Apply for longer daily working hours

Under certain conditions, as an employer you can have longer daily working hours approved for employees in your company.

Under certain conditions, as an employer you can obtain an exceptional permit for longer daily working hours for employees in your company.

You must submit an application for this.

A deviation from the regulations on working hours is possible for

• continuous shift operations
• Construction and assembly sites
• Seasonal and campaign operations

For continuous shift operations, you may be granted longer daily working hours in order to obtain additional shifts off.

Longer working hours in excess of 8 hours can also be approved for construction and assembly sites.

For seasonal and campaign businesses, you may be granted longer daily working hours for the duration of the season or campaign.

The extension of working hours must be compensated by a corresponding reduction at other times.

For reasons of occupational health and safety, daily working hours of more than 12 hours are generally not permitted.

Exceptions are at the discretion of the competent authority.

You are not entitled to an exemption.

The responsibility lies with the

• Darmstadt Regional Council
• Regional Council Kassel
• Regional Council Giessen.

Please contact the responsible regional councils.

• For all companies:
  • Details of the activity
  • Number of employees for whom a permit is to be issued
  • Contact person in the company with contact details
  • Risk assessment (especially with regard to mental 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 showing that the extension of working hours will result in additional shifts off.
  • Schedules for day and night shifts, showing in particular the opportunities for breaks.
• Additionally for construction and assembly sites:
  • Information on the nature and severity of the work
  • Organization of working hours
  • Distance between place of work and place of residence
  • Duration of rest period at home
• Additionally for seasonal and campaign companies:
  • Information on the season or campaign
  • Organization of working hours
  • Period in which working hours are reduced.

If available: Statement of the employee representatives

Action before the administrative court

The processing time depends on the amount of work involved in the examination. As a rule, you will receive your decision a few weeks after you have submitted all the documents.

The granting of the permit or the rejection of the application is subject to a fee. The fees are calculated according to the administrative costs or depend on the number of employees to be deployed.

There are no indications or special features.

The enforcement departments for occupational health and safety and safety engineering at the Darmstadt, Giessen and Kassel regional councils are generally responsible for monitoring compliance with these regulations. They can also provide you with information on the implementation of legal regulations, exemptions or applications for Sunday work.