European Committee of Social Rights presents Conclusions 2025.

The European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) of the Council of Europe has presented its Conclusions 2025 at the conclusion of the annual reporting procedure under the European Social Charter (ESC). The reporting procedure is thematically structured; each year a different thematic area is examined. In 2025, the implementation of the labour rights enshrined in the Charter was assessed in various States Parties. Accordingly, the Conclusions address just and safe working conditions, fair remuneration, the right to organise and bargain collectively, as well as equal opportunities for women and men in employment.

The assessment concerns those States Parties that have not ratified the Additional Protocol to the Social Charter providing for a system of collective complaints. This includes 13 EU Member States, among them Germany. The Additional Protocol enables international and national employers’ organisations and trade unions, as well as international non-governmental organisations with observer status with the Council of Europe, to submit collective complaints to the Committee in cases of alleged violations of the rights guaranteed by the Charter.

General findings

In its Conclusions 2025, the European Committee of Social Rights finds that significant shortcomings persist in many States Parties with regard to ensuring the labour rights protected by the Social Charter. While the Committee recognises certain instances of progress, it nevertheless identifies ongoing and, in some cases, structural needs for action. In particular, the implementation of key obligations remains incomplete in many states. Existing rules and measures are often insufficient to ensure effective protection of workers, especially against the backdrop of changing forms of work and increasing labour market flexibilisation.

Identified problem areas

More specifically, the Committee identifies several areas in which practice in the States Parties examined does not comply with the requirements of the Charter. These include, inter alia, excessively long working hours in certain sectors, undermining workers’ health and safety, as well as inadequate safeguards for vulnerable categories of workers, for example in the platform and gig economy, in telework or in the context of posting. The Committee also observes persistent gender pay inequalities and shortcomings in achieving equality between women and men in employment. Further problems relate to restrictions on collective bargaining due to legal or structural barriers, as well as insufficient responses to new and emerging risks, including psychosocial risks, work-related impacts of climate change and the right to disconnect.

Working conditions in Germany

With regard to just working conditions, in particular working time arrangements, the Committee finds in its Conclusions on Germany that the applicable rules are not in conformity with Article 2§1 of the European Social Charter. It criticises the fact that daily working time may be extended beyond ten hours, resulting in weekly working time exceeding 60 hours, without this being limited to exceptional circumstances. In addition, the Committee considers reference periods of up to or exceeding twelve months to be problematic, as they undermine the effective limitation of maximum weekly working time. Furthermore, the blanket classification of inactive on-call periods as rest periods is considered not to be in conformity with the Social Charter.

With regard to safe and healthy working conditions, the Committee acknowledges that Germany has a generally well-developed system of occupational safety and health. This includes measures for the prevention of work-related risks, the provision of information and training for workers, as well as the involvement of labour inspectorates, accident insurance institutions and social partners. At the same time, the system is considered not to be sufficiently geared towards new and psychosocial risks. In particular, the Committee criticises the lack of coherent and binding strategies to address psychosocial risks, for example in telework, in the platform economy or in jobs involving high psychological strain. Likewise, the absence of a legal right to disconnect is assessed as a violation of Article 3 of the Social Charter. Moreover, the Committee notes that certain categories of workers, in particular some groups of self-employed persons and domestic workers, are not adequately covered by occupational safety and health regulations and therefore do not enjoy effective protection of their health and safety at work.