Maximum working time under section 3 ArbZG
Daily working time must not exceed eight hours. Ten hours are permitted if, within six calendar months or 24 weeks, eight hours a day are not exceeded on average. Working days are Monday to Saturday, which gives 48 weekly hours on average.
As of:September 2026
Why 48 and not 40
The Working Hours Act counts in working days. Working days are all calendar days except Sundays and public holidays, so Monday to Saturday. Eight hours on six working days gives 48 hours a week.
The widespread assumption that the statutory limit is 40 hours confuses the usual contractual full-time figure with the law. A contract for 40 hours therefore still leaves room up to the statutory limit, but obliges nobody to use it: extra work has to be agreed or ordered.
The exception up to ten hours
Ten hours a working day are permitted if, within six calendar months or 24 weeks, eight hours a working day are not exceeded on average (section 3, second sentence, ArbZG). The business chooses which of the two variants it applies.
More than ten hours is not possible even with compensation. Section 14 ArbZG governs exceptions for temporary work in emergencies and extraordinary cases, and for research and work that cannot be postponed.
The balancing period is no blank cheque: anyone working ten hours for months has to plan the balance. Arithmetically, after twelve weeks at 55 hours each, only 41 hours a week remain for the remaining twelve weeks.
What counts as working time
Under section 2(1) ArbZG, working time is the time from the start to the end of work excluding rest breaks. Changing time counts where changing at the workplace serves the employer, for instance with conspicuous work clothing or prescribed protective equipment.
Stand-by duty is working time in full, on-call duty in principle is not. Journeys between two places of work during the working day are working time, the journey from home to the first workplace is not.
Where somebody works for several employers, the times are added together (section 2(1) sentence 1, second half-sentence, ArbZG). A full-time job plus a mini-job in the evening can breach the limit.
Knowing the rules is one thing, keeping to them day to day another. MetronHR checks breaks, rest periods and maximum working time automatically as time is recorded.
Deviations by collective agreement
Under section 7 ArbZG, a collective agreement, or a works agreement based on one, can set deviating rules: longer balancing periods, longer daily working time where stand-by duty regularly arises, different distributions.
Without collective bargaining coverage that is not possible. A works agreement alone is not enough, and an individual arrangement certainly not. What the law lays down is not at the parties' disposal.
What breaches cost
Breaches of section 3 ArbZG are regulatory offences under section 22 ArbZG with a range of fines up to 30,000 euros. Anyone repeating them persistently or thereby endangering health or capacity to work commits a criminal offence under section 23 ArbZG.
The employer is responsible, and where responsibility is delegated so is the manager who ordered the shift. Supervision lies with the occupational safety authorities of the federal states.
Further reading:Section 2 ArbZG, section 3 ArbZG, section 7 ArbZG, section 14 ArbZG, section 18 ArbZG · Section 22 ArbZG, section 23 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
Frequently asked questions
What we are asked about this most often.
In principle no. The absolute limit is ten hours a working day. Exceptions apply under section 14 ArbZG in emergencies and extraordinary cases, and under section 7 ArbZG on the basis of a collective agreement, for instance where stand-by duty regularly arises.
Yes. That is why eight hours a working day gives 48 weekly hours. Whether the business works on Saturdays makes no difference: the unit of calculation is the working day in the statutory sense, not the actual workday.
The period over which the average of eight hours a working day has to be observed: six calendar months or 24 weeks (section 3, second sentence, ArbZG). A collective agreement can extend it under section 7 ArbZG.
For senior executives within the meaning of section 5(3) BetrVG, the Working Hours Act does not apply under section 18(1) no. 1 ArbZG. That group is narrow: power of attorney or staff responsibility alone is not enough. For all other managers the limits apply without restriction.
The times are added together. Anyone working 40 hours full-time and another ten in a mini-job reaches 50 weekly hours. The employer has to ask, and employees have to answer truthfully.
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