The law on the recording of work hours: What skilled crafts businesses need to know now.

Questions and answers about the law on time recording for Tradesmen and craftswomen

‍

Is working time recording mandatory in the skilled trades?

‍TheFederal Labor Court ruled in September: Recording work hours is mandatory in Germany.

‍

Is there a law on the digital recording of work hours for Tradesmen and craftswomen?

As yet, there is no law on digital time recording for skilled Tradesmen and ^women1. However, due to the ruling issued by the Federal Labor Court in Erfurt in September, experts assume that a law on digital time recording will be enacted soon.

‍

From when does the law on electronic time recording apply?

A law on electronic time recording is currently still being drafted by the German government. However, the European Court of Justice has already obliged all EU member states to enact legal regulations on electronic time recording in 2019.

‍

The Federal Labor Court (BAG) has ruled: Time recording is mandatory for German companies! With the ruling of September 13, 2022, the BAG comes ahead of the politics around the debate on time recording. The skilled crafts sector is also affected - and uncertainty is growing: Will Tradesmen and women have to record their work hours meticulously from now on? What should a corresponding system look like? And what's more: Will there be an obligation to record time digitally in the skilled trades?

‍

‍

Actually, the Federal Labor Court in Erfurt only dealt with a case from North Rhine-Westphalia on September 13, 2022: The works council of a clinic in Minden wants to introduce an electronic system for time recording with the company management. This is intended to make any overtime worked by employees visible. The Federal Court rejects the complaint in the last instance. 

‍

However, the reasoning is spectacular: The works council is not allowed to have a say in the recording of work hours, because at European level, companies are already required by law to record work hours!² With the so-called time clock ruling , the European Court of Justice (ECJ) already ruled on May 14, 2019, that all European companies must create a system with which daily work hours can be recorded. So far, the German Occupational Health and Safety Act (ArbZG) has contradicted this. According to it, companies only have to record overtime and work hours on Sundays and public holidays. And while the German government is still fine-tuning a law on the recording of work hours, the Federal Court is finally creating facts: work hours must be recorded precisely in Germany^!3

‍

‍

In particular, trade businesses with many mobile employees are now rightly asking: What does a system for recording working time look like? Further court rulings by the European Court of Justice and the German labor courts provide information.

‍

The basics: What are work hours in the skilled trades for mobile employees?

Mobile employees are employees who do not have a fixed place of work and travel to customers. For these employees, travel time from home to the first customer of the day and back from the last customer of the day is considered working time. Therefore: Employers must pay for this time. Conversely, this also means that Tradesmen and craftswomen must document all travel times as working time^.4

‍

How you record your employees' work hours - manually or digitally - is currently up to you. Although there are no legal regulations on the procedure in Germany, in case of doubt, only an objective, reliable system that is accessible to both employers and employees will count in court. Objective means that work hours must be recorded in a tamper-proof manner - simple paper documentation is not sufficient, according to a ruling by the Emden Labor Court. The ECJ has also already ruled in 2019 that all EU member states are obliged to issue binding regulations on the objective measurement of work hours. Experts therefore expect a law on electronic time recording to be passed soon.

‍

In addition, the classic timesheet with paper and pencil harbors many risks, and not just in the event of disputes in court: In day-to-day operations, mistakes quickly creep in, the slips pass through many hands or get lost, costing you time and money.

‍

‍

Although there is no law (yet) on digital time recording in the skilled trades, such systems offer great advantages for you as an employer as well as for your employees. These include:

• You free yourself and your team from daily paperwork and avoid hassle with lost timesheets.
• Verifications and settlements can be made directly at the site of operation.
• They comply with the above-mentioned rules (objective, reliable and accessible) without much effort.
• You receive reliable data about the actual work hours. 
• Digital data is easier to evaluate. This allows you to identify unnecessary time wasters, optimize processes and better calculate future Jobs.

‍

‍

‍

With the Meisterwerk app , you benefit from the many advantages of digital time recording while complying with all legal requirements. Your team simply records working times themselves via app, tablet or PC. All entries are saved in the Meisterwerk app and are available to both your mobile employees and your office in real-time. If your employee has forgotten to clock in, you can make changes at any time - naturally in compliance with DSGVO and legally secure. If your staff adjusts the entries, this is documented in the app. This virtually eliminates input errors or manipulations with the Meisterwerk app. 

Best of all, job planning and deadlines can be Organised quickly and conveniently. In addition, you can record not only how long an employee has worked in general, but also on which Job. This makes it easier for you to record Job times for post-calculation. In this way, you and your employees always keep a firm eye on all Jobs as an overview of deadlines!

‍

The information in this article does not constitute legal advice. Despite careful research, we cannot guarantee completeness, accuracy and timeliness, especially for legal information. If you need legal help, please contact a lawyer.