What is a shadow report book?
Your official report book is signed by your training company. That is exactly why certain things never make it in: the two hours of overtime nobody wrote down. The third day in a row spent in the warehouse instead of training. The remark from your boss that still annoys you.
The shadow report book is the second logbook next to it — private, encrypted and stored on your device only. You record what actually happened, with a date. Not to get anyone in trouble, but so you still know the details later, when you want to sort it out.
The unlocked vault. Every entry with the day it happened, its severity and who was there. Captured with made-up entries.
How it differs from the official report book
- Required by § 13 BBiG and a precondition for exam admission
- Countersigned by your trainer
- Describes what you were taught that week
- Available to the company and the chamber of commerce
- Voluntary and strictly private
- Nobody sees it but you — no server, no account
- Records overtime, incidents and non-training tasks
- Stays encrypted on your device
One does not replace the other. The official training record stays mandatory — the shadow report book runs alongside it.
What apprentices record here
- Unpaid overtime — when, how long, ordered by whom.
- Non-training tasks — work that has nothing to do with the training curriculum.
- Incidents and remarks — what was said and who was there.
- Vocational school — when time off is refused or a school day turns into a work day.
- Missing supervision — weeks without a trainer, without guidance, without feedback.
- Promises made and broken — promises about being kept on, holidays or a change of department.
Anyone who first recounts what happened six months later usually has nothing more than a vague "sometime in spring". A dated note is more concrete — when you talk to your trainer, the works council for young employees or the chamber of commerce.
How the encryption works
The first time you open it you set a password. Your browser derives a key from it via PBKDF2 with 600,000 iterations and encrypts every entry with AES-256-GCM. Neither the password nor the key ever leaves your device.
- No server, no account, no cloud copy
- The session locks itself automatically after inactivity
- Export as a formal complaint record when you need the entries
The flip side: a forgotten password means the entries are permanently out of reach. Nobody can bring them back — not even us.
Frequently asked questions
Does the shadow report book replace my official one?
No. The training record under § 13 BBiG stays mandatory and is still signed off by your company. The shadow report book is a private record alongside it.
What do I need the entries for later?
As a dated memory aid when you want to sort something out — with your trainer, the works council for young employees, the chamber of commerce or an advice centre.
Can my training company see the entries?
Not through MyWorkLog. The data sits encrypted in your own browser storage and is never transmitted anywhere. Without your unlocked device and your password, nobody sees a thing.
What happens if I forget the password?
Then the entries are gone. There is deliberately no recovery — that is what makes the encryption work in the first place.
What does it cost?
Nothing. The shadow report book is part of MyWorkLog, free, ad-free and usable without an account.
Scroll back up to create your vault — or take a look at what else MyWorkLog offers for your apprenticeship.