Construction and trades

Time tracking on site, documented without gaps

In construction the stricter recording duty applies to every employee: the start, the end and the duration of each working day, by the seventh day afterwards at the latest.

  • Start, end and duration per working day, as § 17 MiLoG requires
  • The foreman records the hours for his gang as well
  • Record without a signal too; the app transfers later

In short

Stricter recording duty: because construction is named in section 2a SchwarzArbG, section 17 MiLoG applies to all employees, with a seven-day deadline.

In construction a timesheet is no longer enough

Construction stands first in § 2a SchwarzArbG among the sectors subject to the recording duty. That is why § 17 MiLoG applies here to every employee, not only to marginal jobs.

Problem

The duty applies to everyone, not only to marginal jobs

Because construction is named in § 2a (1) no. 1 SchwarzArbG, the start, the end and the duration have to be recorded for every employee.

Problem

The seven-day deadline runs alongside

The record has to exist by the end of the seventh calendar day after the working day. Anyone collecting only at the month end is too late.

Problem

The ten-hour day has to average out

Beyond eight hours, up to ten is permitted only if the average across 24 weeks holds at eight (§ 3 ArbZG).

Solution

Record, check, hand over, in one place

Your people book the start, the end and the break on their phone, even without a signal. The foreman adds entries for the gang, and the hours per site go to the office as Excel or CSV.

Result

Every day recorded in full

The start, the end and the duration are on file per person and per site, ready when somebody asks.

From the entry to the record

Three steps that cover the recording duty in construction.

Step1

Book the start, the end and the break

Everyone books on a phone or in the browser: start time, end time, break, plus the site. Without a signal the app stores locally and transfers as soon as there is a connection again.

Exactly the three figures § 17 MiLoG requires.
Sophie Kramer, rest periodsgefordert 11:00h, § 5
Mon, 24.08.07:00 bis 15:458:45h
15:15h Idle
Tue, 25.08.07:00 bis 15:308:30h
21:30h Idle
Wed, 26.08.13:00 bis 22:309:30h
11:15h Idle
Thu, 27.08.09:45 bis 17:458:00h
13:15h Idle
Fri, 28.08.07:00 bis 14:307:30h
06:0009:0012:0015:0018:0021:0024:00

Step2

Check the gang's week

A weekly overview per person with the hours booked, the target and the balance. If a day is missing, MetronHR can remind in stages, and you set the thresholds yourself.

Gaps show up while the deadline is still running.
Who is in when, week 376 dünne Stellen
68101214161820
Mo36746631
Di36757631
Mi25635521
Do36746631
Fr3664542
Sa1221
few to manybelow 2

Step3

Hand the hours over per site

Pick a period, filter by site or person, download as Excel or CSV, for payroll, for the accountant or for an enquiry.

The record is there instead of being hunted for.
Export the month end as
ExcelTime account per personCSVRaw data for the accountantPDFOverview to sign off
Contains per personName, staff numberTarget, actual, balanceNight, Sunday and public holidayHoliday and sick days

What construction businesses actually need

No terminal in the site hut, no IT department, and the duties met anyway.

Time

Start, end, duration per day

Exactly the three figures that have to be recorded in construction.

Breaks are recorded too and deducted from working time.

Tools

The foreman records for the gang

Anyone leading a department or with people under them enters their hours too.

For people who do not want to book on a phone themselves.

Projects

Hours per site

Every entry goes to a site, so costing afterwards needs no recalculation.

Optionally split by service as well, shell construction or rework for example.

Apps

Recording on a phone, offline too

iOS and Android, so the gang needs no terminal in the site hut.

In a shell with no signal it stores locally and transfers after the site.

Security

Set the working time limits centrally

Set the daily limit, the rest period and the break rule once, and anything over is flagged.

Default: 10 hours a day, 11 hours of rest. For people under 18 a stricter profile of its own applies.

Reports

A record per person and month

Target, actual and the difference per person, with a daily breakdown.

Download as Excel or CSV.

