Emergency service: Survey shows massive increase in workload ver.di is calling for shorter maximum working hours

dossier

“The ones presented todayResults of the ver.di survey “Good work in the emergency services” show a massive increase in workload. “The already high burden on employees in the emergency services has become significantly worse since the beginning of the Corona crisis” (…) The survey, in which around 7,000 employees took part, shows serious problems with working hours, work intensity, physical and psychological stress. Almost all those surveyed reported problems balancing work and private life. (…) According to the survey, 61 percent of employees in the emergency services are (very) often unable to take their legally required breaks or not in full. Of those over 55, almost half go to work sick. 84 percent assume that they will not last until retirement age under the current conditions…”ver.di press release from October 4th, 2022 and to that:

• No emergency reform without the rescue workers: The austerity policy has consequences that are also being felt in the rescue centers
  • No reform without employees: The perspective of the rescue workers has so far been left out of the planned emergency reform. The left wants them to have a say - and has questioned them
    "Long waiting times in the rescue centers, like after calling 116 117 for the statutory health insurance emergency service - this is something that many people who once needed urgent medical help are familiar with. And for decades, scientists and practitioners have been puzzling over how people with minor illnesses can be kept away and their problems can be referred to more suitable addresses. (...) Neither patients, experts nor those responsible in health care and politics doubt that there is an urgent need for an emergency reform. (...) But: "No reform can succeed if the employees are not involved." This fundamental objection comes from Stella Merendino, spokeswoman for hospital and emergency care in the Die Linke parliamentary group. That's why the parliamentary group launched a survey among the emergency services, and, according to Merendino, "it spread like wildfire." In the system that now exists, employees are permanently overloaded, among other things due to a high workload: over half of those surveyed work in 12-hour shifts, around 60 percent often find their daily work stressful and two thirds cannot imagine working in the job until they retire. One third also believes that patient safety is not guaranteed under the current working conditions worked in an emergency room in Berlin and knows the precarious conditions.»The employees go far beyond their limits every day. In order to keep them in the profession, working conditions urgently need to be improved. But that collides with the federal government's health policy course." (...) The Left's survey ended with an open question: "If you could give Health Minister Warken a message on the subject of emergency services - what would it be?" Here it was said relatively often: "Come along for the ride. Talk to us. Don't decide over our heads.« (…) The survey results were incorporated into a motion by the Left in the Bundestag, which summarizes the employees' expectations of the emergency reform. An important point is that the emergency service finally becomes part of standard care - and as such finds its way into the Fifth Social Security Code. Furthermore - and this in common with many critics - nationwide standards are called for for the emergency services, including on the quality of care and training. Binding rules on occupational health and safety should, last but not least, limit weekly working hours to 40 hours, set the minimum break time to 30 minutes at a time and provide full remuneration for on-call work as working time. There are also uniform initial assessment procedures for patient admission, integrated control centers and integrated emergency centers – either at hospitals or at future regional health centers.” Article by Ulrike Henning from September 8, 2026 in Neues Deutschland online 
  • Emergency care in need: The austerity policy in the health sector and in the social system has consequences that are also being felt in the rescue centers
    "The federal government wants to reform emergency care primarily by controlling patients more closely. This is understandable as long as people with a tick on their body or with leg pain that has lasted for three weeks are still dialing 112. On the other hand, something is generally wrong here. And that doesn't just have to do with a lack of health skills in the population. In a survey, the Left parliamentary group also asked rescue workers what, in their view, are the most common reasons for incorrect operations. The first priority here is the lack of knowledge of others Offered in more than 40 percent of the answers, people don't know that they should try the family doctor first - sometimes even the pharmacy helps. But the family doctor in the area is not accepting new patients, the hospital is too far away. Savings are being made everywhere, and in the end, many saved structures become real emergencies, well beyond a tick or leg pain. In the end, people call the fire department. People in mental health crises are already coming to the emergency rooms (again and again), homeless people, addicts, and families in extreme fear. The emergency services are literally driving non-stop. The distances to the clinics will become even longer in the future. And so the rescue workers said in the survey mentioned: "Don't close any more hospitals!" Comment by Ulrike Henning from September 8, 2026 in New Germany online 
• [Video series “Emergency call young people – Can we still be saved?”] Crisis in the emergency services: Why emergency paramedics are already thinking about quitting as trainees 
  “Time pressure, high responsibility, shift work: the job as an emergency paramedic is demanding. Although the number of trainees is increasing, very few people believe that they will last until retirement. (…) The starting salary for the job is 2,500 to 3,100 euros gross per month. Compared to other medical training courses, this is a lot, says Frank Kaiser, the head of the school. There are around 4,000 euros after completing the apprenticeship. However, many emergency paramedics want to leave before they retire. According to a survey by the Verdi union from 2022, 84 percent assume that they will not be able to do their job until they retire…”Contribution by Stefanie Küster, Isabell Kramer and Tobias Winge from April 10, 2025 in Hessenschau to the six-part video series “Emergency call for young people – can we still be saved?”
