# Time recording 2026: Mandatory since Federal Labour Court ruling, draft bill, system selection > The recording obligation has been in force since 2022; the law for electronic recording is in draft. What applies today, what is planned for 2027, how trust-based working hours remain possible, and how a system is introduced with the works council. URL: https://techport.ai/en/hr-beratung/hr-daten-und-systeme/arbeitszeiterfassung --- 1. [HR Consulting](/en/hr-beratung)/ 2. [HR Data and Systems](/en/hr-beratung/hr-daten-und-systeme)/ 3. Implement legally compliant time recording [HR Data and Systems](/en/hr-beratung/hr-daten-und-systeme) # Implement legally compliant time recording By Redaktion techport.ai, HR-Beratung · Last updated on 21 August 2026 Since the Federal Labour Court's ruling of 13 September 2022, employers are obliged to record the entire working time of their employees, including start, end and duration. The court derived this obligation from the Occupational Health and Safety Act, following the European Court of Justice's ruling of 2019. Many companies have since been waiting for a law that regulates how. The draft bill from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs from June 2026 is now available: electronic recording as the rule, staggered transition periods, weekly maximum working hours instead of daily limits, planned entry into force January 2027. It has not yet been passed. Those who wait for legislation are four years behind. Those who implement today should be familiar with the draft, so that the system does not have to be rebuilt again by 2027. ## How to spot it * Production staff clock in, administrative staff do not, sales representatives complete timesheets. * Trust-based working hours are cited as a reason not to record time. The Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht) takes a different view. * Overtime is not recorded and therefore neither compensated nor paid, until someone takes legal action. * Time management and payroll do not communicate. Surcharges are calculated manually. ## Why this happens The recording obligation arose from a court ruling, not from legislation, and without a catalogue of penalties. This led many companies to wait and see. Added to this is the concern that recording means control and the end of flexible working. Neither is true if the system is correctly set up. And implementation requires the works council (Betriebsrat), which means effort, but is no reason to postpone. ## Our approach 1. **Record current status and models.** Who records what, how, what working time models are in place, what surcharges and accounts exist, where are the gaps. This is then compared with the draft bill, ensuring the target picture for 2027 is sustainable. 2. **Define target picture and rules.** Recording for everyone, delegated to employees, with plausibility checks instead of control. Trust-based working hours remain as a model, but times are still recorded. Clear rules for home office, business trips, breaks, and overtime. 3. **Select or adapt system.** Often, the HR system or existing time management software has the functionality, it just hasn't been set up. If not, we select a system with an interface to payroll and apps for mobile recording. 4. **Works agreement and implementation.** The detailed design is subject to co-determination. We develop the works agreement (Betriebsvereinbarung) with the works council (Betriebsrat) in parallel with system setup: purpose, data, evaluations, access, deletion periods. Then training, pilot, roll-out. ## What you gain * Legal certainty today and a system that already meets the requirements of the draft legislation. * Overtime becomes visible and manageable before it escalates into disputes. * Surcharges, accounts and payroll run without manual effort. ## From our projects During inventories of time recording systems, we regularly find three to four parallel procedures in medium-sized companies, depending on the department, and entire groups without recording, usually with reference to trust-based working hours. In our experience, the concern that recording ends flexible working does not hold up in practice: where employees record their own time and evaluations are limited in the works agreement (Betriebsvereinbarung), flexibility remains unchanged; only overtime becomes visible. ## Good to know The recording obligation results from [§ 3 Absatz 2 Nummer 1 Arbeitsschutzgesetz](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/arbschg/__3.html) (German Occupational Safety and Health Act) as interpreted by the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht) (1 ABR 22/21). The draft bill from June 2026 stipulates that the beginning, end, and duration of daily working hours must be recorded electronically on the day of performance, with transitional periods according to company size and permanent relaxations for micro-enterprises. Responsibility remains with the employer, even if employees record their own time. The works council (Betriebsrat) has co-determination rights under § 87 Absatz 1 Nummer 6 BetrVG (German Works Constitution Act) regarding the system and under Numbers 2 and 3 regarding the arrangement and distribution of working hours. We keep the status of the legislative process up to date in our Regulatory Radar. ## Frequently asked questions Can we continue to use Excel or timesheets? Today, yes, if the records are complete, reliable, and accessible. According to the draft, electronic recording should become the norm, with exceptions for micro-enterprises. Those who are implementing anyway should record electronically from the outset. Do executive employees have to record their time? Executive employees within the meaning of the Arbeitszeitgesetz (German Working Time Act) are exempt from its regulations. However, this group is significantly smaller than many companies assume. A department head is generally not an executive employee. ## Let's talk about Implement legally compliant time recording In a thirty-minute first call we clarify where your biggest lever is and whether we are the right partner for it. [Book a first call](/en/kontakt)[Our software](/en/loesungen) ## Further reading [Remuneration and RetentionFlexible Work and Working Time ModelsHybrid work without uncontrolled growth: rules that apply to everyone, working time models that suit the work, planned maximum weekly working hours, and their mapping in the system.](/en/hr-beratung/verguetung-und-bindung/flexible-arbeit)[Co-determination and ComplianceHR Software and Works CouncilsEvery HR system is subject to co-determination, even without an intention to monitor. How to successfully introduce it with the Works Council: early information, framework works agreement, data protection concept, AI clauses.](/en/hr-beratung/mitbestimmung-und-compliance/betriebsrat)[Remuneration and RetentionError-free payrollErrors in payroll cost trust and money. How a payroll audit identifies causes, when a system change is due, what to consider with outsourcing, and how interfaces eliminate duplicate data entry.](/en/hr-beratung/verguetung-und-bindung/payroll)[KnowledgeHR Regulatory RadarWhat applies, what is coming, what to do now.](/en/hr-beratung/regulatorik-radar)[KnowledgeHR MetricsDefinitions and formulas that read the same across the company.](/en/hr-beratung/kennzahlen) Back to the field [HR Data and Systems](/en/hr-beratung/hr-daten-und-systeme) ## Sources * [§ 3 ArbSchG (German Occupational Safety and Health Act), basic duties of the employer](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/arbschg/__3.html) * Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht), decision of 13 September 2022, 1 ABR 22/21 (obligation to record working time) * European Court of Justice, judgment of 14 May 2019, C-55/18 (CCOO, working time recording) * [Arbeitszeitgesetz (ArbZG) (German Working Time Act)](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/arbzg/) * Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (Bundesministerium fuer Arbeit und Soziales), draft bill for amending the Arbeitszeitgesetz (German Working Time Act) (June 2026) * [§ 87 BetrVG (Works Constitution Act), Co-determination Rights](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/betrvg/__87.html) Rt Written by [Redaktion techport.ai](/ueber-uns), HR-Beratung Mehr als 15 Jahre Erfahrung in HR-Prozessen und HR-Systemen, Einführung von HR-Software in mittelständischen Unternehmen, Verhandlung von Betriebsvereinbarungen zu IT-Systemen. 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