Abweichen von Regelungen zur Arbeitszeit Bewilligung

Under certain conditions, the supervisory authority may, at the request of an employer, approve a different longer daily working time for employees in their company.

Under certain conditions, as an employer you can have an exception granted for longer daily working hours for employees in your company.

To do so, you must submit an informal application. The deviating working hours must be justified.

A deviation from the regulations on working hours is possible for

• continuous shift operations
• Construction and assembly sites
• Seasonal and campaign operations

For continuous shift operations, you may be granted longer daily working hours in order to obtain additional shifts off.

Longer working hours in excess of 8 hours can also be approved for construction and assembly sites.

For seasonal and campaign businesses, you may be granted longer daily working hours for the duration of the season or campaign.

The increase in working hours must be compensated by a corresponding reduction at other times.

For reasons of occupational health and safety, daily working hours of more than 12 hours are generally not permitted.

Exceptions are at the discretion of the competent authority.

You are not entitled to an exemption.

• For all companies:
  • Reasons why longer working hours are necessary
  • Details of the activity
  • Number of employees for whom a permit is to be issued
  • Contact person in the company with contact details
  • Risk assessment (in particular with regard to mental stress caused by longer working hours)
  • Statement from the company doctor on the effects of longer working hours in relation to the workplace and the planned activities
  • Statement from the works council (if available)
• Additionally for continuous shift operations:
  • Duty/shift schedules showing that the extension of working hours results in additional shifts off
  • Schedules for day and night shifts, which also show the opportunities for breaks

• Additionally for construction and assembly sites:
  • Risk assessment supplemented by information on the type and severity of the work, in particular due to strain when lifting and carrying as well as forced postures and one-sided movement; noise exposure at the workplace
  • organization of working hours
  • Distance between place of work and place of residence
  • Length of rest period at home (including overnight accommodation)
• Additionally for seasonal and campaign operations:
  • Risk assessment supplemented by information on the type and severity of the work, in particular due to strain when lifting and carrying as well as forced postures and one-sided movement
  • Information on the season or campaign
  • Organization of working hours with shift schedules
  • Period in which working hours are compensated by shortening them

You can apply to extend the daily working hours of your employees under the following conditions:

• For continuous shift operation, if additional free shifts are achieved. Additional shifts off are deemed to exist if the extension of working hours means that the employees concerned have more consecutive days off than before.
• For construction and assembly sites; particularly relevant if the place of work is far away from the employees' place of residence and they are guaranteed a correspondingly longer rest period at their place of residence for the extended working hours at the construction or assembly site.
• For your seasonal or campaign operation, if there is an exceptional workload for the particular season that cannot be absorbed by other organizational measures.

You can only apply for approval if you are an employer.

You can apply in writing for longer working hours that deviate from the Working Hours Act. The following steps must be taken:

• You submit an informal application
• You send this to the trade supervisory authority of the state of Bremen (depending on where your company is based, to Bremen or Bremerhaven), including the above-mentioned required documents.
• You can send the application to the trade supervisory authority by post or e-mail.
• If the documents or information required for processing are incomplete, you will be contacted by the processing department.
• Once the official review has been completed, you will receive a notice of approval or rejection.
• The local trade supervisory authority will send you the decision by e-mail or post.
• The notification of fees will usually be sent to you together with the decision.

The decision will be made at your discretion.

As part of this decision, a balance is struck between the interests of protecting the health and safety of your employees and the operational interests of the employer.

If you have submitted an application, extended working hours are only permitted once you have received approval. Retroactive approval cannot be granted.