Working hours
"We're taking those two hours off you again."
Hours worked are removed from the working-time account after the fact, or the time-clock data is "corrected".
§ 16 ArbZG / § 17 BBiG
The boss may NOT do that
No, that is clearly unlawful!
The employer must record all actual working time — this was made clear by the ECJ in 2019 (C-55/18) and confirmed by the German Federal Labour Court in 2022 (1 ABR 22/21). Deleting, doctoring or manipulating the records after the fact is unlawful and may constitute withholding of wages (§ 266a StGB in the case of social-security contributions).
What the law says
§ 16 ArbZG – Notice, working-time records
The employer is obliged to record working time exceeding the daily working time of eight hours. The records must be kept for at least two years.
Federal Labour Court 13.09.2022 – 1 ABR 22/21
Employers are legally obliged to record their employees' working time in full.
§ 17 BBiG – Right to remuneration
Employment beyond the agreed training time must be specially remunerated or compensated with time off.
What you can do
- ALWAYS keep your own time account (photo of the time slip, your own app, a notebook).
- On the next pay statement, request a written overview of all hours worked.
- Secure evidence: geo-tags, email timestamps, colleagues as witnesses.
- Withholding social-security contributions is a criminal offence (§ 266a StGB) — a report is possible.
Email template for your trainer
Subject: Correction of the working-time account
Dear [name of trainer],
reviewing my working-time account / pay statement, I noticed that on [date] [X hours] were not recorded or were deducted after the fact. According to my own records, I worked from [time] to [time] on that day.
Under § 16 ArbZG the employer must record all working time, and under § 17 (7) BBiG additional hours must be remunerated or compensated.
I kindly ask you to correct this and provide a written overview of my working-time account.
Kind regards
[Your name]
More cases: Working hours
- You're working overtime today!
- You're coming in Saturday too!
- A break? Just power through!
- You're taking the late shift!
- Back at 6 tomorrow morning — you were here until 10pm yesterday.
- You just have to be reachable — that doesn't count.
- Getting to the construction site is your problem.
- You're working six days this week.
- We're open on the public holiday — you're in.
- Pop into work before school.
- Changing clothes is your own time — before and after.
- Work from home today, but don't keep asking.
- We don't record hours here.