diff --git a/analysis_templates/cms_minimal/law.cfg b/analysis_templates/cms_minimal/law.cfg
index 3fce2ce3e..0dcbc6d15 100644
--- a/analysis_templates/cms_minimal/law.cfg
+++ b/analysis_templates/cms_minimal/law.cfg
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ skip_ensure_proxy: False
 # some remote workflow parameter defaults
 htcondor_flavor: $CF_HTCONDOR_FLAVOR
 htcondor_share_software: False
+htcondor_disk: -1
 slurm_flavor: $CF_SLURM_FLAVOR
 slurm_partition: $CF_SLURM_PARTITION
 
diff --git a/columnflow/tasks/framework/base.py b/columnflow/tasks/framework/base.py
index 43002d099..85bd05e86 100644
--- a/columnflow/tasks/framework/base.py
+++ b/columnflow/tasks/framework/base.py
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ def req_params(cls, inst: AnalysisTask, **kwargs) -> dict:
         _prefer_cli = law.util.make_set(kwargs.get("_prefer_cli", [])) | {
             "version", "workflow", "job_workers", "poll_interval", "walltime", "max_runtime",
             "retries", "acceptance", "tolerance", "parallel_jobs", "shuffle_jobs", "htcondor_cpus",
-            "htcondor_gpus", "htcondor_memory", "htcondor_pool", "pilot",
+            "htcondor_gpus", "htcondor_memory", "htcondor_disk", "htcondor_pool", "pilot",
         }
         kwargs["_prefer_cli"] = _prefer_cli
 
diff --git a/columnflow/tasks/framework/remote.py b/columnflow/tasks/framework/remote.py
index be7e8f747..8a747118e 100644
--- a/columnflow/tasks/framework/remote.py
+++ b/columnflow/tasks/framework/remote.py
@@ -528,6 +528,11 @@ def common_destination_info(self, info: dict[str, str]) -> dict[str, str]:
 
 _default_htcondor_flavor = law.config.get_expanded("analysis", "htcondor_flavor", law.NO_STR)
 _default_htcondor_share_software = law.config.get_expanded_boolean("analysis", "htcondor_share_software", False)
+_default_htcondor_disk = law.util.parse_bytes(
+    law.config.get_expanded_float("analysis", "htcondor_disk", law.NO_FLOAT),
+    input_unit="GB",
+    unit="GB",
+)
 
 
 class HTCondorWorkflow(AnalysisTask, law.htcondor.HTCondorWorkflow, RemoteWorkflowMixin):
@@ -565,9 +570,16 @@ class HTCondorWorkflow(AnalysisTask, law.htcondor.HTCondorWorkflow, RemoteWorkfl
         default=law.NO_FLOAT,
         unit="MB",
         significant=False,
-        description="requested memeory in MB; empty value leads to the cluster default setting; "
+        description="requested memory in MB; empty value leads to the cluster default setting; "
         "empty default",
     )
+    htcondor_disk = law.BytesParameter(
+        default=_default_htcondor_disk,
+        unit="GB",
+        significant=False,
+        description="requested disk space in GB; empty value leads to the cluster default setting; "
+        f"{'empty default' if _default_htcondor_disk <= 0 else 'default: ' + str(_default_htcondor_disk)}",
+    )
     htcondor_flavor = luigi.ChoiceParameter(
         default=_default_htcondor_flavor,
         choices=(
@@ -697,6 +709,12 @@ def htcondor_job_config(self, config, job_num, branches):
         if self.htcondor_memory is not None and self.htcondor_memory > 0:
             config.custom_content.append(("Request_Memory", self.htcondor_memory))
 
+        # request disk space
+        if self.htcondor_disk is not None and self.htcondor_disk > 0:
+            # TODO: the exact conversion might be flavor dependent in the future, use kB for npw
+            # e.g. https://confluence.desy.de/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=128354529
+            config.custom_content.append(("RequestDisk", self.htcondor_disk * 1024**2))
+
         # render variables
         config.render_variables["cf_bootstrap_name"] = "htcondor_standalone"
         if self.htcondor_flavor not in ("", law.NO_STR):
diff --git a/columnflow/tasks/reduction.py b/columnflow/tasks/reduction.py
index dca0ae49d..6ee9c852a 100644
--- a/columnflow/tasks/reduction.py
+++ b/columnflow/tasks/reduction.py
@@ -260,6 +260,8 @@ class MergeReductionStats(
     SelectorStepsMixin,
     CalibratorsMixin,
     DatasetTask,
+    law.LocalWorkflow,
+    RemoteWorkflow,
 ):
 
     n_inputs = luigi.IntParameter(
@@ -279,6 +281,7 @@ class MergeReductionStats(
 
     # upstream requirements
     reqs = Requirements(
+        RemoteWorkflow.reqs,
         ReduceEvents=ReduceEvents,
     )
 
@@ -298,10 +301,31 @@ def resolve_param_values(cls, params):
 
         return params
 
+    def create_branch_map(self):
+        # single branch without payload
+        return {0: None}
+
+    def workflow_requires(self):
+        reqs = super().workflow_requires()
+        if self.merged_size == 0:
+            return reqs
+
+        reqs["events"] = self.reqs.ReduceEvents.req_different_branching(
+            self,
+            branches=((0, self.n_inputs),),
+        )
+        return reqs
+
     def requires(self):
         if self.merged_size == 0:
             return []
-        return self.reqs.ReduceEvents.req(self, branches=((0, self.n_inputs),))
+
+        return self.reqs.ReduceEvents.req_different_branching(
+            self,
+            workflow="local",
+            branches=((0, self.n_inputs),),
+            _exclude={"branch"},
+        )
 
     def output(self):
         return {"stats": self.target(f"stats_n{self.n_inputs}.json")}
@@ -429,7 +453,7 @@ def is_sandboxed(self):
     @law.workflow_property(setter=True, cache=True, empty_value=0)
     def file_merging(self):
         # check if the merging stats are present
-        stats = self.reqs.MergeReductionStats.req(self).output()["stats"]
+        stats = self.reqs.MergeReductionStats.req_different_branching(self, branch=0).output()["stats"]
         return stats.load(formatter="json")["merge_factor"] if stats.exists() else 0
 
