FDP on work and social affairs

The FDP wants to limit the Working Hours Act to a simple framework that collective agreements and works agreements then fill in. In the party's view, individual preferences and models for work should not be restricted unnecessarily.

A law sets how long people may work. The FDP wants to make this law simpler. Companies and workers should agree on more themselves. This way working hours should fit people's lives better.

The FDP affirms free collective bargaining and sees a high level of organization among employees and employers as an advantage. It wants to support working time models that take mobile work into account, as well as long-term working time accounts. Modern working time models are meant to help people combine family and career. Pilot projects for part-time vocational training are to continue and expand.

The FDP wants to introduce a liberal Bürgergeld (citizen's income). It would replace the many different welfare benefits, which the platform describes as confusing.

Today there are many different kinds of state aid. The FDP finds this too complicated. It wants one single benefit instead. It is called Bürgergeld.

The Bürgergeld would take the place of numerous transfer payments. The FDP also affirms the principle of supporting people while making demands of them. According to the platform, the aim of its labor market policy is to make it easier for more people to get into work.

The FDP wants to strengthen vocational education, especially dual training and the STEM fields, as well as continuing education. More people should gain access to the labor market, since the party sees the skilled labor shortage as one of the biggest challenges.

The FDP wants to strengthen job training in companies and vocational schools. People should be able to keep learning all their lives. Young people should get better help choosing a job. More people should find work.

Youth employment agencies are to be expanded and guidance at the transition from school to work improved. Young people without a school diploma, people with disabilities, the long-term unemployed and people with a migration background are to be better integrated into work, among other things through stronger production schools. Employment of women and older people is to rise through targeted measures and counseling. Investing in one's own continuing education is to become simpler, including through online and hybrid formats. Dedicated offers are planned for single parents.

The FDP wants to keep addressing occupational safety challenges across different industries. It relies on targeted information campaigns and on effective means of intervening when abuses occur.

Work should not make people sick. The FDP wants better protection at work. Companies and workers should get better information. The state should be able to step in when conditions are bad.

As examples, the platform cites structural overload in health and care professions, the physical strain of building offshore wind turbines, and precarious working conditions in the meat industry, especially for foreign workers. The information campaigns are to address both employers and employees and be available in several languages. According to the FDP, occupational safety protects physical and mental health and thus quality of life and participation.

The FDP wants to review how effective state social benefits are and to show more openly where funds go and which structures they support. This is meant to make help more targeted and lasting.

The FDP wants to check whether social help from the state works well. Everyone should be able to see where the money goes. This way help should reach people better.

According to the platform, a welfare state must use its funds efficiently. One question to be examined is whether initiatives that repeatedly receive project grants should get permanent institutional funding instead. Whether existing structures work is also to be reviewed.

The FDP wants to keep treating inclusion as a task for all policy areas and to further develop the state action plan on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. People with disabilities should get more opportunities in the regular labor market, and daycare centers and schools should get more support for inclusion.

The FDP wants people with disabilities to take part everywhere. This applies to culture, transport and work, for example. They should have more chances at regular jobs. Daycare centers and schools should get more help for this.

According to the platform, participation in regular daycare centers and schools should be possible wherever it serves the children's interests. The inclusion competence teams in early childhood education are to be expanded further. For inclusion in schools, the FDP wants multi-professional teams in permanent structures. Services from different providers would thus be combined into one overall concept.

The FDP wants to back volunteer work with paid staff structures, especially in youth associations, and to further develop the state's volunteering strategy. The volunteer card (Ehrenamtskarte) should offer more benefits, particularly on public transit.

Many people help for free in their spare time. This is called volunteering. The FDP wants to support these people better. The volunteer card should bring more benefits, for example on buses and trains. There should also be advice for volunteers who face hate and attacks.

The platform follows the principle that volunteers need professional help with administration, organization and specialist questions. After the pandemic, structures, services and networks should be kept and expanded. The volunteering fair is to grow, and the FDP wants to help volunteers with insurance coverage. Schools should work more closely with local clubs, especially in sports. A counseling service is planned for volunteers who experience hate and attacks.

The FDP wants to counter loneliness in old age with multigenerational housing projects and a digital platform listing all available programs. Public transit and accessibility are also to be improved, and education and prevention programs for older people expanded.

The FDP wants older people not to be lonely. Young and old should be able to live together. A website should show all programs against loneliness. Buses and trains should be better and free of barriers. There should be more courses for older people.

The platform wants to promote volunteering by older people, especially in education and integration. For mobility, public transit should improve, vehicles should become more accessible and bureaucratic procedures simpler. Sports courses and health counseling are to be expanded as prevention. Learning programs should teach older people how to use new technology, supported by better digital infrastructure. The FDP also wants to promote barrier-free construction and make the state more attractive to health sector companies.