Freie Wähler on work and social affairs

The Free Voters want to make working-time rules fundamentally more flexible. A weekly maximum working time should apply instead of a daily one, as permitted by the EU Working Time Directive.

Today there is a limit on working hours per day. The Free Voters want a limit per week instead. People can then arrange their work more freely. Health protection should stay in place.

The platform justifies the demand by saying employees and employers should be able to make full use of the opportunities of digitalization. The rules are to be designed in a family-friendly way. Protection of workers and their health is not to be weakened in the process. The benchmark is the European Working Time Directive.

The Free Voters want to fundamentally review and reform Bürgergeld (citizen's income) and drop the name. People able to work should be pushed more firmly toward work, and Ukrainians should no longer receive the benefit automatically.

The Free Voters want to change Bürgergeld. It should be called social assistance again. People who can work should work. Those who refuse suitable work should get less than sick people. Ukrainians should no longer get the money automatically.

The party believes the name Bürgergeld gives some people the impression of a payment with nothing expected in return, which can harm recipients. Social assistance would go to people who have not paid contributions and to employees after more than twelve months of unemployment. Those who can work and turn down reasonable jobs should be worse off than sick people who cannot work. The aim is to create incentives to take up work and reduce abuse, partly because of staff shortages in the economy. Refugees from Ukraine should be placed in jobs in a more targeted way.

The Free Voters want to make accessibility mandatory in public spaces and to support accessible construction with subsidies. Applications for inclusion measures should be possible digitally. The aim is full participation for people with disabilities.

People with disabilities should be able to take part everywhere. The Free Voters want public squares and pedestrian zones without obstacles. For example, there should be ramps and elevators. Those who build without obstacles should get money from the state. Applications should be possible online.

Market squares, old town centers and pedestrian zones are to do without cobblestones and get elevators and ramps; people affected should take part in the planning. The federal and state governments are to subsidize new construction and renovations, especially for companies, with the platform favoring support over penalties. Digital procedures are meant to save trips to government offices and speed up processes.

The Free Voters want to fund clubs and initiatives that work against loneliness. Access to leisure activities, volunteering and places to meet is meant to prevent isolation.

Many people feel alone. The Free Voters want to change that. Clubs should get money for meetups and shared projects. There should be more places where people can meet.

According to the program, loneliness affects people of every age and should not be a taboo. New funding programs would help clubs develop ideas that bring people together, such as joint projects, sports or cultural events. Access to leisure activities, volunteering and meeting spaces would also be supported to strengthen social cohesion.