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.
As of:September 2026
What follows in employment law
The Federal Labour Court regards deliberate abuse of a time recording system as capable of justifying summary dismissal under section 626 BGB, even without a prior warning, because the basis of trust is destroyed (judgment of 09/06/2011, 2 AZR 381/10).
A weighing of the individual case is still required: length of service, previous conduct, extent of the breach, repetition. Forgetting to clock out once is not fraud but a mistake.
The two-week period in section 626(2) BGB starts as soon as the person entitled to dismiss knows the relevant facts. Anyone investigating at length and then dismissing risks the period having expired.
Who has to prove what
In unfair dismissal proceedings the employer has to prove the breach. A record that can be changed after the fact is weak material for that; a system with logged corrections is strong.
Evidence is itself subject to limits: covert monitoring is permissible only under narrow conditions. The Federal Labour Court has, however, held that a prohibition on using evidence does not follow automatically from a data protection breach (judgment of 29/06/2023, 2 AZR 296/22).
MetronHR works these figures out itself: time accounts, premiums, overtime and the limits of the German Working Hours Act, with every booking.
What businesses can do to prevent it
Clear rules on what counts as working time: set-up time, smoking breaks, private errands. Where that is not settled, disputes arise over conduct that nobody meant as fraud.
A procedure for corrections that is logged. Anyone who can add forgotten bookings without concealing it has no reason to manipulate the records.
And an evaluation that makes anomalies visible without permanently monitoring individuals. That difference decides whether it is permissible.
Common mistake
The summary dismissal gets issued without the two-week period in section 626(2) BGB in view. It starts when the relevant facts are known, not when the internal investigation is complete.
Further reading
- Section 626 BGB
- Federal Labour Court, judgment of 09/06/2011, 2 AZR 381/10
- Federal Labour Court, judgment of 29/06/2023, 2 AZR 296/22
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
Set-up time
Set-up time is the time for activities preceding or following the actual work: changing clothes, laying out tools, starting up machines, handovers. It is working time in so far as it serves the employer.
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.
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.
Record-keeping duty
The record-keeping duty is the duty to record working times. It follows not from one provision but from several that differ in scope, deadline and addressee.