Time tracking obligation in Germany: what has applied since 2022

Yes. Since October 2022 employers in Germany have had to record their employees’ working time. The basis is a Federal Labour Court decision of 13 September 2022, which derives the obligation from the Occupational Safety Act. There is no dedicated time-tracking statute — the obligation applies regardless.

Not so far. The format is currently free: paper records and spreadsheets are legally permissible as long as they are complete and verifiable. A draft bill that would require electronic recording has been on the table since June 2026, but it has not been passed. Until then the choice of format remains open.

From the first one. There is no minimum size for the duty to record — it applies to every employer with staff. A threshold is only planned for the electronic format: under the current draft, businesses with up to ten employees would be exempt and could keep recording on paper.

Legally nothing so far. The June 2026 draft would require electronic recording on the day the work is performed, with collective agreements allowing up to seven days. The coalition committee discussed the contested points on 1 July 2026; the law has not been passed. The 2025 coalition agreement names transition periods of one year for large companies, two years up to 250 employees and five years for small businesses.

The employer carries the obligation. They may delegate the data entry to employees — most systems work exactly that way — but remain responsible for ensuring hours are actually, completely and correctly recorded. Merely offering a system without checking it does not discharge the duty.

Broadly, senior executives within the meaning of the Works Constitution Act, and managing directors. Solo self-employed people without staff are not covered. All other employment relationships are — including part-time staff, mini-jobbers, working students and temporary help.

The start, end and duration of daily working time, including breaks. It covers total working time, not just overtime — that was the core of the Federal Labour Court decision. In addition, § 16 (2) of the Working Hours Act has long required hours beyond eight per day to be recorded.

There is no explicit minute-level requirement. What is required is an objective and reliable record — blanket rounding to the employee’s disadvantage, or entering target hours after the fact, does not meet that bar. In practice most systems record to the minute simply because it removes the argument.

Any record created electronically and readable by machine — time tracking software, an app, a terminal or browser entry. A scanned paper list does not count, because it is only an image. A spreadsheet is electronic but considered weak: it can be altered later unnoticed and offers no change history.

Legally yes, as long as no new law applies. In practice both are risky: without a change log it is hard to show in a dispute — an overtime claim, say — that the record is unaltered. In case of doubt that works against the employer, because the burden of proof sits with them.

Two years. The period follows from § 16 (2) of the Working Hours Act and is carried forward in the 2025 coalition agreement. Records must be kept so that the supervisory authority can follow them.

Breaches of the Working Hours Act can be treated as administrative offences with fines of up to €30,000. The draft bill also foresees fines for the new documentation duty, though these are not finalised. The more common damage arises elsewhere: without solid records an employer is in a weak position in overtime disputes.

Yes. Neither trust-based working time nor mobile work is exempt. Trust-based working time remains possible — it now means trusting employees with when they work, not doing without recording it. That is precisely what the Federal Labour Court clarified.

Independently of the general obligation, § 17 of the Minimum Wage Act requires records within seven days for mini-jobs and for the sectors listed in § 2a of the Act to Combat Undeclared Work — construction, hospitality, logistics and building cleaning among them. That duty predates the Federal Labour Court decision and continues unchanged.