As of September 2026. The draft has not been adopted, and details may change during the legislative process. What applies to your business is something to clarify with your lawyer, your tax adviser or your trade association.
What already applies today
The duty to record working time is not new. On 13 September 2022 the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht) ruled that employers in Germany must record their employees’ working time. What has remained open so far is exactly how. That is what the law is meant to settle.
What is known about the draft
In mid-June 2026 a ministerial draft (Referentenentwurf) from the Federal Ministry of Labour to amend the Working Hours Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz) became known. The ministry did not publish it officially; it became public by other means. According to reports, it proposes:
- Electronic and on the same day. The start, end and length of daily working time are recorded electronically, on the day the work is done.
- An exemption for small businesses. Businesses with up to ten employees are permanently exempt from the electronic form. They still have to record working time.
- Staggered transition periods. Depending on the size of the business, periods of one, two or five years are planned. The exact thresholds may still change.
- Recording by employees. Employees may record their own times. Responsibility stays with the employer.
- Trust-based working time remains possible. Time is recorded all the same.
- Deviations only through collective agreements. For example a weekly rather than a daily maximum working time. This is to be possible only through collective agreements or works agreements based on them, not for every business.
What this means in practice
For businesses that currently work with timesheets, Excel lists or notes at the end of the month, this would be a significant change. Recording on the same day calls for a tool that is where the work happens: at the entrance, at the computer, on the fitters’ phones.
The transition periods give you time. But they are no reason to wait, because the duty to record already applies, and an introduction needs lead time: settling the rules, involving the works council, briefing employees.
What you can do now
- Review how you record time today. How are times captured at the moment, and how traceable are corrections?
- Write down the rules. Breaks, overtime, pay premiums, travel time to the site. Without clear rules, no software can calculate correctly either.
- Involve the works council early. When a technical time recording system is introduced, it usually has a say.
- Check the systems you already have. Does your payroll or job management software already include time recording?
- Think of your field staff. Anyone working on the road needs a solution on their phone that also works without a signal.
Which solutions exist and which suits the office, the workshop floor and field work is described in the guide Recording working time digitally. Where working time and job hours are connected, the guide Capturing orders on a phone is also worth a look.
