In general, the hospitality sector remains among the most precarious areas of employment. This is evident across major European economies, from Germany, the driver of the European Union, to the United Kingdom, which chose to leave the club. Regulations vary, but there exists a range of shift lengths and the possibility that hours may be extended if justified by specific reasons.
The Döner as the Last Refuge for a Precarious Germany
In Germany, there is no single nationwide closing time for indoor dining. On terraces, the typical closing time is 10:00 PM. The golden rule for venues, including night bars or clubs, is that they must be closed for cleaning for at least one hour, usually between 5 and 6 in the morning.
Each state, known as a land, sets its own rules for bars, restaurants, and other places serving food. In Berlin, as in other nightlife hubs, the standard kitchen closing time is 10:00 PM, though there are many exceptions. Owners may extend services to 11:00 PM or midnight. Some restaurants operate around the clock, except for the fixed cleaning hour. In more rural regions, it is often hard to find a place serving meals past 8:00 PM.
Strict rules govern working hours, with a maximum eight-hour daily limit. The restaurant sector grapples with a progressively chronic labor shortage affecting public life from shops to service industries and heavy manufacturing. It remains a highly precarious field where workers are frequently paid below the minimum wage and rights are not always observed.
Traditionally, being a waiter or kitchen staff was seen as a form of “labor refuge” for students or people needing extra income, working one or two shifts a week. This trend has faded as staff migrate to other sectors with strong demand and better pay.
Property owners of bars and restaurants facing staffing shortages tend to avoid extending hours beyond peak crowd times. Even in the capital, where late-night dining was once easy to find, the availability is shrinking. Imbiss stands and street döner stalls, offering quick bites, have become the last resort for late-night customers who eat standing up after buying their meals.
Open Windows of Opportunity Within Italy’s Timeframes
Since the pandemic’s exceptional period ended, Italy has reintroduced much of the timeframes previously established for bars and restaurants. Rome serves as a prime example. Local regulations allow shops to open as early as 6:00 AM and close at 2:00 AM, with business owners choosing opening and closing times within this window.
Restaurant operators may request earlier openings or later closing times, a measure designed to pre- or postdate the official hours. Such exceptions require a valid justification and evaluation by authorities, a process that can be difficult to obtain.
If a bar or restaurant stays open after midnight, it is required to post notices inviting customers to behave properly and keep noise down to avoid disturbances. Local residents often complain about nightlife activity in busy districts and popular youth meeting spots. Tourism has surged in Italy and other southern European countries in recent years, intensifying these dynamics.
France’s Long Hours and Seasonal Labor Realities
The French workweek is set at 35 hours, but those hours often extend in hospitality and other sectors through overtime or sectoral agreements. More than half of full-time workers exceed this 35-hour baseline, according to statistics from the National Institute of Statistics (INSEE).
The maximum daily work limit in hospitality sits at 13 hours, or 12 hours for night shifts. Weekly caps in this sector can reach 48 hours, aligning with European Union allowances. French law, however, keeps an average capped at 46 hours over a 12-week period. Nightly hours require venues to close no later than 2:00 AM, though local prefects may adjust this limit by territory. The seasonal nature of tourist towns, combined with higher demand for workers, makes long shifts a recurring feature in the sector.
This precarious setup has created a double-edged sword in recent years. Hospitality employs over a million people in France and accounts for about 15% of tertiary-sector firms. Shortages have been a chronic problem, though some venues have improved conditions or experimented with a four-day workweek. Yet these options remain relatively rare in a field where precariousness and foreign labor are common.
Extended Hours in the United Kingdom
Restaurant opening and closing times in the United Kingdom vary by locality and license. Generally, restaurants run from around 12:00 to 3:00 PM for midday meals and from 6:00 PM to 11:00 PM for dinners. Pubs follow local licensing regulations, but most are open roughly from 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM.
In certain exceptional cases, the government has allowed extended hours for hospitality venues. For instance, in November, national authorities announced plans to push closing times to 1:00 AM if any of the soccer nation finalists advanced during the Euro 2024 semifinals and final. This policy aimed to support the hospitality industry during key sporting events.
Extending opening hours for major occasions is not new in the UK. During the Euro 2020 final and the coronation weekend of 2023, authorities already allowed longer hours to boost the sector after the pandemic. These measures reflect a broader strategy to accommodate tourism and major events while balancing community impact.