Mandatory working time tracking: what the new law could look like

Is the long debate about mandatory time tracking finally over?

Back in May 2026, Bas announced that she would push ahead with a reform of the German Working Hours Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz, ArbZG). She has now presented the federal government with a departmental draft bill (Referentenentwurf). Among other things, the draft picks up the question of mandatory working time tracking that has been under discussion since 2019. The law is meant to finally make working time tracking compulsory in Germany. 

The new draft does not only cover working time tracking; it is intended to set a general reform of the German Working Hours Act in motion. That includes both the documentation obligation and the change from daily to weekly maximum working hours. 

The new draft is meant to create more flexibility 

According to ZEIT, the new draft does not focus on the question of how working hours have to be recorded, as her predecessor Hubertus Heil's did in 2023. Instead it is meant to open the door to more flexibility in how working time is organised. It loosens both the daily maximum working hours and the rest period between two work assignments. 

Through a documentation obligation, employers are to be required to protect their employees' health despite the loosened rules. In future, the start, the end and break times will have to be documented precisely. 

Real-time electronic time tracking is not to become compulsory 

What is new in this debate are several additions to the exemptions from time tracking: 

1. Small businesses with fewer than 10 employees are exempt from electronic time tracking.
2. The documentation may be carried out by third parties.
3. A collective agreement can waive both the same-day documentation obligation and the requirement for electronic time tracking. Working hours could then be documented on paper as late as 7 days afterwards
4. Smaller businesses are given longer transition periods.
5. Trust-based working hours are to remain permissible as a working time model, but only with valid documentation of working hours.

Companies gain flexibility through fewer requirements 

First and foremost, the draft is meant to loosen the German Working Hours Act. Doing away with the daily maximum working hours and reforming the rest period are the essential levers here. The obligation to track working time serves only to ensure that employees' health is still not neglected. 

The current Working Hours Act sets out daily maximum working hours of 8 hours – under strict conditions, maximum working hours of 10 hours are possible – and a rest period of 11 hours between two work assignments. Employers have been calling for this law to be loosened for many years. 

What happens next with mandatory working time tracking? 

It is well known that the CDU/CSU and the SPD do not agree on the Working Hours Act. Hubertus Heil's draft law three years ago did not make it through the Bundestag. Whether the new one has a better chance is hard to say. What is certain is that it is another step towards a statutory obligation to track working time. 

Whether the draft will pass the Bundestag remains to be seen. For companies that want to prepare now, it is worth turning to a digital time tracking solution early. clockin meets the requirements of a statutory documentation obligation – flexible, mobile and without much effort. Start free trial →