Why new rules for recording working time?
It all stems from Spanish trade unions taking Deutsche Bank to court in 2019 for breaching the rules on maximum weekly working time. The EU therefore wants to make sure that member states comply with the rules on weekly working time, rest periods and breaks.
That is why a requirement for time recording is now being introduced – to protect employees' rights.
The background for this legislation is that it must be possible to follow up on the statutory rest period requirements, also known as the 11-hour rule, and the maximum weekly working time of 48 hours on average, based on the last 4 months of work.
Questions and answers on the bill implementing the Working Time Directive
1 May the employer choose a system where only deviations from daily working time are recorded?
Yes, as there is freedom of method, as long as the system is objective, reliable and accessible. The method in the question makes it possible to establish how much has been worked on each day.
2. Is it enough to record the total daily working time and not when in the day the work took place?
Yes, the requirement only applies to daily working time, i.e. there is no requirement to record when in the day the work was done.
3 Do other EU countries comply with the rules?
Yes, Denmark is one of the few countries that has not already implemented this part of the directive.
4 Does an employer have to invest in a specific system to comply with the rules?
No, that is not necessary. There is freedom of method as long as the system is objective, reliable and accessible.
The employer can therefore use systems that already have time registration functionality today.
5 How often must the employee's working time be recorded and updated?
There is freedom of method, as long as the purpose of the time recording is to meet the rules on daily and weekly rest, the maximum weekly working time is complied with and the time recording system is objective, reliable and accessible.
6. May a university-educated employee who sends a work email at 10.30 pm start work at 9 am the next day, or is that in breach of the rest period rules?
The bill does not change the rest period rules. Only the daily working time has to be recorded.
The rest period rules state that work must be organised so that the employee gets a rest period of at least 11 consecutive hours. In special cases, however, this can be reduced to 8 hours.
7 Do all employees have to record their start and finish times every day?
Employees who are not covered by the maximum weekly working time (e.g. self-organisers, co-working spouses etc.) can be exempted. However, there is NO requirement to record start and finish times, only the daily working time.
See also question 2.
8 What must a workplace that does not record time today do from now on?
The employer's responsibility is:
– To make sure the daily working time can be recorded.
– To make sure the employee can access their own information.
– To keep the recorded information for 5 years after the end of the period that forms the basis for calculating the average weekly working time.
9 Do you have to record when in the day the work took place?
No, only the total daily working time.
See also question 2.
10 How should a paid lunch break be recorded?
Only the daily working time during which the employee is at the employer's disposal has to be recorded.
Breaks during which the employee is not at the employer's disposal are not considered working time. Nor is there any requirement to record whether an employee pays for their own lunch break or not.