• It's possible: At the ASB in Baden-Württemberg, ver.di achieved a reduction in the maximum working hours for the emergency services to 38.5 hours per week - and is making progress
  What the Association of Municipal Employers' Associations (VKA) absolutely did not want is increasingly becoming a reality for other providers: the reduction of maximum working hours in the emergency services. At the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB) Baden-Württemberg, ver.di has achieved that the maximum working hours for the approximately 1,000 affected employees will be reduced to 38.5 hours per week by 2027. The collective agreement goes well beyond the provisions in the reform collective agreement of the German Red Cross (DRK), where a gradual reduction to 42 hours by 2028 is agreed.
  However, employees in the municipal emergency services still have to work up to 48 hours a week, including on-call times. While negotiations with the VKA about shortening such maximum working hours had to be broken off in May due to a lack of an acceptable employer offer, the ASB is moving forward. From 2025, the maximum weekly working time will be reduced to 41 hours, and from 2027 to 38.5 hours. Different working time regulations currently apply in the 52 ASB rescue stations in the southwest. (…) The 12-hour shifts previously practiced at ASB should still be possible. One concession made by ver.di as part of the negotiating compromise is to allow 24-hour shifts under certain circumstances. “But we have narrowed it down a lot,” emphasizes collective bargaining committee member Joel Wertli. On the one hand, this option is limited to rural rescue stations, where often only a few missions have to be carried out. On the other hand, an amicable works agreement is made a condition, which should also stipulate health protection measures - for example separate relaxation rooms and regular stress analyses.
  Overall, in the opinion of the voluntary collective bargaining commission, the agreement is a good compromise. “The response was consistently positive,” reports Joel Wertli. This also applies to colleagues from other providers, for example the DRK, which operates most of the rescue stations in Baden-Württemberg…”Report from July 29, 2024 from ver.di Health, Social Services, Education and Science(“Rescue service: ASB is moving forward”) – on the other hand, that sounds less encouraging:
  • ASB Baden-Württemberg e.V. and ver.di agree on shorter working hours in the emergency services: reducing working hours to 41 and from 2027 to 38.5 hours per week
    “In several rounds of negotiations, after some difficult discussions, an agreement was reached between the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Baden-Württemberg e.V. (ASB) and the ver.di union. (…)The agreement now provides for a reduction in working hours to 41 hours per week from next year and to 38.5 hours per week from 2027. In addition, all ASB employees aged 55 and over will be able to apply for exemption from night work in the future. This is intended to take into account the increasingly stressful work in order to be able to better retain employees in the emergency services and nursing care until they reach retirement age. Both sides also undertake to hold further discussions on relieving the burden on long-term employees from November this year. "Reducing working hours in the emergency services in two steps towards full working hours is a novelty, but long overdue. It will significantly reduce the burden on colleagues. This not only contributes to the health and satisfaction of colleagues, but also improves the quality of emergency care for the entire population and makes working in the emergency services much more attractive," says Joel Wertli, member of the ver.di collective bargaining committee and emergency paramedic…” CommonPress release from July 24, 2024 from the ver.di state district of Baden-Württemberg 
• After collective bargaining in the municipal emergency service was broken off: “A silent strike is taking place”
  “…[The collective bargaining for the approximately 15,000 employees in the municipal emergency service was canceled by Verdi. Why?]
  We want to gradually reduce working hours to 42 hours by 2028. In collective bargaining, we offered to work 45 hours starting next year and 44 hours starting in 2026 in order to achieve this goal. The employer wasn't happy with that. He suggested that we go down to 47 hours next year and 44 hours from 2028 onwards. We won't take part in that. The difference to other emergency services, which now only work 44 hours a week, is too great.
