Working time recording: a documentation duty for every business

Since a 2022 ruling of the German Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG), employers have been obliged to systematically record the start, end and duration of their employees' daily working time. Anyone who has not yet introduced a system for this should do so promptly.

In brief: Under § 3 of the German Occupational Health and Safety Act (ArbSchG), as interpreted by the Federal Labour Court (2022), and § 16 of the Working Time Act (ArbZG), employers must record the daily working time of all employees without gaps – start, end, breaks. All businesses are affected, regardless of headcount, including those with staff working from home. Key consequence: without verifiable records, fines can follow during inspections, especially in the case of overtime and Sunday work.

Who is required to record working time?

The duty applies in principle to every employer with at least one employee, regardless of sector or company size. In 2022 the Federal Labour Court clarified that this obligation already follows from § 3 ArbSchG, even without the statutory specification in the Working Time Act that is still pending. Employees working from home and employees on trust-based working time (Vertrauensarbeitszeit) are expressly included. The duty applies whether someone works full time, part time or in marginal employment, and regardless of whether the business has ever practised time recording: the Federal Labour Court's decision made the recording duty effective without a separate transition period.

What do you need to do in practice?

You must introduce a system that documents the start, end and breaks of daily working time without gaps and keeps the records for at least two years. Introducing it takes five steps:

1. Choose a recording system (electronic, app-based or – still permitted at present – paper).
2. Include all employees in the system, including those working from home.
3. Record the start, end and breaks of daily working time without gaps.
4. Flag overtime and Sunday and public-holiday work separately.
5. Keep the records for at least two years in a tamper-proof way.

When choosing a system, it is worth looking at the size and structure of the business: for small teams a simple app may be enough, while companies with several sites or shift work often benefit from a central digital solution that produces reports automatically and separates access rights cleanly. Which of these and other business obligations apply specifically to your company is shown at a glance by a tool such as Company Audit.

Does the duty also apply to trust-based working time?

Yes, even with trust-based working time you must document the hours actually worked. According to the case law of the Federal Labour Court, trust-based working time only removes rigid requirements on when work is scheduled, not the recording duty itself. Employees can therefore still decide flexibly when to start, finish or take breaks – but their working time must still be recorded and documented without gaps. In practice this often means that employees enter their own times in the system, while the employer remains responsible for the completeness and retention of the records.

By when must you introduce a system?

There is currently no statutory transition period with a fixed deadline, but the duty already applies today on the basis of the 2022 BAG decision. A statutory specification on mandatory electronic recording is being prepared as a ministry draft (Referentenentwurf) aimed at 2027; it will probably refine the existing duty further, in particular with regard to mandatory electronic systems. If you choose a future-proof system now, you will spare yourself a costly change of system later and be prepared for any tightening of the requirements.

What happens if you break the rules?

Breaches of the documentation duties in the Working Time Act can be punished with fines of up to €30,000. Overtime and Sunday or public-holiday work that cannot be proven are a particular focus, because the two-year proof requirement applies there. In addition to the risk of a fine, missing or incomplete documentation can also work against you in employment disputes, for example when employees claim overtime and the employer, lacking its own records, can no longer refute the actual extent in a verifiable way.

Frequently asked questions

Is an Excel spreadsheet enough for recording working time?

An Excel spreadsheet can be enough in principle, as long as it is kept without gaps, is documented with sufficient protection against tampering and is retained for at least two years. Electronic or app-based systems, however, make tamper-proof documentation and the later analysis of overtime considerably easier, especially with several employees or different working time models.

Do mini-job employees also have to have their working time recorded?

Yes, the recording duty applies to all employees regardless of the scope of their employment, so also to mini-jobbers and part-time staff. For marginal employment in particular, authorities check compliance with the documentation duty especially closely, because they see an increased risk of unrecorded working time there.

Is paper still permitted?

At present, paper recording is still permitted as long as it is kept without gaps and in a traceable way. In view of the planned ArbZG reform on mandatory electronic recording, however, companies should choose their system with the future in mind to avoid a later switch.

Does the duty also apply to employees working from home?

Yes, daily working time must also be recorded in full when working from home. Employers are responsible for making sure that home-working employees are included, technically and organisationally, in the chosen recording system, for example through an app or a web-based time-tracking system.

Who checks compliance with working time recording?

Compliance is checked by the competent occupational health and safety authorities of the federal states (Länder) during workplace inspections. If breaches of the documentation duties in the Working Time Act are found, fines of up to €30,000 can follow, especially where overtime or Sunday work was not documented in a verifiable way.

Source: § 3 ArbSchG (BAG 2022) · § 16 ArbZG. This article is general information and does not replace legal advice in an individual case. As of: July 2026.