Everything You Should Know about the EU Time Tracking Law

The EU Working Time Directive (1993)

Long before timekeeping became a required practice in the EU, certain measures were taken to ensure employees’ health and safety and protect them from being overworked.

One of them was the EU's Working Time Directive — a legislation aimed at regulating working time in EU member states. This piece of regulation introduced specific work hours standards that remain effective even today, decades later. 

As the table above shows, the EU Working Time Directive was developed with both the employees' and employers' best interests in mind.

Yet, at the moment of its introduction, the directive didn’t propose a system to ensure employers followed these requirements. 

That's when an additional provision needed to be introduced. 

The EU timekeeping requirement (2019)

Although the Working Time Directive did change the landscape of work in the EU, it left employers too much wriggle room to mishandle the propositions.

That’s when a lawsuit that would alter the course of the EU working standards was filed. 

It all started when the Spanish subsidiary of Deutsche Bank was discovered underreporting employee hours and underpaying for overtime.

Since such activities violated EU labor law set out by the EU's Working Time Directive and Charter of Fundamental Rights, the Spanish trade union filed a lawsuit against Deutsche Bank.

Ultimately, in May 2019, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that all EU employers must track their employees' working hours.

From then on, employers from all the member states are required to establish an “objective, reliable, and accessible system” for measuring daily working time.

Here are some of the timekeeping provisions EU employers are expected to follow.

As seen in the table above, the ruling provides just enough pointers to help EU employers start measuring employee time and remain compliant. 

However, individual states are left to determine the specifics concerning the type of timekeeping system and its implementation. 

What does the EU timekeeping law mean for employers?

Since the EU left it up to individual member states to iron out the timekeeping details, certain states have yet to introduce more specific time tracking directives.

However, until that happens in each EU member state, employers should focus on implementing a timekeeping system that will first protect workers.

As for what is mandated, the ruling currently says employers must have a time tracking system:

• To keep track of overtime hours, and
• To ensure employees get their obligatory rest periods.

Where the ruling is implemented, employees have an easier time winning lawsuits to compensate for overtime. Before the time tracking requirements, employees had to prove their overtime hours to the court.

Now, the burden of proof is on the shoulders of the employer, i.e., the employer has to disprove an alleged overtime claim.

So, whether you're in a country that has implemented the time tracking ruling or not, it's a lot safer to invest in a time tracking system that allows you to track time accurately and objectively.

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Time tracking requirement across EU states

Even before the ECJ ruled on introducing a reliable system for keeping track of employees’ working hours, many EU member states — such as Austria, Croatia, Luxembourg, Hungary, and others — already had an explicit timekeeping requirement in place.

However, most states needed to amend their existing labor laws to ensure compliance with the EU regulations. 

Let’s take a look at how some of the member states implemented the EU timekeeping requirements. 

Spain

Spain was the first member state to implement the new timekeeping requirement into their Royal-Decree Law in response to the CCOO vs. Deutsche Bank ruling.

The law stipulates the following:

• All companies must track their employees' work hours, whether they are salaried or hourly workers,
• Companies must keep their employees' time records for 4 years,
• Employees must be familiar with the duration and distribution of a normal workday,
• Time records must be public and available to employees, unions, and the government,
• The unions must be informed monthly of employee overtime hours, and
• Each employee's start and end times, including breaks (even for remote workers), must be recorded.

Also, since employers are considered responsible for recording working hours, companies could face serious financial penalties in case of irregularities. 

Greece

In June 2021, Greece adopted an employment law that mandates the implementation of an electronic system for employee timekeeping via digital work cards. 

Employees are now expected to record their attendance by logging the start and end of their workdays. 

The system is connected to the country's ERGANI platform for employers, meaning that the Greek Labor Inspectorate has access to the data at all times. 

Denmark

As of July 1, 2024, all Danish employers are required to register their employees’ working hours.

According to the most recent amendment of the Working Time Directive, Danish employers must implement a timekeeping system that would accurately measure employee working hours. 

