Officials in Bremen: Working hours without wage compensation increased to 41 hours!

Officials in Bremen: Working hours without wage compensation increased to 41 hours!

The Bremen Senate plans to increase the weekly working hours for civil servants from 40 to 41 hours - without wage compensation. This would affect around 15,500 civil servants from both the state of Bremen (around 13,500) and the city of Bremerhaven (over 2,000). Critical voices from unions and the entire staff council are not long in coming. Lars Hartwig, chairman of the general staff council, speaks of a "slap in the face" of the civil servants who are already overloaded, while Nils Winter, the state chairman of the police union, emphasizes that police officers are "pissed" on the Senate, since this endangers the safety of people. The German Police Union (DPolG) sees a "salary cut through the back door" in the plans. This fears that there will be emigration from officials to Lower Saxony, where the 40-hour week continues to apply.

This planned change is criticized with regard to the cornerstales for the state budget 2026 and 2027, the decision of which is to take place on June 17, 2025. This measure is still considered a devastating signal in order to receive the public service as an attractive employer. The German Official Association (DBB) draws alarming comparisons and points out that around 550,000 jobs in the public service are already vacant. In addition to Bremen in federal states such as Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and Schleswig-Holstein, officials also have a working time of 41 hours a week. Federal civil servants generally even work 41 hours.

regulations for working hours in Bremen

The Bremen Working Hours Ordinance (Bremazvo) from 2022 regulates the details of the working hours of the civil servants who work in the public service in Bremen. This regulation determines a regular weekly working time of 40 hours, with the possibility of a maximum of 48 hours also taking over work. In addition, in certain cases such as shift or on-call services, exceptions can apply. An important element of this regulation is the possibility for civil servants to credit up to 5 overtime hours a week to a life working time account in order to be able to work part -time or in the Sabbagen period.

Working hours are determined by individual duty roster, whereby the employee representatives are also included in the planning. All the more, the possible increase in working hours to 41 is regarded as a clear pressure agent, which cannot remain unnamed during the contractually agreed working time.

Against the background of these impending changes, it is a hot iron for many civil servants that raises some questions: How will the officials react to this increase? Are the effects on the willingness to work in the public service? The debate about working hours for civil servants remains tense and will certainly be in focus in the coming days.