Check your time recording duty: what applies today and what the planned Working Hours Act foresees
Five inputs are enough. See which recording duties already apply to your company today and which transition period the draft foresees for electronic time recording.
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Your company
Your result
Prepare the switch. You already record. A switch is due for the planned electronic obligation.
Draft status 18 June 2026, not yet adopted
5 years from entry into force
That is how long your company should be allowed to keep recording non-electronically under the draft. The first year after entry into force is to apply to all employers anyway.
The date of entry into force has not been set. The deadline is therefore given relatively, not as a date.
Content reviewed on 9 August 2026 against the full text of the draft bill. No government draft existed at that point.
Already applies to you today
Current law
- Record the start, end and duration of daily working time. The basis is § 3 (2) no. 1 ArbSchG interpreted in line with EU law, confirmed by the Federal Labour Court decision of 13 September 2022.
- According to the Ministry of Labour there is currently no formal requirement for the records; they may also be kept by hand.
- Record separately any working time exceeding eight hours per working day and retain the records for at least two years (§ 16 (2) ArbZG).
Planned in the draft bill
Draft status 18 June 2026, not yet adopted
- Records are to be kept on the day the work is performed. Only on the basis of a collective agreement should later recording be possible, at the latest by the end of the seventh calendar day following the day the work was performed.
- Retention of at least two years is to be extended to all records. What would be new is a right of employees to be informed about their recorded working time on request and to receive a copy.
- Breaches of the recording duty are to carry additional fines, among them failing to provide information and a copy and failing to keep the records available. The existing framework of up to 30,000 euros under § 22 (2) ArbZG is left unchanged by the draft.
Your next steps
- Check whether your current records capture start, end and duration completely and for every working day.
- Assign responsibility internally: who records, who checks, who archives?
- Schedule a switch-over date instead of waiting for the law to take effect.
How the check works
Binding law and draft bill kept apart
The duty to record working time applies already today. On 13 September 2022 the Federal Labour Court derived from § 3 (2) no. 1 ArbSchG, interpreted in line with EU law, that employers must introduce and use a system capturing the start and end, and thus the duration, of the entire working time. The phrase „start, end and duration of daily working time“ comes from the draft.
What the Ministry of Labour's draft of 18 June 2026 mainly changes is the form. So far there is no formal requirement and, according to the Ministry, records may be kept by hand. The draft turns this into an electronic obligation, staggered by the number of employees per employer.
The check keeps both levels apart. Anything marked as draft in the result may still change during the legislative process. No date of entry into force has been set so far.
Draft status 18 June 2026
Transition periods by employer size
In the first year after entry into force, all employers are to be allowed to keep recording non-electronically. After that, the staggering by number of employees per employer applies:
| Employer size | Electronic at the latest, as planned | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 10 employees | Permanently exempt | Also domestic staff in private households. The recording duty itself remains. |
| 11 to 49 employees | 5 years from entry into force | Longest transition period in the draft. The recording duty itself applies earlier. |
| 50 to 249 employees | 2 years from entry into force | A collective or works agreement may provide for deviating rules. |
| 250 employees and above | 1 year from entry into force | Shortest deadline in the draft. |
The draft additionally foresees recording on the day the work is performed, retention for at least two years, a right of employees to information and a copy, and an extension of the fineable offences within the existing 30,000 euro framework.
From scheduling practice
Four things that help right now
Do not wait for the law
In the view of the Ministry of Labour, the recording duty is already derived today. If you do not record at all yet, do not wait for the draft to take effect.
Completeness before technology
Start, end and duration should be available for every working day. A spreadsheet that only keeps totals does not cover that.
Plan for retention
Two years of retention already apply today. The planned right to information and a copy is hard to handle with paper slips.
Twice as relevant in shift work
If you plan shifts, you need actual times anyway to keep an eye on breaks and the eleven-hour rest period.
Shiftdesk
Record electronically without turning it into a project
Clock in via app, tablet terminal or browser. Shiftdesk logs start, end and duration for each day and warns about exceeded maximum working times and rest periods that are too short.
Free shift-schedule template included
Get the free shift-schedule template for Excel and PDF — with automatic hour calculation, target-vs-actual comparison and a working-hours (ArbZG) checklist.
Rather not do the math yourself anymore?
Shiftdesk records start, end and duration automatically and keeps an eye on breaks and rest periods.
No credit card required · No risk
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about the time recording duty
Is recording working time already mandatory today?
Does time recording have to be electronic?
From when is the electronic obligation supposed to apply?
Which employers are exempt from the electronic form?
What exactly has to be recorded?
What fines are foreseen?
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The check provides guidance values based on the draft bill of 18 June 2026, reviewed on 9 August 2026, and does not replace legal advice. The draft has not been adopted and may change during the legislative process.