NEW in dCM: Legally compliant time tracking. What Germany's recording obligation means for employers

Since the ruling of the German Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) of 13 September 2022, one thing is certain: employers in Germany must record their employees' working hours systematically. Many companies still rely on Excel sheets and paper notes, risking gaps, disputes and objections from auditors. With the new time tracking module in dCM, the obligation can be met cleanly, without introducing yet another isolated tool.

What has applied since the BAG ruling?

The impulse came from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) with its so-called "time clock" ruling of 2019: employers must set up an objective, reliable and accessible system that measures the working time actually performed. In 2022, the German Federal Labour Court (BAG) followed up and clarified that this obligation already arises from the existing German Occupational Health and Safety Act (Arbeitsschutzgesetz). It therefore applies right now, regardless of company size, and does not depend on the legislator passing a new law.

In concrete terms, this means for employers:

• The start, end and duration of daily working time must be documented, not just overtime.
• Break and rest periods under the German Working Hours Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz, ArbZG) must be verifiably observed.
• The records must be reliable and traceable for employees, the works council and auditors alike.

Handwritten timesheets and shared Excel spreadsheets rarely meet these requirements in practice: they are error-prone, can be changed after the fact and are difficult to evaluate.

How dCM implements the obligation

Working-time tracking is the newest module of our business software dCM, and it was designed around the legal requirements from day one.

Recording at every workplace

• Web timer: start and stop working time with one click, to the minute, right in the browser.
• RFID punch clock: physical time recording via chip or card at a terminal. Clock-in and clock-out stamps are paired automatically, duplicate stamps are removed and night shifts are handled correctly.
• Manual entries: times can be added retroactively, but only with mandatory approval by a supervisor.

Legal logic: built in, not an add-on

• Breaks under Section 4 ArbZG: after more than 6 hours, 30 minutes of break time are credited, after more than 9.5 hours, 45 minutes. dCM only deducts the break time that is actually missing.
• Leave under the German Federal Leave Act (Bundesurlaubsgesetz, BUrlG): entitlement, pro-rata calculation for mid-year starters, carry-over into the following year with forfeiture on 31 March, and the rule that "sickness during leave does not consume leave" are all built into the system.
• Public holidays of all 16 German federal states: every employee gets the correct state calendar, and public holidays can be entered as absences automatically.

Flextime and hours account: modeled realistically

Many systems only know a rigid target time. dCM instead models employment contracts as a flextime corridor: a weekly band "from … to … hours" within which neither overtime nor undertime accrues, which is how real flextime agreements actually work. Fixed time models and shift models with rotation cycles are also available. The overtime and undertime account is calculated automatically per calendar week, and manual corrections by HR remain transparently documented. If an employment contract changes, the old terms are frozen. Weeks that have already been settled never change retroactively.

Absences and leave at a glance

Working time also includes absence: vacation, sickness or special leave are managed as freely configurable absence types with legal attributes, for example whether proof is required or whether leave is consumed. The leave account shows entitlement, usage, carry-over and remaining leave at a glance at any time, and the team-wide absence calendar makes vacation planning across the company transparent. Absences that span several months are automatically split cleanly per month by dCM.

Approval, evidence and audit-proof records

• Approval workflow: employees submit entries, supervisors approve or reject them with a reason, including forwarding and substitute rules during vacation.
• Audit log: every change is recorded with timestamp, author and before/after state; rejected entries are preserved. Exactly what works councils and auditors demand.
• Signed monthly reports: employee and supervisor sign the monthly report in a dual workflow; evaluations are available as CSV and PDF.

The integration advantage: time becomes revenue

The biggest difference compared to standalone solutions: time tracking is part of dCM, the same software that also manages customers, projects, invoices and HR. Project-related times from activity tracking flow directly into project billing and are invoiced to the customer as an outgoing invoice, with no double entry. Travel expenses are recorded, approved and transferred to accounting in the same system. And everything is hosted GDPR-compliant on our own servers in Germany.

Conclusion

The obligation to record working time is not a distant prospect; it is the current legal situation in Germany. Companies that implement it with a well-designed system gain more than compliance: reliable figures, less administrative effort and a fair, transparent basis for flextime and leave. We would be happy to show you time tracking in dCM live, with a focus on your working-time models.

Note: This article provides general information about the obligation to record working time in Germany. It does not constitute legal advice.

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