     @law.dynamic_workflow_condition
@@ -444,14 +468,14 @@ def create_branch_map(self):
 
     def merge_workflow_requires(self):
         return {
-            "stats": self.reqs.MergeReductionStats.req(self),
+            "stats": self.reqs.MergeReductionStats.req_different_branching(self),
             "events": self.reqs.ReduceEvents.req_different_branching(self, branches=((0, -1),)),
         }
 
     def merge_requires(self, start_branch, end_branch):
         return {
-            "stats": self.reqs.MergeReductionStats.req(self),
-            "events": self.reqs.ReduceEvents.req(
+            "stats": self.reqs.MergeReductionStats.req_different_branching(self, branch=0),
+            "events": self.reqs.ReduceEvents.req_different_branching(
                 self,
                 branches=((start_branch, end_branch),),
                 workflow="local",
@@ -508,6 +532,7 @@ class ProvideReducedEvents(
     CalibratorsMixin,
     DatasetTask,
     law.LocalWorkflow,
+    RemoteWorkflow,
 ):
 
     skip_merging = luigi.BoolParameter(
@@ -524,18 +549,26 @@ class ProvideReducedEvents(
 
     # upstream requirements
     reqs = Requirements(
+        RemoteWorkflow.reqs,
         ReduceEvents=ReduceEvents,
         MergeReductionStats=MergeReductionStats,
         MergeReducedEvents=MergeReducedEvents,
     )
 
+    @classmethod
+    def _resolve_workflow_parameters(cls, params):
+        # always fallback to local workflows
+        params["effective_workflow"] = "local"
+
+        return super()._resolve_workflow_parameters(params)
+
     @law.workflow_property(setter=True, cache=True, empty_value=0)
     def file_merging(self):
         if self.skip_merging or self.dataset_info_inst.n_files == 1:
             return 1
 
         # check if the merging stats are present
-        stats = self.reqs.MergeReductionStats.req(self).output()["stats"]
+        stats = self.reqs.MergeReductionStats.req_different_branching(self, branch=0).output()["stats"]
         return stats.load(formatter="json")["merge_factor"] if stats.exists() else 0
 
     @law.dynamic_workflow_condition
@@ -576,7 +609,7 @@ def workflow_requires(self):
                 reqs["events"] = self._req_reduced_events()
         else:
             # here, the merging is unclear so require the stats
-            reqs["reduction_stats"] = self.reqs.MergeReductionStats.req(self)
+            reqs["reduction_stats"] = self.reqs.MergeReductionStats.req_different_branching(self)
 
             if self.force_merging:
                 # require merged events when forced
@@ -598,7 +631,7 @@ def requires(self):
         if self.skip_merging or (not self.force_merging and self.dataset_info_inst.n_files == 1):
             reqs["events"] = self._req_reduced_events()
         else:
-            reqs["reduction_stats"] = self.reqs.MergeReductionStats.req(self)
+            reqs["reduction_stats"] = self.reqs.MergeReductionStats.req_different_branching(self, branch=0)
 
             if self.force_merging:
                 reqs["events"] = self._req_merged_reduced_events()
diff --git a/columnflow/tasks/selection.py b/columnflow/tasks/selection.py
index 24746b007..a59080bd9 100644
--- a/columnflow/tasks/selection.py
+++ b/columnflow/tasks/selection.py
@@ -286,6 +286,7 @@ class MergeSelectionStats(
     CalibratorsMixin,
     DatasetTask,
     law.tasks.ForestMerge,
+    RemoteWorkflow,
 ):
     # flag that sets the *hists* output to optional if True
     selection_hists_optional = default_selection_hists_optional
@@ -296,11 +297,9 @@ class MergeSelectionStats(
     # merge 25 stats files into 1 at every step of the merging cascade
     merge_factor = 25
 
-    # skip receiving some parameters via req
-    exclude_params_req_get = {"workflow"}
-
     # upstream requirements
     reqs = Requirements(
+        RemoteWorkflow.reqs,
         SelectEvents=SelectEvents,
     )
 
@@ -309,10 +308,10 @@ def create_branch_map(self):
         return law.tasks.ForestMerge.create_branch_map(self)
 
     def merge_workflow_requires(self):
-        return self.reqs.SelectEvents.req(self, _exclude={"branches"})
+        return self.reqs.SelectEvents.req_different_branching(self, _exclude={"branches"})
 
     def merge_requires(self, start_branch, end_branch):
-        return self.reqs.SelectEvents.req(
+        return self.reqs.SelectEvents.req_different_branching(
             self,
             branches=((start_branch, end_branch),),
             workflow="local",
diff --git a/law.cfg b/law.cfg
index 1d07fb288..6650da0ff 100644
--- a/law.cfg
+++ b/law.cfg
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ skip_ensure_proxy: False
 # some remote workflow parameter defaults
 htcondor_flavor: $CF_HTCONDOR_FLAVOR
 htcondor_share_software: False
+htcondor_disk: -1
 slurm_flavor: $CF_SLURM_FLAVOR
 slurm_partition: $CF_SLURM_PARTITION