Working hours; application for longer daily working hours for seasonal and campaign businesses

Upon application, employees of a seasonal or campaign business may be granted an extension of the daily working time for the duration of the season or campaign up to a maximum of twelve hours per day on individual days.

The permitted working day of employees is limited to 8 hours in accordance with Section 3 of the Working Hours Act (ArbZG) and can only be extended to a maximum of 10 hours if the average working day is not exceeded within six calendar months or within 24 weeks. For seasonal and campaign businesses, an application can be made for longer daily working hours for employees for the duration of the season or campaign, provided the following conditions are met:

• The following documents are required:
  • Evidence that conclusively demonstrates that the requirements for the application to extend the daily working hours for seasonal and campaign businesses are met
  • at the request of the competent authority: Result of the current risk assessment, which deals in particular with the additional hazards caused by the extension of working hours
  • Overview of the number of employees affected
  • Statement from the company doctor on the effects of the longer daily working hours
  • Statement from the occupational safety specialist on the effects of the longer daily working hours
  • If applicable, statement from the works council, staff council or employee representative body

• The company does not have a collective agreement exception regarding extended working hours.
• The employer can provide plausible evidence that the company is actually operating a seasonal or campaign business.
• The overtime is compensated for by a corresponding reduction in working hours at other times.
• A risk assessment has been carried out in accordance with Section 5 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. In particular, the hazards and stresses resulting from the extension of the daily working hours were taken into account, including
  • Hazards due to heavy physical work, hazardous substances, noise, radiation, etc.,
  • Hazards due to particularly stressful activities, e.g. with high mental stress or particular accident risks,
  • stress caused by the length of working hours, shift work, rest breaks, daily and weekly rest periods and, where applicable, work on Sundays and public holidays.
• Statements from the occupational safety specialist and the company doctor that address the specific operational situation are submitted by the employer. Any resulting findings that require additional protective measures for employees must be implemented by the employer.

• The employer can submit an application - preferably online or alternatively in writing.
• In addition to the required documents (see above), the following information is required:
  • Employer (here: company),
  • place of work, responsible person(s) in the company or on the construction site,
  • period or duration of the extension of working hours,
  • specific details of the planned working hours and break times
  • Information on occupational health and safety supervision
• If the requirements for approval are met, the employer will receive a notice of approval.
• If the requirements for approval are not met, the employer will be given the opportunity to withdraw the application free of charge after consultation. If the application is not withdrawn, the employer will receive a rejection notice. The costs for the rejection notice are calculated on the basis of the list of costs.
• If the documents or information required for processing are incomplete, the employer will be contacted by the competent authority.

Electronic submission

• The application can be submitted digitally to the Trade Supervisory Office at the Government of Upper Bavaria using the online procedure.
• The attachments are uploaded in electronic form (files in PDF format).

Written submission

The informal application with the required documents can be sent by email(gewerbeaufsichtsamt@reg-ob.bayern.de) to the Trade Supervisory Office at the Government of Upper Bavaria.

In order to ensure that applications are processed in good time, please submit the complete application documents no later than one week before the start of approval.

Cost range: EUR 50 to 10,000
The costs depend on the period of the exemption and the number of employees affected by the exemption.