Germany Tightens the Leash on Working Hours as Electronic Tracking Becomes Mandatory
Veröffentlicht: 29.06.2026 um 10:36 Uhr, Redaktion boerse-global.de
The federal government’s draft legislation on electronic time recording would effectively abolish trust-based working time — the flexible model that let employees manage their own hours without daily oversight. For tens of thousands of workers, the era of self-determined schedules is drawing to a close.
The New Rulebook
If the bill passes, Paragraph 16(2) of the Working Hours Act will require employers to document every employee’s workday electronically, on a day-by-day basis. Any arrangement where staff record their own time without control will lose its legal footing. The daily hard cap of eight hours remains in place. Exceptions will be possible only through collective bargaining agreements — a marked departure from the coalition contract, which originally envisioned a weekly maximum instead.
Penalties for noncompliance are steep. Employers who violate documentation duties or exceed time limits face fines of up to €30,000.
The German experience is a reminder that documentation duties can change fast. For UK employers, missing health and safety records are already a common cause of fines. A free toolkit provides ready-to-use risk assessments, checklists and templates aligned with current British requirements, used by over 37,000 companies. Download the free Health & Safety Toolkit
Tourism Wins a Major Exception — Others May Follow
The hospitality sector secured a notable carve-out. A separate bill, scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027, would allow daily shifts of up to 13 hours — provided the weekly maximum is respected. The food-service union NGG sounded the alarm: under European working-time directives, that could mean weeks of up to 73.5 hours. The industry counters that seasonal flexibility is a matter of survival.
Further exceptions are under discussion for healthcare, bakeries, and museums.
Coalition Committee Meets on July 2
These workplace changes are part of a broader package to be debated by the coalition committee on July 2, 2026. Topics include pensions, health, and taxes. The pension commission has recommended scrapping the “pension at 63” scheme and raising contribution rates by two percentage points.
Mini-jobs, the low-wage, low-hours contracts that employ 1.1 million people in the hospitality sector alone — according to the Dehoga trade association — are also under threat. The commission proposes restricting them to students only; everyone else would have to pay full pension contributions.
While Germany debates mini-job reform, UK employers must keep their own employment practices compliant with the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974. A free toolkit with nine ready-to-use tools — including risk assessments, checklists and a director liability guide — helps you meet your legal duties and protect your workforce. Get the free Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 Toolkit
EU Pay Transparency Arrives Before National Law
Since June 8, 2026, German labor courts must apply the EU Pay Transparency Directive. In the public sector, salary ranges are now mandatory in job advertisements. Interviewers can no longer ask candidates about their previous salary. A national transposition law is not expected until 2027 at the earliest.
Bürgergeld Becomes “Grundsicherung” — with Tougher Sanctions
On July 1, 2026, the next reform kicks in: the “Bürgergeld” unemployment benefit will be renamed “Grundsicherung” (basic income support). Sanctions are sharpened: for duty violations, benefit rates can be cut by 70 percent for three months. Missing appointments can lead to a complete loss of benefits. And job placement will take priority over occupational retraining.