  [That sounds like a high burden.]
  Yes, we have to be there during the day and night, on weekends and on holidays. And because 48 hours can easily be divided by 12, we work four twelve-hour days per week. Compared to standard working hours, this is around 468 hours more per year. If I extrapolate this over my working life, I work well over ten years more than other employees without any compensation. (…)
  The deployments are increasing, but the personnel are not – on the contrary. This always leads to overtime. This cannot be avoided at all, for example because a call comes in on the way back from a hospital to the rescue station. This must be taken into account in life-threatening situations. And the work is already very physically demanding. Many patients have to be taken out of their homes, and they are rarely barrier-free. This means that they have to be worn many times - and they don't always weigh little. We already have electric stretchers to support us. But often we are not dealing with normal staircases, but with spiral staircases or something similar. Carrying someone down there in a difficult clinical condition is not easy. Usually there are two of you. If you're lucky, there'll be a trainee there. But it's very tiring and many people go part-time because they can't stand it. You work to the limit and change jobs. There are also surveys by Verdi, according to which people on average do not stay in the emergency services for more than ten years. It's an incredible challenge to find new people, especially under these conditions. (…)
  At the moment we are mainly organizing demonstrations and signature campaigns. We wrote to the municipalities and district administrators in the districts and also asked non-members to take part. We wanted to build up pressure so that those in their local employers' association would say, 'Watch out, we have to do something about working hours so that equal conditions are created here and the burden on colleagues in the emergency services is reduced.' They have to clarify that now. But it shouldn't take too long. Because they will of course get into difficulties if vehicles regularly come to a standstill because there are not enough staff. A kind of silent strike is taking place. People simply can't work anymore and leave the emergency services.”Interview by Felix Sassmannshausen from July 10, 2024 in ND online with Norbert Wunder (“Municipal emergency services: “There is a silent strike””). Norbert Wunder has been working in the municipal rescue service in the Pinneberg district for 40 years. He is responsible for the emergency services at Verdi on the Federal Commission and is a member of the collective bargaining commission.
• Collective bargaining over shorter maximum working hours in the municipal emergency service was broken off after 4 rounds of negotiations: 44 hours per week is still too much
  “The United Services Union (ver.di) broke off collective bargaining with the Association of Municipal Employers' Associations (VKA) about a shorter maximum working time in the emergency services on Tuesday evening (May 21, 2024). "Even after numerous discussions and four rounds of negotiations, the municipal employers have obviously not understood the signs of the times. Instead of taking a decisive step to finally improve working conditions, they want to maintain the excessively long working hours for as long as possible," criticized ver.di negotiator Sylvia Bühler. The VKA only offered to reduce the maximum weekly working time from the current 48 hours to 44 hours per week by 2028. The employers completely rejected the maximum working time of 42 hours required by ver.di, which was to be agreed in a step-by-step plan. "With the VKA's offer, the municipal rescue service would only be in four years' time in terms of working hours where competitors already are. That can't be explained to anyone." It will now be seen whether there will still be enough employees in the emergency services in the future who want to work for a wage of 39 hours to 48 hours per week (including on-call times).
