Trust-based working time
With trust-based working time the employer dispenses with dictating the start and end of daily working time and looks at the result. The agreed working time is still owed.
As of:September 2026
What the term means
The term appears in no statute. What is meant is dispensing with control over the timing of working time, not with working time itself and certainly not with its limits.
Since the Federal Labour Court order of 13/09/2022 (1 ABR 22/21), recording is required under trust-based working time too. The ministerial draft amending the Working Hours Act expressly holds on to the model and at the same time requires records.
MetronHR works these figures out itself: time accounts, premiums, overtime and the limits of the German Working Hours Act, with every booking.
Distinctions
From flexitime: there there is a framework and as a rule a time account. With trust-based working time the framework is absent; an account can still be kept and has been the normal case since 2022.
From work on demand: there the employer determines the timing at short notice, though with the protective rules in section 12 of the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act. That is the opposite of trust-based working time.
Common mistake
The most widespread misconception: that trust-based working time means nothing is recorded. That was common practice before 2022 and has since been a breach of the duty under section 3(2) no. 1 ArbSchG.
Further reading
- Federal Labour Court, order of 13/09/2022, 1 ABR 22/21
- Section 3(2) no. 1 ArbSchG, section 12 TzBfG
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
Knowing the terms is one thing. Settling them cleanly is another.
MetronHR keeps time accounts, calculates premiums and checks the limits of the German Working Hours Act automatically. Try it free for 14 days.
No credit card, cancel any time
Related terms
Flexitime
With flexitime, employees determine the start and end of their daily working time themselves within a given framework. The agreed working time stays unchanged, only its timing is flexible.
Core working hours
Core time is the part of the flexitime framework in which all employees have to be present. Outside it, the start and the end can be chosen freely.
Working time account
A working time account records how many hours somebody is above or below the agreed working time. The balance is settled over a defined period, through time off or through payment.
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.
Working time fraud
Working time fraud means deliberately stating working time falsely, for instance by clocking in for absent colleagues or entering hours not worked. It is a serious breach of the duties under the employment contract.