German working time law is strict by European standards. The Arbeitszeitgesetz (ArbZG) sets hard limits on daily hours, mandatory rest periods, and Sunday work. Enforcement has intensified since a 2019 European Court of Justice ruling changed record-keeping obligations for all employers operating in Germany - a requirement Germany's Federal Labour Court confirmed and tightened in 2022.
Daily Hour Limits
The ArbZG sets the standard working day at 8 hours. Employers can extend individual days to 10 hours, provided the average returns to 8 hours or fewer over a 6-month calculation period. Sustained 10-hour days do not comply with the ArbZG, regardless of employee consent or written agreement.
Maximum average working week: 48 hours.
Mandatory Breaks
Break requirements under the ArbZG depend on shift length:
- Shifts exceeding 6 hours: 30-minute break required
- Shifts exceeding 9 hours: 45-minute break required
Breaks must be scheduled in advance. An informal pause taken at some point during the shift does not satisfy the requirement unless the scheduling condition is met.
Rest Between Shifts
Employees must receive at least 11 consecutive hours of rest between shifts. Hospitality operators face particular exposure here: a venue closing at 23:00 and opening at 08:00 gives employees a 9-hour gap - 2 hours below the legal minimum.
Sunday and Public Holiday Restrictions
The ArbZG prohibits Sunday work and work on public holidays. Exceptions apply to hospitality, healthcare, transport, and defined essential services. Employers in those categories must obtain a permit. Most permits require a compensatory rest day within two weeks of the Sunday worked.
Overtime Pay
The ArbZG sets no statutory overtime premium. Tarifvertrag (collective agreements) or individual employment contracts determine pay above standard hours. Most collective agreements in Germany specify premiums between 25% and 50% of the base hourly rate. Contracts outside a Tarifvertrag must define overtime pay terms in writing.
The 2022 Record-Keeping Shift
Before the 2019 ECJ ruling, German employers tracked overtime. After it, they must track all hours. Germany's Federal Labour Court confirmed this obligation in 2022: records must be objective, reliable, and accessible to inspectors.
Fines for ArbZG violations reach €30,000 per incident. The Zollverwaltung (customs authority) runs compliance checks across industries, including unannounced inspections at hospitality and construction sites.
An employer who cannot produce time records faces the record-keeping fine and the underlying compliance exposure at the same time. Two separate liabilities from one missing document.
Rezano
Rezano generates ArbZG-compliant records: daily hours, break periods, rest gaps between shifts, and weekly totals for every employee. The system flags breaches before they become violations.