With its decision 1 ABR 22/21 dated 13 September 2022, the German Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) ruled that all employers in Germany must systematically record the working time of their employees. The ruling refers directly to the European Court of Justice judgment of 14 May 2019 in case C-55/18 (CCOO).
Relevant German rules
- BAG ruling 2022 (1 ABR 22/21) — duty to introduce a recording system
- EuGH ruling 2019 (CCOO, C-55/18) — European law basis
- ArbZG (Working Hours Act) — § 16 record-keeping for overtime
- MiLoG (Minimum Wage Act) — § 17 record-keeping for specific industries
- BetrVG § 87 (1) no. 6 — works council co-determination
- GDPR — data protection compliance
What employers must do
- Introduce an objective, reliable and accessible system to record working time
- Capture start, end and breaks of each working day
- Retain records for at least 2 years (ArbZG § 16 (2))
- Involve the works council in selection and configuration of the system
- Comply with GDPR and the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG)
How TimeClock 365 meets the requirements
- Systematic & objective — automatic capture via app, NFC, biometric or web
- Reliable & tamper-resistant — full audit log, server timestamps
- Accessible — employees see their own data anytime
- GDPR-compliant — EU hosting, DPA, ISO 27001
- Works-council ready — configurable access rights, reporting for co-determination
- Industry templates — pre-configured for construction, healthcare, hospitality, logistics
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