Berlin.
Minister Heil wants working hours to be electronically documented in the future. Employers are not enthusiastic about the plans.
More than 34 million people in Germany are employed subject to social security contributions. How many hours they have to work per week is usually specified in employment or collective agreements. However, working hours are often not precisely recorded. One consequence: Many employees perform overtimewho are neither paid nor compensated with free time.
Statutory maximum working hours are sometimes ignored, as are minimum rest periods. Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) wants all of this to change. His house now has a first draft for one Reform of the Working Hours Act submitted. We explain what employees can expect – and what unions and employers say about it.
Why does Heil want to reform the Working Hours Act at all?
The reason for this is the so-called “time clock judgment” of the Federal Labor Court from last year (file number BAG – 1 ABR 22/21). The Erfurt judges had previously decided, with reference to the relevant specifications of the European Court of Justice, that Employer must record the total working hours of their employees. The legal situation, which is in any case in force, should now be made more precise.
The draft of the Ministry of Health states: “Working hours have become more and more flexible in recent years in the course of globalization and digitization. Recording the hours worked is particularly important in a flexible working environment.” The trend towards working from home and mobile working is increasingly blurring the boundaries between work and private life – often at the expense of the employees.
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How exactly should working hours be recorded in the future?
Usually electronic For example, with the help of an “electronic time clock” that is actually a chip card reader. Apps or spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel can also be used. There should only be a recording on paper in exceptional cases.
The most important sentence in Heil’s reform proposal reads: “The employer is obliged to electronically record the beginning, end and duration of the employee’s daily working hours on the day of work.” a manager or the secretary of the department. The Responsibility however, the employer should always bear the responsibility for proper recording.
At what stage is the planned reform?
In a very early. First of all, it is just a so-called draft bill. This is now being discussed with the other federal ministries. It will probably be some time before the government actually introduces a draft law and parliament decides. As with any legislative proposal, there will be changes to the plans as the process progresses.
Does the draft provide for exceptions?
Yes. It should be possible to determine that the recording “in non-electronic form” – for example, by an entry in a notebook. The recording should also be able to take place on another day – but no later than seven days after the work has been performed. And the obligation to record should also not apply to employees “for whom the total working time is not measured or not determined in advance or can be determined by the employees themselves because of the special characteristics of the activity performed”.
That is a very far-reaching formulation, under which a number of managers and also many project workers should fall. According to the Ministry of Labour’s proposal, the exceptions mentioned should be able to be specified “in a collective agreement or on the basis of a collective agreement in a company or service agreement”. That means in plain language that deviating regulations would only be possible for companies if they were subject to collective agreements. It remains to be seen whether this wording survives the legislative process.
Should the obligation to record electronic data apply to companies of all sizes? And when should it take effect?
In any case, Heil wants to completely exempt small businesses with up to ten employees from the obligation. For employers with fewer than 50 employees, there should be one Transitional period of five years give, for those with less than 250 employees of two years.
What do unions and employers say about the plans?
DGB board member anja skin said there is absolutely no question that employers are required to implement a timekeeping system. But it is wrong to touch the Working Time Act for this. “We need an update to counteract the dissolution of work boundaries – ideally by regulating the obligation to record working hours in the Occupational Health and Safety Act.”
Employer President Rainer Dulger, on the other hand, said that the draft from the Ministry of Health was “unfortunately not a model for tomorrow”. Rather, the legislature should make the regulations on working hours more flexible overall. “This includes flexible maximum weekly working hours instead of maximum daily working hours and more design options for rest times.” trust working hours absolutely to be protected. “Without this possibility, mobile working is also unthinkable.”
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