Working Time Recording Draft: Same Day Electronic Recording?

Companies are obliged to systematically record working hours. According to a draft law, the Department of Labor wants this to be done electronically. However, there is still a long way to go before a regulation is reached.

The beginning, end and duration of the daily working time must be recorded – electronically and usually on the same day. This is what the draft law from the Federal Ministry of Labor says ARD Capital Studio present.

The employer is responsible, but others can also note the times. The recording should be able to be made by the employees themselves or by a third party, for example a supervisor. The employer should also inform employees about the recorded working hours upon request.

Draft still has to go through departmental approval

The draft, which was first reported on by the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, also provides for a number of exceptions. Accordingly, small businesses with up to ten employees do not have to record electronically. The collective bargaining partners of larger companies can also agree on this. In this case, they should be able to allow manual recording in paper form.

Time recording can also be omitted entirely on the basis of such a collective agreement. For example, when the working hours are not set in advance or by the employees themselves. The draft law is at an early stage, and the next step will be the departmental vote.

Minister of Labor Heil announced a solution

With the legislative plans, the Ministry of Labor is reacting to rulings by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the Federal Labor Court (BAG), which had required recording of working hours. Accordingly, employers must introduce an “objective, reliable and accessible system” “with which the daily working hours performed by employees can be measured,” according to the BAG’s decision at the time.

According to the Working Hours Act, only overtime and Sunday work had to be documented, not the entire working time. After the judgment of the Federal Labor Court, Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil announced that he would present a reform of the law. It’s all about practical solutions, he announced in the “Rheinische Post”.

Legislators want to “clarify uncertainties”

According to the draft law, employers in Germany should already observe the judgment of the ECJ after the BAG decision. The BAG decided the question of “whether” the recording of working hours. However, there are uncertainties about the “how”. It is now the task of the legislature to clarify this.

Labor market experts assume that in 2021 a good half of all overtime hours will not be paid. The employers’ associations had criticized the judgment of the Federal Labor Court as “hasty and not well thought out” and warned against too much bureaucracy.

With information from Kai Clement, ARD capital studio