Even for the generally rather inflexible Germans, home office work—or working from home (WFH)—has long become the new normal for many workers. The big shift occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Germany, WFH is typically combined with flexible office hours. Unsurprisingly, Germany’s labor relations system provides relatively clear regulations on hybrid work, allowing workers a flexible mix of office and home work.

Meanwhile, more and more public sector workers are also working from home – at least on certain days or during specific times. All this can be regulated by a trade union’s collective bargaining agreement, referred to as the “digitalization collective agreement.”

In Germany, there is currently no general right – i.e., no provision set out in labor law—to work from home. Hence the importance of collective bargaining agreements.

The general rule is that working from home is only possible if the employer agrees – or alternatively – if there are relevant collective agreements in place. In other words, the self-invented “right to manage” remains.

In the absence of a labor law on WFH, collective bargaining agreements are indispensable for creating binding and fair regulations on remote work. These agreements go far beyond individual arrangements. They honor a classical truth of working life:

“Together we bargain – individually, we beg!”

Such collective agreements are especially relevant today, as corporations such as Amazon, Google, SAP, Deutsche Bank, and the mail-order company Otto Versand (Germany’s Amazon) are increasingly calling their workers back to the office.

In other words, collective agreements help secure workers’ rights and offer comprehensive protection. They are particularly essential for professionals and for long-term workplace flexibility – ensuring both stability and security.

Notably, the term “home office” is not defined in German labor law. By contrast, the older term “teleworking” is clearly defined by legislation. It refers to “work that takes place at a permanent workplace outside the company, usually in the worker’s home – at fixed working hours.”

If work takes place partly in the company and partly from home, there is room for WFH arrangements. Conversely, for workers based at fixed locations – train drivers, customer service agents, etc.—there is obviously no obligation for employers to offer WFH.

At the same time, occupational health and safety plays just as important a role at home as it does in the office.

Although employers may determine the place of work based on their assumed managerial prerogative, they cannot unilaterally impose rules on an employee’s private living space.

Furthermore, employees must not face any disadvantage from choosing – or not choosing – to work from home. They also retain the right to return to the office as soon as they wish.

Thanks to digitization and networking, working from home or on the go has become feasible. Today, more than half of German workers take advantage of this.

There are both pitfalls and positives. On the plus side: increased time sovereignty, improved work-life balance, and cost and time savings from not commuting.

Five years ago, in the spring of 2020, 85% of those working from home said: “This is good.” Being at home makes it easier to work at one’s own pace – and managerial oversight tends to be lighter, with the boss no longer constantly hovering.

On the downside, the blurring of boundaries between work and private life can lead to a double burden. Worse still, management might push work into evenings, weekends, or holidays.

Even while working from home, violations of occupational health and safety regulations and of Germany’s Working Time Act can occur.

Many home workers don’t have proper setups – the kitchen table is not a home office. Ergonomics may be lacking, and stable internet access isn’t always guaranteed.

Especially during the pandemic, when many were forced to improvise home workspaces, it became clear how difficult it is to separate work and private life.

Worse, many people developed the habit of “just checking emails quickly” in the evening or answering calls before the workday begins.

A strict demarcation between work and home life requires solid occupational health and safety protections, including clear instructions for effective self-management.

The trend toward “Entgrenzung” – the weakening of boundaries between work and private life—is on the rise. This can quickly lead to psychological stress, an increasingly common phenomenon.

Worryingly, nearly 40% of home office workers are pressured by management to remain constantly available. And long-term WFH can lead to social isolation and missed career opportunities, with some workers simply disappearing from management’s radar.

Informal encounters – at the coffee machine, the water cooler, or through office gossip – are also missed. That’s why a hybrid model, such as the 3-2-2 formula (3 days WFH, 2 days in the office, 2 days off), makes sense.

Yet, some old-school managers still cling to the suspicion that workers at home aren’t producing anything. Most studies find the opposite: WFH boosts productivity – workers save commute time and spend less time chatting aimlessly.

Modern managers care less about where employees are and more about what they do.

Meanwhile, the WFH rate in Germany remains stable, according to the latest data from Germany’s Federal Statistical Office (Statistisches Bundesamt).

As is widely known, many workers switched to WFH during the pandemic. A few years on, one in four continues to work from home at least occasionally.

That’s 24% of the workforce – a figure that has remained stable. Compared to 2023, the proportion of people who spent less than half their working time in the home office rose slightly, from 44% to 46%.

Of all home office users, 24% worked exclusively from home. At the pandemic’s peak in 2021, that figure was 40%. Last year, it was still 26%.

Nevertheless, WFH remains more common than before COVID. In 2019, only 13% of workers occasionally or regularly worked from home.

According to the statistics, the 35-to-44 age group has the highest proportion of WFH users (29%), followed by 25-to-34-year-olds (28%). Among 15-to-24-year-olds, only 7% work from home occasionally. WFH also correlates strongly with commute distance:

• 50 km or more: 42% work from home
• 25–50 km: 29%
• Under 5 km: just 14%

Overall, Germany is slightly above the EU average, with 24% of workers in the home office (EU average: 23%). WFH is most common in the Netherlands (52%), Sweden (46%), and Luxembourg (43%). In contrast, WFH remains rare in Bulgaria (3%), Romania (4%), and Greece (8%).

In Germany, 13.1% work from home every day or at least half their working time, while another 11.1% do so on fewer than half of their working days – almost double the pre-COVID level. WFH use varies by occupational group:

• Managers: 41.6%
• Academics: 49%
• Technicians and related: 26.4%
• Office workers: 27.6%
• Service/sales: 5.5%
• Crafts/trades: 5.5%
• Plant, machine operators, assembly-line workers: 1.6%

In the end, Germany’s much-acclaimed labor law system has not led to a general legal regulation on WFH. Nor has the collective bargaining system resulted in an overarching WFH agreement for all workers.

Still, some collective agreements do provide guidelines for company-level WFH arrangements. In filling this legal gap, German trade unions have successfully bargained – at the enterprise level – to secure both the right to work from home and to ensure decent working conditions.

Today, the number of workers regularly working from home has stabilized at around one-quarter of the workforce.

Despite management’s push to bring workers back to the office, trade unions and collective bargaining have managed to protect WFH rights.

This 25% figure has remained stable across age groups. What truly influences WFH uptake is commuting distance: the longer the commute, the more likely people are to choose WFH.

Unsurprisingly, managers and academics are the groups most likely to work from home – around half of each.

In the end, German trade unions have – so far – succeeded in pushing back against corporate management’s attempts to bring all employees back to the office. The fact remains: roughly one in four workers in Germany continues to work from home.

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