Overview
- The government confirmed a federal change to the Working Hours Act that will let bakeries schedule up to eight hours of work on Sundays starting 1 January 2027.
- The reform alters federal work-time rules only and does not automatically let bakeries sell for longer on Sundays because shop opening hours remain regulated by the German states.
- Business groups and some CDU figures pressed for broader Sunday deregulation while unions, left parties, church leaders and Bavaria’s government strongly oppose further liberalisation.
- Baker associations welcome the longer work hours as fairer competition but warn that a proposed rise in the minijob flat tax from 2% to 5% would raise personnel costs and could worsen staffing problems.
- European examples show wide variation from full liberalisation to strict bans and Germany’s constitutional protection of Sunday rest plus state-level control means any wider change will require separate state laws or federal–state agreement.