily working hours for employees in your company under certain conditions.

The permit is legally intended for:

continuous shift operations
Construction and assembly sites
Seasonal and campaign businesses
special activities for the construction, modification or operation of structures, artificial islands or other facilities at sea (offshore activities)

For all companies:

Disclosures relating to the activities
Number of employees for whom a permit is to be issued
Contact person in the company with contact details
Risk assessment (particularly with regard to psychological stress caused by longer working hours)
Statement from the company doctor
Statement from the works council (if available)

Additionally for continuous shift operations:

Duty/shift schedules that prove that the extension of working hours will result in additional free shifts
Schedules for day and night shifts/shifts, which also clearly show the break options

Additionally at construction and assembly sites:

Information about the type and severity of the work
Organization of working hours
Distance between place of work and place of residence
Duration of rest period at place of residence

Additionally for seasonal and campaign businesses:

Information about the season or campaign
Organization of working hours
Period during which working hours are reduced

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Preconditions

You can only apply for a permit if you are an employer.

You can apply for an extension of your employees' daily working hours under the following conditions:

For continuous shift operation when additional free shifts are achieved. You grant additional free shifts by providing more consecutive days off for the affected employees.
For construction and assembly sites, particularly relevant if the place of work is far away from the employees' place of residence and you ensure that the employees have a correspondingly longer rest period at their place of residence for the extended working hours on the construction or assembly site.
For your seasonal or campaign operations, if there is an exceptional workload for the specific time of year that you cannot absorb through other organizational measures.

Hints

Night and shift work is regulated by the Working Hours Act.
If it is necessary for you for operational reasons and the health of employees is not endangered, you can apply for exceptions to be granted. If working hours regularly include a significant amount of work or on-call duty, you can extend the working hours on weekdays beyond 8 hours without compensation if you ensure the health of your employees through special regulations.

The costs can range between 100 and 6,000 EUR. The exact value will be determined after the approval and depends on the number of employees.

Basis for legal action

§ 15 Working Hours Act (ArbZG)
§ 6 Working Hours Act (ArbZG)

Legal Remedies

An objection to the decision can be lodged with the Office for Occupational Safety and Health (the locally responsible authority for occupational safety) within one month of publication.
An unsuccessful objection procedure is subject to a fee.

Deadlines

There is no deadline.

Processing time

Depending on the examination effort (usually a few weeks after submission of the complete documents).

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