Monthly Dose of Germany: October 2026

More and more employees are looking to make their working hours more flexible in order to better balance their professional and personal commitments. Employers are therefore faced with complex legal questions relating to part-time work and reductions in working hours. In the upcoming Deloitte Legal Update, our experts Frauke Heudtlaß and Annina Backhaus will provide a practical overview of the legal options, requirements, and common challenges associated with part-time work requests.

In our Deloitte Legal webcast on October 7, 2026, we provided an overview of the new regulatory requirements for management board members and key function holders introduced by the Banking Directive Implementation and Bureaucracy Relief Act (BRUBEG). Our experts Dr. Lars Hinrichs, Dr. Mathias Hanten, Leonie Scharwächter, and Franz Schlothofer explained how institutions could implement the new requirements effectively within their governance frameworks, shared initial practical experiences, and helped participants assess their current level of implementation and identify any further action required. The webcast focused on the identification of key functions, including the relevant assessment criteria, areas of managerial discretion, and documentation requirements. It also covered governance mapping for management board members and key function holders, as well as the suitability assessment of key function holders, including applicable policies, processes, and practical implementation considerations. In addition, the speakers addressed further regulatory changes introduced by BRUBEG in connection with key functions and discussed their practical implications for financial institutions.

In our Deloitte Legal webcast on September 30, 2026, our speakers #Dr. Lars Hinrichs, #Dr. Thomas Lambrich, and #Katja Sartori-Röthke discussed the current challenges and developments in working time law. The existing German Working Time Act dated back to 1994 and had increasingly been viewed as outdated in light of modern working arrangements such as working from home, mobile working, and flexible working time models. At the same time, employers had already been required to systematically record their employees’ daily working hours, while legislative reform had still been pending and the reform proposal that had been under discussion since June 2026 had been the subject of considerable debate. During the webcast, the speakers explained the opportunities already available under the current working time regulations, outlined the requirements for legally compliant working time recording, and examined the implications for home office and remote work arrangements. They also addressed the amendments being discussed as part of the ongoing reform process, particularly with regard to the use of electronic time-tracking systems. Participants received practical guidance on how to review existing working time models and recording processes, identify potential areas requiring adjustment at an early stage, and ensure compatibility with modern forms of work organization.

In our Deloitte Legal Update webcast series, we address current legal issues as well as legal trends and developments that are important for corporate practice. A list of some webcasts already held, including downloads of the presentations in English language, can be found here. Please note, that not all webcast presentations are available in English language. For more presentations, please visit our webcast archive in German language.