Heat at the workplace: what already applies today
There is currently no statutory heat allowance in Germany. The employer's duties under Section 3 ArbSchG (Occupational Health and Safety Act) and the Technical Rules for Workplaces (ASR A3.5) are decisive. From an outside air temperature of over 26 °C, a tiered model applies that provides for organisational and technical measures to reduce strain, such as sun protection, adjusted working hours or additional breaks. If these conditions are met, employees can continue to work in the tiers up to 30 °C, up to 35 °C and beyond.
Is there a right to continued pay?
There is no general right to continued remuneration from a certain temperature. The principle of “no work, no pay” applies. The position is different if the employer does not implement the required protective measures. Employees then have a right to refuse performance, and the right to remuneration remains. Where heat poses an immediate and considerable danger, a right to continued pay may also arise (Section 9(3) ArbSchG). In individual cases, heat may also lead to incapacity for work, which triggers a right to continued pay. This applies in particular to vulnerable groups.
The roofing trade as a model
The roofing trade already has a collectively agreed allowance that also applies in heat. It is based on a generally binding collective agreement on employment security outside the winter period, financed through a levy system of the roofing trade's social fund (SOKA-Dach). Seasonal short-time work allowance under Section 101(6) SGB III, by contrast, is not available because it is limited to the period from 1 December to 31 March.
Why transferring this to other sectors is difficult
Extending this model through generally binding collective agreements should be viewed critically, both with regard to the negative freedom of association of the parties to collective agreements and because of the additional costs for employers. A prerequisite would be a relevant collective agreement capable of being declared generally binding under Section 5 TVG. Hardly any such collective agreements currently exist. It seems more sensible to focus on the consistent implementation of existing occupational health and safety law, rather than creating additional bureaucracy and administrative costs.
Open questions on a statutory rule
A levy-financed allowance for certain occupational groups from defined temperatures would be conceivable. However, its relationship to the technical and organisational measures of occupational health and safety law would remain unresolved. These should take priority before blanket paid release from work applies. Otherwise there is a risk of considerable economic damage for individual businesses, up to the paralysis of entire economic sectors in the regions affected.
There are also practical questions of definition. Where, at what time and with which device is the relevant temperature measured? Without clear answers, there is a risk of arbitrary results.
Who bears the costs?
A levy model to distribute the costs would be the most likely. However, it would involve considerable administrative costs, as known from the social fund systems of the construction industry. Alternatively, employers could be obliged directly to grant paid release from work above certain temperatures. The burden would then lie entirely with the businesses.
What employers should do now
Regardless of the outcome of the political debate, the existing duties under the ArbSchG and ASR A3.5 are already binding today. An updated risk assessment with regard to heat stress, documented protective measures and clear company rules on working hours and breaks reduce the liability risk. They also help prevent disputes over rights to refuse performance.
The full article, with further background on the DGB survey and the design of the allowance in the roofing trade, was published in Personalwirtschaft (in German): DGB-Chefin Fahimi fordert Hitze-Ausfallgeld – was von ihrem Vorstoß zu halten ist (Mara Marx, 22 July 2026).