Rest period
The rest period is the continuous free time between the end of one working day and the start of the next. It is at least eleven hours.
As of:September 2026
Uninterrupted means uninterrupted
Eleven hours in one piece, not eleven hours spread out. A short call, an email dealt with or a call-out from on-call duty interrupts the rest period, and it starts again afterwards.
That is the rule mobile working most often falls foul of. Anyone answering an email at 22:00 may start again the next morning at 09:00 at the earliest, regardless of when they actually finished.
MetronHR works these figures out itself: time accounts, premiums, overtime and the limits of the German Working Hours Act, with every booking.
Shortening to ten hours
In hospitals and care institutions, in restaurants and accommodation businesses, in agriculture, in broadcasting and in a few further areas, the rest period may be shortened by up to one hour. The condition: every shortening is balanced within one calendar month or four weeks by another rest period of at least twelve hours.
For hospitals and care institutions a second rule comes on top: where the rest period is interrupted by a call-out during on-call duty, shortenings of up to half the rest period may be balanced at other times.
Example: a late shift and an early shift
- Monday, work ends at 21:30.
- Eleven hours of rest end on Tuesday at 08:30.
- An early shift from 06:00 would be impermissible.
- In a care institution 07:30 would be permissible if another rest period in the same month is extended to twelve hours.
Common mistake
The roster checks only the individual day, not the transition to the next. The breach always arises between two rows, and that is exactly where nobody looks.
Further reading
- Section 5(1) ArbZG
- „After the end of daily working time, employees have to have an uninterrupted rest period of at least eleven hours.“
- Section 5(2) ArbZG
- „The duration of the rest period under subsection 1 may be shortened by up to one hour in hospitals and other institutions for the treatment, nursing and care of people, in restaurants and other catering and accommodation establishments, in transport operations, in broadcasting and in agriculture and animal husbandry, provided that every shortening of the rest period is balanced within one calendar month or within four weeks by extending another rest period to at least twelve hours.“
- Section 5(3) ArbZG
This is not legal advice; for a specific case at your workplace you are better off asking someone qualified to give it.
Published by: AMNAU GmbH
Editorial responsibility: Ugur Aydogan, Product development.
Last reviewed: September 2026
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Related terms
Working time
Working time is the time from the start to the end of work excluding rest breaks. Where somebody works for several employers, the times are added together.
Rest break
A rest break is an interruption of work fixed in advance in which no work is expected. It does not count towards working time and is as a rule not paid.
Stand-by duty
With on-call duty the person has to be reachable and take up work when needed, but may stay where they choose. It in principle does not count towards working time, but the actual call-outs do.
Balancing period
The balancing period is the span over which the average of eight hours of daily working time has to be observed. It is six calendar months or 24 weeks.
On-call duty
Stand-by duty means staying at a place determined by the employer in order to start work immediately when needed. It counts as working time in full.
Mobile working
Mobile working is work performed independently of location using information technology. Working from home in the legal sense is the narrower case of a permanently set-up teleworking station in the home.
Flexitime window
The flexitime framework is the period within which daily working time may fall. It limits flexitime at each end.