Compliance & labor law

German Working Hours Act (ArbZG) basics

The German Working Hours Act (ArbZG) sets the framework for working hours, breaks, and rest periods. It applies to almost all dependently employed people in Germany. Shiftdesk automatically checks schedules against the most important provisions as a plausibility aid.

Using the compliance checker in the dashboard

The compliance checker continuously reviews your schedules against applicable labor law. You reach it via the main navigation:

Break rules in DACH (DE/AT/CH)

Break rules differ between Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Shiftdesk takes the country of each Location into account and validates breaks automatically as a plausibility aid.

Mini-job limits (€520 / 120 days)

A **mini-job** (marginal employment) is a form of employment in Germany that benefits from preferential social-security treatment. There are two variants:

11-hour rest period between shifts

Under **§5 of the German Working Hours Act**, there must be an uninterrupted **rest period of at least 11 hours** between the end of one work shift and the start of the next. This rule protects employees from overwork and safeguards recovery.

Working-time records: a statutory duty

Since the **CJEU ruling of 14 May 2019** (Case C-55/18, "CCOO"), employers across the entire EU have been obliged to set up an **objective, reliable, and accessible system** for recording the entire daily working time.

Legal notice — without warranty

Shiftdesk supports you in organizing working hours, shifts, and personnel data. The notices shown in this application regarding the **German Working Hours Act (ArbZG)**, the **German Federal Leave Act (BUrlG)**, the **minimum wage**, **mini-job thresholds**, tax and social-security topics, as well as country-specific provisions in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland serve **for informational orientation only**.