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.
As of:September 2026
What lies behind it legally
The Working Hours Act does not know the term. A working time account rests on a collective agreement, a works agreement or the employment contract. Without such a basis there is no account, only extra work that has to be paid.
Where a works council exists, the introduction is subject to codetermination: section 87(1) no. 2 BetrVG for the timing of working time and no. 3 for temporary extension or shortening.
Regardless of the account, the limits in section 3 ArbZG apply. An account shifts the pay, not the maximum working time.
Short-term and long-term accounts
Short-term accounts balance out within a few months, usually with a cap upwards and downwards. They serve everyday flexibility.
Long-term accounts accumulate credit over years, for a sabbatical or early retirement. As soon as the credit reaches more than 250 hours or a multiple of the monthly pay and the agreement provides for release from work, the rules on value credit under sections 7b et seq. SGB IV apply, including insolvency protection under section 7e SGB IV.
MetronHR works these figures out itself: time accounts, premiums, overtime and the limits of the German Working Hours Act, with every booking.
What happens on departure
A positive balance has to be paid out where it can no longer be run down. A negative balance may only be reclaimed where the negative hours rest on a decision by the employee and a corresponding agreement exists. Where work is missing because the business has none, the business bears the risk (section 615 BGB).
Example: a short-term account with a cap
- Agreed: 38 hours a week, cap plus 60 and minus 20 hours.
- January: 170 actual against 165 target, balance +5.
- February: 180 actual against 152 target, balance +33.
- March: 140 actual against 167 target, balance +6.
- The balance stays within the cap, so no settlement is forced.
Common mistake
The most common mistake: the account is kept but never emptied. After two years there is a balance of 180 hours that nobody can run down any more and that is expensive to pay out. A cap and a fixed settlement date belong in every agreement.
Further reading
- Section 3 ArbZG
- Sections 7b to 7e SGB IV
- Section 87(1) nos. 2 and 3 BetrVG, section 615 BGB
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
Target hours
Target hours are the hours a person has to work contractually in a period. They are the comparison figure for the hours actually worked and therefore the basis of every time account.
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.
Time off in lieu
Compensatory time off means that extra work performed is offset by paid release from work instead of payment. It requires an agreement; it does not follow from the law.
Traffic light account
A traffic-light account is a working time account with graduated limits. As long as the balance is in the green range nothing happens; in the amber range duties to run it down apply, and in the red range no further extra work may arise.
Bridge part-time work
Bridge part-time work is an entitlement to reduce working time for a fixed period of one to five years, with a subsequent return to the previous working time. It is governed by section 9a of the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Act.
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.
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.
Travel time
Travel time is time spent on journeys connected with work. The journey between home and the workplace does not count as working time, journeys between two places of work during the working day do.
Time credit
Time credit is the positive balance of a working time account: hours worked above the target time that have not yet been offset by time off or payment.
Negative hours
Negative hours are a negative balance in a working time account: the time worked is below the target time. Whether they have to be made up or can be set off depends on who caused them.
Cap limit
A cap is the agreed maximum or minimum value of a working time account. When it is reached, a defined consequence applies, for instance payment, transfer, or a ban on further extra work.
Value credit
Value credit is accumulated remuneration set aside for later paid release from work, for instance for a sabbatical, care leave or early retirement.
Annual working time
In an annual working time model the working time owed is set for a whole year rather than for the week. Its distribution across the months follows demand.
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.