The amendment also states that:

• Employers are required to register their employees’ total working hours per day, 
• Employees need to be able to access the registered information at all times, and
• The recorded information needs to be stored for a minimum of 5 years. 

However, the amendment doesn’t require employers to monitor their workers’ clock-in and clock-out times or stipulate exactly what system they are required to implement. 

What matters the most is that employees do not work more than 48 hours per week over a period of 4 months. 

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Germany

Ever since the German Federal Labor Court ruled that all German employers must record their staff working hours in 2022, time tracking has been an important topic across the country.

However, since the 2022 decision did not specify enough details on how exactly the time recording should work, in April 2023, the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs drafted an amendment to the Working Hours Act.

According to the draft, employers would now be required to electronically record their employees’ clock-in and clock-out times and the total number of working hours each day. 

Also, they’d need to keep the time records for as long as the worker remains employed at their company.

In case of a violation, companies could be fined up to €30,000.00.

Yet, since the bill has not become law yet, it still remains to be seen how the new provisions will be implemented. 

FAQs about the EU time tracking law

If you’re still unsure about the specifics of the EU legal requirements, take a look at the following frequently asked questions. 

Is time tracking mandatory in France?

Time tracking is mandatory in France only for specific groups of workers. 

If employees have individual working hours (e.g., each team member works a different number of hours), employers are responsible for having a time tracking system in place. This system would record employees’ start and end times, and the total number of hours worked per day. 

However, if employees follow collective working hours (the entire team works the same number of hours), the employer is only responsible for keeping a record of the whole team’s working time. 

Does the EU Working Time Directive still apply in the UK?

The EU Working Time directive is still valid in the UK even after Brexit. 

UK employers are still required to follow the maximum working time provisions and ensure their workers work at most 48 hours per week. 

They must also: 

• Provide employees a 20-minute rest break after 6 hours of work, 
• Ensure they take annual leave, and 
• Comply with other Working Time Directive provisions. 

Is employee monitoring legal in Europe?

Generally speaking, employee monitoring is legal in Europe if there is a legitimate business reason for this action. In other words, such data needs to be necessary for a company’s management and functioning. 

However, employee monitoring needs to comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation, and employees need to be informed and consulted about any instance of monitoring.

Also, certain member states, such as Portugal, Cypress, and Denmark, have introduced their own regulations regarding employee monitoring. That’s why it’s always best to consult with legal advisors before introducing any new technology for collecting and processing personal information. 

What are some benefits of time tracking?

A time tracking system is not just beneficial for keeping up with the laws regarding working hours in European countries.

There are many other benefits of timekeeping for both employees and employers.

Some time tracking benefits for employees include the following:

• No more overtime without remuneration,
• Legal protection from abusive employers,
• Better work hours and healthier work-life balance,
• Right to digital disconnection needed to truly enjoy the benefits of time-off, and
• No more consecutive work shifts (minimum 12-hour break between working hours).

Time tracking benefits for employers include the following:

• Organized and digitized records that make payroll and salaries more accurate,
• Increased transparency and trust between employers and employees,
• Improved employee health and productivity,
• A better handle on true costs, time sinks, and inefficiencies, and
• More accurate quotes and deadlines based on actual historical data.

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For accurate timekeeping, go for a reliable software

Staying compliant with all the timekeeping provisions goes beyond introducing policy changes. You’ll also need to ensure that you have a system in place that can guide you in the right direction.

This is where timekeeping software, such as Clockify, comes in.

Clockify lets you track all work-related time, including breaks, overtime, and time off.

This way, you can quickly spot if your employees’ working time is about to exceed the directed total of 48 hours per week and introduce changes to their schedule. 

Employees can also report their hours online across multiple devices, which you can later export or print for signing.

However, keep in mind that having a time tracking system does not make you automatically compliant with the time tracking law. You’ll need to make sure you’re using the software correctly. 

That’s why it’s best to consult with your legal advisor before establishing a timekeeping system as this will ensure compliance with the EU timekeeping regulations.

Only then can you make the most out of your timekeeping sidekick and be certain you’ve got the most accurate records up your sleeve. 

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