What was decided
In September 2022, the Federal Labour Court ruled that employers are obliged under § 3(2) no. 1 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act to introduce a system for recording working time. The obligation has applied directly ever since, independent of any new regulation in the Working Hours Act.
What the system has to be able to do
- Record the start, end and duration of daily working time
- Record breaks, so the minimum breaks under § 4 ArbZG can be evidenced
- Retain the records for at least two years, § 16(2) ArbZG
- Be tamper-proof: changes must stay traceable
What isn't required
There's no obligation to record electronically. Paper is formally sufficient. There's no obligation for the employer to do the recording themselves; recording may be delegated to employees, but responsibility stays with the employer. And trust-based working time remains permitted, as long as the mandatory data is recorded.
The most common mistake
Many businesses introduce a tool that tracks project time and consider the obligation met. It isn't: project time isn't working time. Anyone who works from 9 to 5 and books six hours to projects has two hours undocumented.
Don't forget co-determination
Introducing a time tracking system is subject to co-determination under § 87(1) no. 6 BetrVG as soon as it's capable of monitoring conduct or performance. That's practically always the case. Without a works agreement, the rollout is open to challenge.
What EU Track takes off your hands
Clocking in and out kept separate from project booking, ArbZG rule checks with a note, warning or block, an immutable change log, audit-proof exports for inspections, and a template works agreement as a starting point for the works council. What it doesn't take off your hands: deciding which working time model you run.