  With the German Red Cross, ver.di has already agreed to reduce the maximum working hours from the current 44 to 42 hours per week by 2028. In addition, emergency paramedics receive a monthly allowance of up to 400 euros from the largest provider of rescue services. “Municipal employers must now explain to their emergency service employees why they are refusing more attractive working conditions that are increasingly standard,” said Bühler. “We know that many local employers were also hoping for a reduction in working hours, but they obviously haven't gotten through to their employers' association yet.”…”ver.di press release from May 22, 2024 
• 48 hours are too long: Tough negotiations about maximum working hours and no result yet in the municipal emergency service
  "In the municipal rescue service, many employees regularly work a maximum weekly working time of 48 hours due to the combination of working and on-call time. The employees are demanding relief. Many rescue workers leave the profession after a maximum of ten years, as a ver.di survey according to the DGB Good Work 2022 index showed, 58 percent of those surveyed said this. "Ambulances are standing still everywhere because there are no people there," says Norbert Wunder, employed by the rescue service cooperation in Schleswig-Holstein gGmbH and spokesman for the ver.di Federal Emergency Services Commission. However, the municipal employers (VKA) do not seem to care at all about staff running away. They are not interested in a quick solution, because the second round of negotiations on working hours on February 2, 2024 also ended without a result. What is disappointing from ver.di's point of view is that the VKA was neither prepared to reduce the maximum weekly working hours nor could any progress be achieved in the negotiations. “With its blockade stance, the VKA accepts that the supply is poor because such long working hours do not keep rescue workers in the job,” emphasizes Norbert Wunder. (…) ver.di negotiator Sylvia Bühler is outraged by the hesitant behavior of the municipal employers, who made it clear at the negotiating table that they were not prepared to “write off the gradual improvements to the DRK”. “Having to work up to 48 hours a week is completely out of date,” emphasized Bühler. Presence at the station is crucial for the employees.Waiting for missions is just as much a part of the rescue service as the missions themselves. In order to quickly achieve relief, ver.di has offered employers to implement the first step towards a 44-hour week promptly and to agree on the reduction to 42 hours per week, but to calmly find a common solution as to how this happens. This proposal was also rejected because the VKA does not feel under time pressure. However, employers turn a blind eye to the fact that many rescue workers give up their profession after just a few years. (…) Norbert Wunder calculates: "Until 2017, the pay was also poor, but that has now changed. Now something has to happen with working hours. If the rescue workers stayed in the job for an average of twenty years and not ten years, then we would no longer have a personnel problem." Negotiations will continue in Berlin on April 4th and 5th. Until then, ver.di will use the time together with the employees, because more and more employees are joining ver.di and defending themselves. This was already evident on February 2nd in Hanover: around 120 employees stood in front of the door at the hearing site and protested.” Contribution by Marion Lühring from March 21, 2024 from ver.di publik issue 02/2024 
• ver.di is negotiating shorter maximum working hours in the municipal emergency services
  “The United Services Union (ver.di) expects substantial concessions from employers at the negotiations about working hours in the municipal emergency services taking place tomorrow in Hanover. "The employees in the municipal rescue service finally want to see a result. Working hours of up to 48 hours a week absolutely no longer fit into the time. In order to attract and retain the urgently needed rescue workers, better working conditions are needed immediately," explained ver.di federal board member Sylvia Bühler.
  With the last collective bargaining agreement for the federal and local public services, the Association of Municipal Employers' Associations (VKA) committed itself to negotiations about shorter working hours in the emergency services. Currently, these including on-call times are up to 48 hours per week. "What is possible with the largest rescue service provider, the German Red Cross, must also be possible in the public service. In the DRK reform collective agreement, working hours are gradually reduced to a maximum of 42 hours per week," said Bühler. ver.di is ready to negotiate a step-by-step plan, but a first noticeable step towards shorter working hours must take place very soon. “Working in the emergency services is extremely physically and mentally stressful,” emphasized the trade unionist. "The overwhelming majority of employees assume that they will not last until retirement age. Employers must recognize this alarm signal and act.”“Press release from February 1, 2024 
• Municipal rescue service: ver.di and employers are negotiating shorter maximum working hours 
  “The United Services Union (ver.di) and the Association of Municipal Employers' Associations (VKA) have started negotiations about shorter maximum working hours in the emergency services. "Currently, the municipal emergency services work up to 48 hours a week. This is harmful to health and no longer appropriate," explained ver.di federal board member Sylvia Bühler after the first round of negotiations was concluded on Monday evening. The union is calling for weekly working hours (including standby times) to be reduced to 42 hours. "We are ready for a step-by-step plan, but the first step must come quickly. What is possible with the market leader, the German Red Cross, must also be possible with the municipal emergency service," said Bühler, referring to the DRK reform collective agreement, in which ver.di has agreed to gradually reduce the maximum working hours to 42 hours per week by 2028. Again and again, ambulances cannot be used because the necessary personnel are missing. "Better working conditions are the prerequisite for attracting and retaining more employees for the emergency services. A central lever is reducing excessively long working hours," emphasized the trade unionist…”Press release from December 5th, 2023 
