Working time tracking at Euro 2024: a look behind the scenes

A working day for the German national team

It is no secret that footballers are not among Germany's low earners. Their pay comes from several sources: bonuses per match and per success, a fixed salary from the club they are under contract with, plus sponsorship and advertising. In Germany, however, recording working hours has been mandatory since 2022. That means: even though the players are not paid by the hour, their working hours still have to be recorded, because strictly speaking they too are employees with fixed employment contracts. Working time tracking makes it possible to ensure that the rules of the German Working Hours Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz, ArbZG) are met.

We want to look in detail at how that would work for the German national team at Euro 2024. How much do the players actually work over the course of a match, all told? And what counts as working hours in the first place?

Before the match

Arriving at the stadium

We start our journey with the arrival at the stadium. The players get there roughly 90 to 120 minutes before kick-off. They are welcomed by the staff and the coaching team. Working time starts right here. Picture this: a tablet hangs in the dressing room as a time tracking terminal. Every player can clock in and out there. Time tracking runs from the moment they enter the stadium.

Preparation

Next come changing, medical checks, conversations with the coaches and the warm-up on the pitch. This preparation is essential to their work – playing. So of course it counts as working time too.

During the match

Kick-off

Kick-off is when the player's main work begins – the part we watch on television. If no break was taken between arriving at the stadium and kick-off, in which the players did something other than prepare for the match, time tracking simply keeps running

Half-time

Even though half-time counts as recovery time for the players, it is nothing like a “lunch break”. Half-time is actively used for tactical talks and medical care. That is why the half hour between the first and second half also counts as working time.

Note what this means: if the players took no active rest break before kick-off, they have been working since they arrived at the stadium. By this point that is two to three hours.

Second half

The second half counts as working time as well, of course. The match continues. The players may even clock in on the “second half” so that their working hours are documented precisely.

After the match

After the final whistle

After the win – and after celebrating the win – the German national team heads back to the dressing room. Strictly speaking, the players would have to clock out the moment the final whistle blows. That means being cheered and celebrating the victory in the stadium would have to be recorded as break time. Showering and the cool-down are not working time either.

After around three to four hours of working time, the players take their first break.

Media duties

Most players do not leave the stadium straight after the final whistle, though. Instead, they take part in press conferences. That time could count as working time again – the players appear on behalf of the German national team and therefore represent the “company”.

Leaving the stadium

The players end their working day when they leave the stadium. If they stay in the dressing room longer to celebrate the win, the working day ends there instead. That would put a match day at around four hours of working time.

Special situations

Extra time and penalty shoot-outs

If a match at the Euros goes to a penalty shoot-out or extra time, that of course still counts as working time. So we would not see the players sprint off the pitch the moment the 90 minutes are up.

Travel time and accommodation

Just as for any other employee, working time tracking on business trips is somewhat more complex for footballers: as a rule, the journey there and back does not legally have to count as working time, as long as the person is not behind the wheel themselves or working during the trip. Time spent on location is not automatically working time either, simply because the players are away from home. Instead, the extra expense during the business trip – that is, the away match – would be covered by per diem allowances.

So while the national team is based at its “home ground” in Herzogenaurach for Euro 2024, clocking in would only be needed when the players are actively preparing for the matches. That covers not only the warm-up before the matches, but also the training in between, medical checks and team talks.

Working hours for substitutes

But what if a player sits on the bench for the entire match? Does that time count as a kind of standby duty?

Well, the players warm up before the match starts, just like everyone else. So their working day also begins when they enter the stadium. During the match itself they sit on the bench, ready to come on at any moment. These players are therefore on standby. Unlike so-called “on-call duty”, where only the actual work assignment is paid, the players on the touchline cannot choose freely where they are. That is why the whole time spent “on standby” to play counts as working time.

In legal terms, substitutes therefore work exactly as long as the players who get minutes on the pitch, even without any playing time.

This is only an illustrative example, of course. The German national team is not employed by the DFB. That means the working time they put in during international matches is not treated as it would be in a classic employment relationship. Instead, the players are paid by the DFB through international match bonuses. On top of that they receive a base salary from their club.

Working hours still have to be recorded, though, regardless of who the work is for. During an international match there does not seem to be much risk of breaching the ArbZG. The maximum working time in one stretch is six hours. As long as a rest period of 11 hours between assignments is observed, the players are within the legal limits. Even so: it is not unlikely that in future the players will have to clock in and out of matches with a digital app like clockin.

So players do have to record their working hours. That may sound a little mad at first, but with clockin it is easy to put into practice. clockin already supports professional sports clubs such as VfL Gummersbach from the first handball Bundesliga and volleyball Bundesliga side USC Münster with digital working time tracking.