Working-time recording in Germany 2026: what employees need to know

What applies today

Two court decisions made working-time recording mandatory in Germany long before a statute spelled out the details.

On 14 May 2019 the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that member states must require employers to set up a system that measures each worker’s daily working time. The system has to be objective, reliable and accessible. The case was brought by the Spanish union CCOO against Deutsche Bank and carries the number C-55/18.

On 13 September 2022 the German Federal Labour Court followed. It held that this duty already follows from the existing Occupational Safety and Health Act, section 3(2) no. 1 ArbSchG. Employers must therefore have a system that records the start and end of daily working time, including overtime. Case number: 1 ABR 22/21. The judges left open which form the recording must take. Paper, spreadsheet, app, time clock: anything works, as long as it is reliable.

Since then the rule is: the duty exists, independent of any new law. Anyone who says you have to wait for the Working Time Act to be amended is mistaken.

What a law still has to settle

In April 2023 the Federal Ministry of Labour published a ministry draft to amend the Working Time Act and regulate the form of recording: electronic as a rule, with exceptions for small businesses and transition periods, and room for collective agreements. It has not been passed. As of 6 September 2026 there is no enacted law prescribing the form of working-time recording; the duty itself still applies, based on the Occupational Safety and Health Act, as described above. What trade media report about new draft versions, fine ranges or headcount thresholds remains political intention, not applicable law, until the Bundestag and Bundesrat have passed it. The ministry explains the current state in its questions and answers on working-time recording; we update this article when a law enters into force, and the date at the top shows the status.

What it means for you as an employee

You are entitled to recording. Your employer must record your working time, also when you work from home, also under trust-based working time. Trust-based working time still means you organise your time freely; it no longer means nobody looks.

You may do the recording yourself. The employer can delegate it to you but remains responsible for it happening and for checking the data. Many businesses solve this with an app, a terminal or a spreadsheet you keep yourself.

Your own records count. In a dispute about overtime, you as the employee have to prove that you worked and that the employer ordered, approved or tolerated the extra hours. Your own records, kept promptly, are strong evidence, especially when the employer has none.

Watch the deadlines. Claims for overtime pay expire after three years, but often much earlier through cut-off clauses in employment or collective agreements, sometimes after three months. If you do not keep your hours, you are usually the one who loses them, not the employer.

How to keep your hours with no effort

The easiest method is the one you cannot forget. For employees with a fixed workplace, an app that clocks in automatically when you arrive and out when you leave has proven itself. You get start, end and net per day, a timesheet per month you can sign and hand in, and a running overtime account.

Whatever solution you choose, look for these things:

1. Prompt and complete. Start, end, breaks. Times reconstructed afterwards are worth less.
2. Editable, but transparent. Mistakes happen; a good solution logs corrections instead of hiding them.
3. With you, not only with the employer. If the data lives only in the employer’s system, you have no access in a dispute. An export as PDF or CSV that you keep yourself closes that gap.
4. Privacy. Your working hours and your workplace are sensitive data. An app that keeps them on the device instead of uploading them to someone else’s server spares you questions you never wanted to answer.

WorkFlow, the app behind this website, is built along these lines: automatic clocking by geofencing, overtime balance, timesheet as PDF, all without an account and without a cloud. It does not replace your employer’s system; it makes sure you have your own, independent record.

Common misunderstandings

“With trust-based working time there is no need to record.” There is. Recording is always required; only the scheduling is free.

“The duty only starts when the law comes.” No. It has applied since the 2022 Federal Labour Court decision, based on the Occupational Safety and Health Act. A new law would only settle the form.

“As an employee this does not concern me.” The duty falls on the employer, the benefit on you: only with records can you claim overtime.

“I am not allowed to use my own app.” You may note your own working time at any time, with whatever tool you like. It just does not replace the employer’s official recording.