What is the BAG ruling on time recording?
The BAG ruling is the decision of Germany's Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht) of 13 September 2022, case 1 ABR 22/21. It holds that employers in Germany must record the start and end of their employees' daily working time.
What the court decided
The case started as a dispute about a works council's right to demand an electronic time recording system. The court went further: it found that employers already have a duty to record working time, derived from § 3(2) no. 1 of the Arbeitsschutzgesetz (ArbSchG), the German occupational safety act, read in line with EU law.
The decision follows the judgment of the European Court of Justice of 14 May 2019 in case C-55/18, which said that member states must require employers to set up a system that measures the daily working time of each worker. Before the BAG ruling, German law only required recording time beyond 8 hours per working day under § 16(2) ArbZG.
What it means in practice
Employers in Germany should record the start, end and therefore the duration of working time for employees, including overtime. The decision does not prescribe a specific system; paper can be enough, although electronic systems make it easier to keep complete and verifiable records.
TimeTracking records start, end and breaks for every shift, checks them against the ArbZG rules and keeps an audit trail of every change. The app is available in German and data is hosted in the EU.
Frequently asked questions
Does the BAG ruling require electronic time recording?
No. The court did not prescribe a specific form. Employers must record start and end of daily working time; how they do it is up to them, as long as the records are complete and reliable.
Related pages
Germany
ArbZG: 8 hours per working day (up to 10), breaks after 6 hours, 11 hours of rest, and mandatory time recording since the 2022 BAG ruling.
Break rules
Legal minimum breaks during a shift, based on how long the employee works that day.
Audit trail
A chronological, unchangeable record of who created, changed or approved data, and when.
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Free for up to 5 users. Core from €1 per user per month, everything included.
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Free for up to 5 users. Core from €1 per user per month, everything included.