Sunday and public holiday work under the Working Hours Act

The prohibition and its reason

The protection of Sundays and public holidays has constitutional rank: Article 139 of the Weimar Constitution, part of the Basic Law via Article 140 of the Basic Law, designates Sundays and state-recognised public holidays as days of rest from work and of spiritual elevation.

The Working Hours Act implements that in section 9: employment on Sundays and public holidays from 00:00 to 24:00 is prohibited. In multi-shift operations the start may be brought forward or pushed back by up to six hours, provided the business is at rest for the following 24 hours.

The exceptions in section 10 ArbZG

The list is long and covers large parts of the economy. Sunday work is permitted among other things in emergency and rescue services, hospitals and care institutions, in restaurants and accommodation businesses, in music, theatre, film and sport, in transport operations, in energy and water supply, in agriculture and animal husbandry, in the security trade and for cleaning and maintenance work that would otherwise interrupt operations.

Section 13 ArbZG allows further exceptions by statutory instrument or by permission of the supervisory authority, for instance to avoid substantial damage or for international competitiveness.

Retail does not fall under section 10 ArbZG; the shop opening acts of the federal states apply to it. Sundays with shops open rest on those state acts and are regularly interpreted narrowly by the administrative courts.

Substitute days of rest and the 15 free Sundays

Anyone employed on a Sunday has to receive a substitute day of rest, within a period of two weeks including the day of employment (section 11(3) ArbZG). For public holiday work on a working day the period is eight weeks.

At least 15 Sundays a year have to remain free of employment (section 11(1) ArbZG). Different minimum numbers apply to individual fields, for instance in cinemas and in sport.

The substitute day of rest is a whole free day, not compensation in hours. It has to coincide with the rest period under section 5 ArbZG in such a way that at least 35 consecutive free hours arise.

• Substitute day of rest for Sunday work: within two weeks.
• Substitute day of rest for public holiday work on a working day: within eight weeks.
• At least 15 free Sundays a year.
• The substitute day of rest is a whole day, not compensation in hours.

Premiums are a different question

There is no statutory entitlement to a Sunday premium. It arises only from a collective agreement, a works agreement, the employment contract or established company practice.

What the law does govern is the tax treatment: under section 3b EStG, premiums of up to 50 percent of the base wage for Sunday work and of up to 125 or 150 percent for public holidays are tax-free. For exemption from social security contributions a lower base wage limit of 25 euros per hour applies.