• Survey: Fire departments and rescue services increasingly under pressure 
  “According to a survey for “Welt am Sonntag”, emergency services and fire departments in Germany are increasingly reaching their limits. The number of missions has increased sharply in many places in recent months, and many municipalities are lacking staff. This was the result of a survey among the ten largest cities in Germany and the 16 interior ministries of the federal states. In Frankfurt am Main, for example, 6 percent of all paramedic positions (26 people) and 8 percent of emergency paramedic positions (33 people) are currently not filled. Almost all municipalities have reported increasing deployment numbers since the end of the Corona restrictions. For example, the fire department in Dortmund had to carry out a total of 13,378 more rescue service missions between January and November 2022 than in the same period in 2021. That corresponds to an increase of almost 20 percent. “More emergency services may help, but for years the real causes of this sick system have been avoided,” said Marco König, chairman of the professional rescue service association (DBRD). In order to reduce the increased number of trivial operations, better legal protection is needed for ambulance crews: "Paramedics are often not allowed to use what they have learned. Instead, the emergency doctor is called." But only 10 to 15 percent of all emergency doctor calls are actually necessary…”Report from December 18, 2022 in the medical newspaper online 
• Emergency services sound the alarm: New alliance calls for more staff
  "A newly founded alliance of associations and unions has sounded the alarm about serious problems in the emergency services. At its presentation in Berlin today, the "Alliance for Emergency Services" complained about a lack of staff and at the same time increasing numbers of deployments, which led to a high burden and bottlenecks in the emergency services. There is a “dramatic staff shortage,” said Oliver Hölters, spokesman for Caritas’ employee side, at the presentation. The alliance warned of an “unprecedented exodus from the profession”. While there is a lack of staff, the number of deployments continues to rise - in some places by up to 20 percent, said Frank Flake from the German Professional Association for Emergency Services (DBRD), which is also a member of the alliance. These are often “minor operations” for which no rescue operation is actually necessary. “Many employees are frustrated because they didn’t choose this career to deal with these trivial issues,” Flake said. The alliance called for the emergency service to be recognized “as a relevant part of the health service”. The rescue service must also be given greater consideration in legislative proposals within emergency care. Hölters demanded a “training offensive” from politicians. More people need to find access to professions in the emergency services. Reducing working hours could only be a short-term solution to relieve the burden on employees, he said. If you reduce the working hours of the existing staff, you will end up with even more employees missing. The “Alliance for Emergency Services” includes several associations and unions.In addition to the employee side of the Labor Law Commission of the German Caritas Association and the DBRD, the Björn Steiger Foundation and the German Fire Brigade Union, among others, have also joined. Meanwhile, collective bargaining between the Verdi service union and the municipal employers entered the next round. Verdi wants to reduce working hours and agree on an upper limit for weekly working hours of 44 hours, as the union in Berlin announced. There should be a discussion with the municipal employers' associations (VKA) on Monday. (…) According to the spokeswoman, the talks are taking place “independently of collective bargaining” and therefore without the threat of a strike.” Report from December 12, 2022 in aerzteblatt.de 
• Municipal rescue service: ver.di calls for an end to excessive working hours
  "Before today's continuation of talks between the Association of Municipal Employers' Associations (VKA) and the United Services Union (ver.di) to improve working conditions in the municipal rescue service, ver.di reiterates its demand for a reduction in the maximum weekly working time to 44 hours as a first step as well as measures to protect the health of employees. "The excessively long working hours of up to 48 hours per week lead to high health risks for employees and must finally be a thing of the past," said Sylvia Bühler, member of the ver.di Federal Executive Board. (…) The example of the German Red Cross shows that a reduction in working hours in the rescue service is possible, continued Bühler. At the end of November, ver.di agreed with employers to gradually reduce weekly working hours (including on-call duty) from the current maximum of 45 to a maximum of 42 hours by 2028. "Six years ago we were still at 48 hours, now the next steps follow. This is the success of the employees who worked hard to relieve their workload." Politicians also have a duty to improve the situation in the emergency services as a whole, Bühler continued. The federal states are required not to outsource rescue services to the cheapest provider, but rather to make sufficient staffing and good working conditions a requirement. In October, ver.di published the results of a survey in which around 7,000 employees from the emergency services took part. The survey shows serious problems with working hours and work intensity as well as high physical and psychological stress.84 percent of those surveyed stated that they would not be able to stay in their job until retirement under the current conditions.” ver.di press release from December 12, 2022

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