Merz’s party vows to clamp down on Germany’s ‘lifestyle part-time work’

The business wing of Germany’s leading Christian Democrats party is proposing a ban on workers’ legal entitlement to work part-time, arguing that those wishing to work fewer hours should have to acquire special permission to do so.Currently, every employee in Europe’s largest economy has a fundamental right to carry out part-time work, with many, particularly women, often needing to do so for reasons relating to childcare or looking after elderly relatives.But the powerful CDU grouping that represents Germany’s small- and medium-sized enterprises has said that, as the economy is suffering from a lack of skilled workers, no one should have a legal entitlement to do what it refers to as “lifestyle part-time work”.“Those who can work more should work more,” the business wing’s chair, Gitta Connemann, told the news magazine Stern, which obtained a leaked copy of the motion.The proposal, which is expected to be passed at the CDU’s general conference in Stuttgart next month, at which point it would become official party policy, chimes with comments made by the chancellor, Friedrich Merz, about what he perceives as Germans’ lack of motivation.Under pressure to make changes to boost sluggish economic growth, the conservative has told voters their country’s prosperity will not be maintained “with a four-day week and work-life balance”. He recently effectively accused them of skiving by falsely calling in sick, criticising the relative ease with which sicknotes could be obtained from GPs over the phone.The part-time work motion foresees exemptions for people raising children, caring for relatives or pursuing professional development through training. Those who choose to work part-time and are not in those categories, however, should no longer be allowed to take the part-time option, it says.Connemann has already received pushback from within her own party, with Dennis Radtke, the chair of the CDU’s social wing, accusing the business group of getting its priorities wrong.“Such a restriction amounts to putting the cart before the horse,” he told Funke media group. He said he would like to see more people who were in part-time work enter or return to full-time employment, but that for many it was perceived as a trap, with employers often unhelpfully inflexible over the hours needing to be worked, people getting paid less and facing restrictions over career development.Radtke said childcare and care of elderly people had to improve in order to create the conditions for those who wanted to work to do so. But restricting the right to part-time work to caregivers or parents would mean defining the level of care and age of children up to which such care was necessary, when “this can and should be decided by every family individually”, he added.IG Metall, the powerful metalworkers’ union, also voiced concerns. “The problem is not a lack of willingness or performance, but inadequate conditions” for those who cannot work full time, said the union’s boss, Christiane Benner.According to Germany’s Institute for Employment Research (IAB), the part-time employment rate in the country increased to just over 40% in the third quarter of 2025, in part due to a rise in employment in sectors such as health, social services, education and teaching, and a drop in employment in the manufacturing sector, where full-time work is more usual.This compares with about 24% in the UK as of 2025, and just under 18% in France in 2024. Of these people, in Germany 76% of part-time workers are women, similar to the UK and France.Last year the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said the German economy suffered in part because women and older people were not adequately integrated into the workplace.