Bavaria Stands Apart as Germany Reworks Sunday Work Hours for Bakeries and Libraries
Published on 07/05/2026 at 18:27 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
The federal government’s 34-point labour reform package, set to take effect in 2027, will allow bakeries to operate for up to eight hours on Sundays—up from the current three-hour limit. Libraries will get six hours. Yet the actual shop opening times remain a state matter, and Bavaria has already signalled it will stick with the old three-hour rule, meaning the changes will play out unevenly across the country.
The Zentralverband des Deutschen Bäckerhandwerks, the bakery trade association, welcomed the extension. It said the new rules finally put bakeries on equal footing with other food-service businesses, a long-standing demand of the sector. But the association sharply criticised a separate measure in the package: the flat-rate tax on mini-jobs (low-income part-time positions) will rise from two to five percent. To make the longer Sunday hours more attractive, surcharges of up to 75 euros per hour will remain tax-free.
Alongside the Sunday-work changes, the package tightens sick-leave rules. From the first day of illness, employees will need a doctor’s certificate; the option of a telephone-based sick note, which had become widespread during the pandemic, will be eliminated. Medical professionals have warned that the requirement could increase the risk of infection in waiting rooms, as contagious patients would have to physically visit practices.
Dismissal protections for high earners are eased. Fixed-term contracts can now run up to 48 months and be renewed as many as six times without needing to be in written form. The government also plans broad tax relief starting January 2027, totalling ten billion euros. For individuals with annual incomes up to 60,000 euros, the tax burden could fall by as much as 600 euros. Meanwhile, the top income-tax rate will climb: to 45 percent on earnings above 250,000 euros and to 47 percent above 280,000 euros.
The reform package, which amends the Working Hours Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz), requires approval by the Bundesrat. With individual states holding authority over actual opening hours—and Bavaria already resisting the eight-hour extension—the practical impact may vary from one region to the next. Bakeries in some states will gain a full workday on Sunday; in others, the old three-hour cap will stay in place.
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