Billing

Handover to payroll

Hours, overtime and absences in one file.

Excel or CSV, with no rework at the accountant.

Simplicity

Nothing to mount, nothing to wire

Runs in the browser and as an app; a terminal on site is possible but not necessary.

Invite new colleagues by email, mid-season too.

For the office, the site management and the site

Four roles, four reasons, from the boss to the accountant.

Construction company owner

Knows what has gone into which site

At the month end it is unclear how many hours went into which job.

Hours per site and service, the basis for costing and for a variation claim.

How the recording works
Tradesperson

Books in 20 seconds, with no paper

After ten hours on site, writing hours down as well gets left undone.

Enter the start, the end and the break on the phone. Or the foreman does it for you.

See the app
Operations manager

Sees open days before the deadline runs out

Only at the payroll does it show that half-weeks are missing.

A weekly overview per gang, with reminders about open days and absences in one place.

Holiday and sick notes
Accountant

Gets hours that fit the payroll

Handwritten timesheets that have to be recalculated first.

One file per month with hours, overtime and absences, Excel or CSV.

Timesheet template (Excel)

Two years of retention, without filing cabinets

Working time records have to be kept for at least two years, under § 17 (1) MiLoG as well as § 16 (2) ArbZG. In MetronHR they sit in Germany, encrypted and retrievable.

  • Time entries stay stored as long as your account exists; nothing is thrown away after the month end
  • Developed and hosted in Germany, GDPR compliant, transferred and stored encrypted
  • Every change to a time entry is logged, as a complete audit trail on the Professional plan
  • The written notice about carrying identification under § 2a SchwarzArbG can be filed in the digital personnel file (Professional plan)

Trust Center

Retention: at least 2 years

Servers in Germany, operated by AMNAU GmbH in Hanover
See the ArbZG check

Frequent questions from construction and trades

The recording duty, the deadlines and the retention, answered briefly.

On a phone or in the browser: enter the start, the end and the break, and pick the site. Anyone who wants can let the timer run. For people who do not type themselves, the foreman records the hours.

Because construction stands first in § 2a (1) no. 1 SchwarzArbG. That makes § 17 MiLoG apply here to every employee: the start, the end and the duration of the daily working time have to be recorded, not only for marginal jobs.

By the end of the seventh calendar day after the working day at the latest (§ 17 (1) MiLoG). MetronHR can remind about missing days in stages: a notice, an email, a report to the manager. You switch that on yourself and set the thresholds; they count in working days, so set them below seven.

Yes. Anyone leading a department or with people under them can create time entries for them. So the gang leader books for the crew even when not everybody types on a phone. Management may record for everybody.

At least two years. The period is in § 17 (1) MiLoG and equally in § 16 (2) ArbZG for working time beyond eight hours. In MetronHR time entries stay stored as long as your account exists, so you archive no folders.

Eight hours a working day is permitted. It may be extended to up to ten hours if the average across six calendar months or 24 weeks does not exceed eight (§ 3 ArbZG). You set the daily limit centrally; the default is ten hours.

The app stores the entry locally on the device and transfers it as soon as there is a connection again. Recorded hours are therefore not lost when there is no signal in a shell or a basement.

Yes. Every entry goes to a site, and optionally to a service such as shell construction or rework. The project report shows the hours per site and person, and you download them as Excel or CSV.

Yes. Time tracking with site assignment, absences, overtime, Working Time Act checks and Excel/CSV export are included in the Team plan at 5 € per user per month. The digital personnel file, project budgets and advanced analytics are part of the Professional plan at 10 €.

Yes, in the App Store and on Google Play. Your people book hours with it, see their own totals and request holiday, with no terminal in the site hut.

Question not answered here? Every step is explained in the help centre.

Record tomorrow's hours properly from the start?

Try MetronHR free for 14 days, no credit card. Team plan from 5 € per user per month.

Questions about the recording duty? Write to us: an answer within 24 hours, within 8 hours on the Professional plan.