Micro-enterprises with up to ten employees must record working hours, but are not required to do so electronically. (Photo: © Ilya Andriyanov/123RF.com)
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The German government plans to amend the Working Time Act. The main focus is on increasing weekly working hours and mandating time tracking. However, very small businesses are not required to record their hours digitally. Read the details here.
A preliminary draft bill from the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to amend the Working Time Act was published on June 18, 2026. The focus is on making maximum working hours more flexible and introducing mandatory time tracking . Here is an overview of the most important new regulations for the skilled trades:
The rigid upper limit of eight hours per day – with a maximum of ten hours including time off in lieu – is being relaxed for companies covered by collective bargaining agreements. The draft law allows for a maximum weekly working time that the parties to the collective agreement can agree upon in the future. This is stipulated in a so-called "collective bargaining opening clause." This clause only applies if employers simultaneously ensure, through special regulations, that they do not endanger the health of their employees. The compensation period is being reduced from six months to four months.
Contrary to what was agreed in the coalition agreement, the eight-hour day would continue to apply by law for companies without collective bargaining agreements.
Employers must now record the start, end, and duration of working hours . This recording should generally be done electronically on the same day . Transitional periods apply for the introduction of electronic recording : employers with fewer than 250 employees have two years, and employers with fewer than 50 employees have five years.
Operations management
Operations management
Operations management
Small businesses with up to ten employees must record working hours, but are not required to record them electronically.
Even if employees or third parties take over the recording of working hours, the employer remains responsible. For employees with trust-based working hours, the following applies: While the employer may waive the monitoring of contractually agreed working hours, they must still ensure that they are aware of any violations of the working time regulations.
Employees in bakeries and confectioneries will be allowed to bake for up to five hours on Sundays and public holidays, instead of the previous three.
The new regulations are scheduled to come into force on January 1, 2027. However, inter-ministerial consultation is currently underway. Following this, the cabinet will adopt the official government draft. This will then be submitted to the Bundestag, debated in committee, and passed in three readings. The law must then be approved by the Bundesrat. Given the numerous critical voices from politics and business, many changes to the draft are still to be expected.
From the employers' perspective, the draft legislation does not deliver the improvements promised in the coalition agreement. The German Confederation of Skilled Crafts (ZDH) is particularly critical of linking the already limited options for adjusting working hours to collective bargaining agreements. This would effectively exclude numerous craft businesses not bound by collective agreements from the planned flexibilization possibilities . This contradicts the agreements in the coalition agreement, which deliberately refrained from including such a restriction.
Read detailed comments from the trades > here!
Amended Working Time Act. You can find the complete text of the draft law > here.
Sources: ZDH; Federal Ministry of Labour
The advisors at the Chambers of Crafts will be happy to help you with any legal questions!
DHB now also available digitally! Simply click here and register for the digital German Crafts Journal (DHB)!
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