Minimum wage documentation: recording working hours correctly

Anyone who employs mini-jobbers or works in a particularly closely monitored sector must document daily working hours without gaps – not only when an inspection takes place, but from the very start.

In brief: under § 17 MiLoG (the German Minimum Wage Act) in conjunction with § 2a SchwarzArbG (the Act against Undeclared Work), employers must, for mini-jobs and in sectors such as construction, hospitality, logistics or meat processing, record the start, end and duration of daily working hours within seven days and keep the records for two years. Small businesses with marginally employed staff are mainly affected; violations can result in fines of up to €30,000.

Who is affected by the recording obligation?

The special recording obligation under § 17 MiLoG applies to two groups: marginally employed workers (mini-jobbers), regardless of the sector, and all employees in the economic sectors expressly named in § 2a SchwarzArbG, which include construction, hospitality, logistics and meat processing, among others. If you employ even one person in one of these sectors, you must document working hours – regardless of how few hours are actually worked. Even if a general time recording system already exists in the business, it does not automatically replace the specific requirements of § 17 MiLoG: start, end and duration must be documented separately and traceably for the employees concerned. A tool such as Company Audit gives you an overview of which of these and other business obligations apply specifically to your business.

What do you need to do in practice?

You must record the start, end and duration of daily working hours for every employee concerned and keep the records properly. Five steps help with this:

1. Check which employees fall under the recording obligation (mini-jobs, § 2a sectors).
2. Record the start, end and duration of daily working hours within seven days.
3. Make sure the applicable minimum wage (€13.90 since 2026) is not undercut.
4. Keep the records for at least two years.
5. For mini-jobs, keep an eye on the earnings limit (a dynamic limit that follows the minimum wage).

The statutory minimum wage has been €13.90 per hour since 2026 and will rise to €14.60 in 2027. Your records must be kept in such a way that it can be traced at any time that this amount was reached for every hour worked. In practice, a simple but gap-free recording system is advisable, for example a digital time recording system or a carefully maintained form for each employee. What matters is less the tool chosen than completeness: every hour worked must be clearly attributable afterwards to a day and a time.

By when and for how long do you need to document?

Working hours must be recorded within seven days of the respective work performed, and the records must then be kept for at least two years. This deadline applies regardless of whether recording is done electronically or on paper. It is important that the seven-day deadline is observed consistently, because documentation reconstructed after the fact is often not regarded as sufficient during an inspection. Especially in businesses with changing working times, for example in hospitality or on construction sites, it is worth recording hours on the same day right on site instead of reconstructing the times from memory at the end of the week. This way the seven-day deadline is reliably met even with several changing work locations.

What are the consequences of a violation?

Violations of the recording obligation under § 17 MiLoG can be punished with fines of up to €30,000. Compliance is checked by the Financial Control of Undeclared Work (Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit, FKS) of the customs authority, which inspects minimum wage records without notice. Gap-free evidence of the start, end and duration of working hours is therefore crucial so that you are not left struggling to explain yourself during an inspection. Besides the immediate risk of a fine, incomplete documentation can also lead to employment relationships and wage payments being scrutinised more closely overall during an inspection. Carefully maintained records therefore protect not only against the fine itself but, in case of doubt, also make the entire inspection process easier.

Frequently asked questions

Which sectors fall under § 2a SchwarzArbG?

Besides mini-jobs, the economic sectors named in § 2a SchwarzArbG are covered, which include construction, hospitality, logistics and meat processing, among others. If you employ even one person there, you must record daily working hours, regardless of the scope of employment.

How high is the minimum wage currently?

The statutory minimum wage has been €13.90 per hour since 2026 and will rise to €14.60 in 2027. The records must show that this amount was not undercut for any hour worked.

What happens to the mini-job limit when the minimum wage rises?

The mini-job earnings limit is dynamically linked to the minimum wage. With every minimum wage increase, the permissible number of hours changes as well, so you should recalculate it every year to avoid exceeding the limit by accident.

Who checks compliance with the minimum wage documentation?

The Financial Control of Undeclared Work (FKS) of the customs authority inspects minimum wage records on site without notice. Gap-free evidence of the start, end and duration of working hours is therefore crucial, not documents compiled after the fact.

How long must the records be kept?

The records must be kept for at least two years so that they can be presented in full during a customs inspection. This applies regardless of whether recording is done electronically or on paper.

Source: § 17 MiLoG · § 2a SchwarzArbG. This article is general information and does not replace legal advice in an individual case. As of: July 2026.