Home Office Time Tracking: Rules and Simple Solutions

Time tracking in the home office

Since the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) ruling on working time tracking in 2022, the rule is clear: companies in Germany have to record their employees' working hours — in the home office too. That means the start of work, the end of work and breaks all have to be documented systematically. But how does that work in practice, without paperwork chaos or Excel spreadsheets? We explain how modern time tracking in the home office works and which solutions genuinely make day-to-day work easier.

Die wichtigsten Fragen im Überblick

What is the legal basis?

At present, the obligation to record working time has to be met in Germany. That means companies must make sure that all working, rest and break times are recorded. This also applies to work done in the home office.

How can I record working hours in the home office?

With mobile and flexible time tracking there are really only two options: recording by hand in spreadsheets, or digitally via app. The former is not legally compliant, however, which is why we recommend introducing a digital time tracking system in your company.

Is time tracking in the home office mandatory?

Yes. Time tracking in the home office is mandatory, just as it is in the office or out in the field.

The basis for this is the 2019 ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the 2022 decision of the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG).

Companies are obliged to record the start, end and duration of daily working hours systematically – regardless of where the work is done.

There is no exemption for the home office, mobile work or trust-based working hours.

Which working hours have to be recorded in the home office?

For working time tracking in the home office, the following times have to be documented:

start of work
end of work
breaks
total duration of daily working hours

Not required are:

descriptions of activities
screen time
performance monitoring

That makes one thing clear: time tracking serves occupational health and safety, not surveillance.

Which forms of time tracking are permitted in the home office?

Form of time tracking	Permissibility	Assessment and context
Excel, paper notes and lists filled in afterwards	❌ Not recommended	Easy to manipulate, often incomplete and not audit-proof. These forms do not count as reliable time tracking and are legally risky.
Manual self-recording	⚠️ Only permitted with reservations	Possible, but error-prone and hard to verify. It often only partly meets the requirements for objectivity and traceability.
Digital time tracking in the home office	✅ Recommended	Recording to the minute with automatic storage. Audit-proof, ready to analyse and compliant with the ECJ and BAG requirements.

Why digital time tracking in the home office makes sense

Benefits for employers

legal certainty
clear evidence during audits
less administrative work
clean data for payroll

Benefits for employees

transparent working hours
protection against unpaid overtime
a clear separation of work and free time

In the home office in particular, a digital solution creates structure and fairness on both sides.

Which solution is right for time tracking in the home office?

For time tracking in the home office you need a system that records working hours reliably, tamper-proof and independently of location. Many tools look similar at first glance, but they differ considerably in how well they hold up in everyday use and how legally sound they are.

Digital time tracking via app is the simplest solution here: employees can start and stop their working time straight from home – with a single click. Times are saved even without an internet connection and synchronised automatically later on.

Important for legally compliant time tracking:
Recorded times must remain traceable in their original form. Corrections may be allowed, but the original timestamps have to be preserved. That is the only way time tracking is tamper-proof.

With clockin, working hours in the home office can be recorded digitally and analysed centrally. On top of that, vacation can be requested, hours can be assigned to projects or trips, and timesheets can be generated and exported automatically. Companies only use the features they actually need – neatly bundled in the admin dashboard.