ECJ ruling obliges to record working time

In future, EU member states will be obliged to document the working hours of employees. What at first seems like a time clock offers relief and entrepreneurial potential. For employers, too.

Recording of working time becomes compulsory

In mid-May, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) obliged the EU Member States to Working time to be recorded. Until now, only overtime had to be officially documented, i.e. when the standard working hours were exceeded. To date, an employee may work a maximum of 48 hours and there must be a minimum of eleven hours break between working days. This regulation has long been criticised to the effect that documentation of overtime only makes sense if the working time is also recorded. New legislation will now take effect here, which is to come into force in Germany by the end of 2019.

A legal dispute over the recording of working hours

The new law was triggered by a legal dispute between a Spanish trade union and a branch of Deutsche Bank. The union demanded that the working hours be documented in order to comply with them. However, there is no valid obligation to do so in Spanish law. The ECJ now requires comprehensive recording of working time in order to guarantee workers' rights. Therefore, from now on, all employers in EU member states are obliged to systematically record working hours. How is up to the employers.

Progress instead of regression ? with the right methodology

Perhaps This was also the reason why the media echo declared the ruling to be 'outdated'. Yet a modern, i.e. software-controlled time recording system offers many advantages for both sides: Employer and employee.

It is true that in order to meet the requirements of the new law on the recording of working time, one can also fall back on time clocks or paper documentation. However, this wastes potential for entrepreneurial planning and management. In addition to reducing the workload of employees, resources can be used in a more targeted manner and services can be better accounted for.

Here you can find an article on the potential of software-controlled time recording.

Here is an article on the topic of resource managementwhich is based on the capacities of the employees.