# Regulating Flexible Work: Hybrid, Working Time Models, Company Agreements > Hybrid 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. URL: https://techport.ai/en/hr-beratung/verguetung-und-bindung/flexible-arbeit --- 1. [HR Consulting](/en/hr-beratung)/ 2. [Remuneration and Retention](/en/hr-beratung/verguetung-und-bindung)/ 3. Flexible Work and Working Time Models [Remuneration and Retention](/en/hr-beratung/verguetung-und-bindung) # Flexible Work and Working Time Models By Redaktion techport.ai, HR-Beratung · Last updated on 21 August 2026 In development, the rule is: two days in the office, the rest freely selectable. In sales, the manager decides week by week. In accounting, there is no home office because it was never introduced. And in production, everyone wonders why others are allowed and they are not. In many companies, flexible work is a patchwork of individual agreements that creates unfairness and offers no security to anyone in case of conflict. Flexibility needs rules, otherwise it becomes a question of who has the more lenient manager. And it needs working time models that suit the work, not just the form. ## How you can tell * There is a home office policy, but each team operates a different one. * Working time models originate from a time when everyone arrived at eight. Part-time requests are negotiated individually. * The works council receives complaints about unequal treatment between departments. * The time recording system does not recognise the models that are actually practised. ## Why this happens Flexible work was introduced overnight in 2020 and never organised afterwards. Regulations arose as a reaction, not as a deliberate design. Working time models, on the other hand, are stored in the system and are therefore not adjusted, even if the work has long since changed. And coordination with the works council is avoided because it entails effort, although it is the only way to create binding rules. ## Our Approach 1. **Assess the current situation.** We record which regulations actually apply in which areas and compare them with what officially applies. The discrepancy is the problem. 2. **Consider activities instead of departments.** Not every department is the same, but every activity can be categorised: location-dependent, partially location-dependent, location-independent. This leads to rules that can be justified. 3. **Design models.** For working time and place of work, we define a few models with clear frameworks: core hours or not, minimum presence, accessibility, equipment, cost assumption. Part-time work gets fixed patterns instead of individual cases. 4. **Anchor.** Rules are set out in a company agreement, and models are stored in time management and HR systems so that planning, recording, and payroll are consistent. ## What's in it for you * Justifiable equal treatment instead of injustice that spreads by word of mouth. * Managers have a framework and do not have to decide each request individually. * Time recording accurately reflects actual working hours. ## From Our Projects When we assess the current situation, we regularly find one official regulation and half a dozen living variants in medium-sized companies. The approach based on activities instead of departments resolves most fairness debates because it is justifiable. In our experience, negotiations with the works council take less time than feared if the rules have been thought through at the activity level beforehand. ## Good to Know The draft bill for the reform of the Arbeitszeitgesetz (Working Hours Act) from June 2026 proposes replacing the daily maximum working time with an average weekly maximum working time of 48 hours and making electronic time recording mandatory. Planned entry into force is 1 January 2027; nothing has been decided yet. Working time models designed today should consider both. We keep track of the status in our regulatory radar. ## Frequently asked questions Do we need a works agreement on mobile working? If there is a works council, yes. The structuring of mobile working is subject to co-determination rights according to § 87 Absatz 1 Nummer 14 BetrVG (German Works Constitution Act, section 87, paragraph 1, number 14). Without a works council, we recommend a policy with the same content so that the rules apply to everyone. How do we deal with areas that cannot work remotely? State it openly and create compensation, for example, by influencing shift planning, time accounts, or additional benefits. Inequality is accepted if it is justified and not simply tolerated. ## Let's talk about Flexible Work and Working Time Models 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 consulting](/en/so-funktionierts) ## Further reading [HR Data and SystemsImplement legally compliant time recordingThe 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.](/en/hr-beratung/hr-daten-und-systeme/arbeitszeiterfassung)[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 RetentionBenefits that are utilisedWhy many benefits remain unused, how a benefits analysis identifies workforce needs, how administration and billing are digitised, and how utilisation and impact are measured.](/en/hr-beratung/verguetung-und-bindung/benefits)[KnowledgeHR Regulatory RadarWhat applies, what is coming, what to do now.](/en/hr-beratung/regulatorik-radar)[KnowledgeHR GlossaryKey HR terms, briefly explained.](/en/hr-beratung/glossar) Back to the field [Remuneration and Retention](/en/hr-beratung/verguetung-und-bindung) ## Sources * [§ 87 BetrVG, Mitbestimmungsrechte](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/betrvg/__87.html) * [Arbeitszeitgesetz (ArbZG)](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/arbzg/) * Bundesministerium fuer Arbeit und Soziales, Referentenentwurf zur Aenderung des Arbeitszeitgesetzes (Juni 2026) 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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