Is the time tracking law coming in 2026?

Where things stand (October 2025) 

Since the ruling by the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) in September 2022 one thing has been settled: employers in Germany are obliged to record their employees' working hours. That applies to all industries and company sizes, whether the work is classic office work, field service or the skilled trades. 

The obligation follows directly from the German Occupational Safety Act (Arbeitsschutzgesetz) and a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) of May 2019, which requires all European member states to pass a law. That law has to make objective, reliable and accessible working time tracking mandatory. 

Germany does not yet have a dedicated time tracking law (Zeiterfassungsgesetz) of its own, but 2025 was marked by intense political debate. At the centre of it: the question of how time is to be recorded. It is not entirely clear whether the law will require electronic time tracking for everyone, including small businesses and senior managers. 

Many companies used 2025 to digitalize existing processes and make them legally compliant. The direction is clear: the obligation to track time stands, and the law is only meant to spell out how it works in practice. 

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Outlook for 2026: what comes next? 

Next year the new federal government is likely to finally pick the draft up again. The aim is to turn the existing BAG ruling into a stand-alone time tracking law. It will probably:

• establish electronic time tracking systems as the standard, 
• define exemptions for very small businesses, 
• set out retention and documentation obligations clearly, 
• and give stronger backing to digital solutions 

For companies, that means: 

Anyone already using a digital time tracking system today is ideally prepared and will not have to make any fundamental changes. Those still working with Excel or paper will be under pressure to act by the time the law comes into force at the latest. 

Germany finally needs digital working time tracking 

“The last thing Germany needs is less digitalization”, says Frederik Neuhaus, CEO and co-founder of clockin, a tool for digital working time tracking. “Since the draft law in 2023, little has moved on working time tracking. Yet digital time tracking could save a lot of paperwork and inefficient administration. The new federal government should therefore take the draft out of the drawer as quickly as possible.”

Neuhaus points to two central arguments: 

1. Efficiency and digitalization: Germany is still considered under-digitalized. According to Bitkom, more than a quarter of companies in Germany use Excel or pen and paper to record time. That leads to errors, data loss and an enormous administrative burden. 
2. Protecting employees: Digital, tamper-proof working time tracking is the most effective protection against minimum wage fraud and unfair working conditions. Only when hours are documented transparently and automatically does real fairness arise for employers and employees. 

“Digital time tracking tools are not just an administrative instrument. For millions of small and medium-sized companies they are the gateway to digitalization”, says Neuhaus. 

clockin as the digital solution for small and medium-sized businesses 

While politicians debate, many companies have long been acting on their own: with clockin, small and medium-sized businesses in Germany digitalize their working time tracking with no effort and no IT project. 

The app meets every requirement of the BAG ruling and prepares companies perfectly for the coming time tracking law: 

• Legally compliant and tamper-proof 
• Working hours, project hours and break times recorded to the minute 
• Mobile use – ideal for the skilled trades, care, commercial cleaning and field service 
• Seamless integrations with payroll accounting (DATEV, Lexware Office and others) 
• Ready to use straight away – no training, no IT effort

“We see every day that companies using clockin become not only legally compliant but also more efficient”, says Neuhaus. “Digital time tracking is not an end in itself – it is the lever for a modern working world.” 

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