Working time when working from home and working mobile
The same rules apply when working from home as at the business: working time has to be recorded, and the maximum working time under section 3 ArbZG, the breaks under section 4 and the eleven hours of rest under section 5 ArbZG apply unchanged. There is no statutory entitlement to working from home.
As of:September 2026
No entitlement, but no unilateral order either
There is no general statutory entitlement to work from home in Germany. Mobile work rests on an agreement, a works agreement or a collective agreement.
Conversely, the employer cannot order it unilaterally where a place of work is agreed in the employment contract. The right to issue instructions under section 106 of the Trade Regulation Act does not extend that far; a home is not a business workplace.
What does not change legally
The recording duty applies regardless of the place. Anyone recording at the business has to do it at home as well.
The limits of the Working Hours Act apply as well. And that is exactly where the practical problem lies: anyone writing an email at 22:00 and starting again at 07:00 falls short of the eleven-hour rest period. In the office that gets noticed; at home it does not.
Statutory accident insurance cover also applies, and since 2021 expressly also for journeys within the home that serve the insured activity (section 8(1) SGB VII).
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.
Teleworking or mobile working
The Workplace Ordinance draws a distinction: teleworking stations within the meaning of section 2(7) ArbStaettV are display screen workstations permanently set up by the employer in the private sphere, with agreed weekly hours and duration. The ordinance's requirements for display screen workstations apply to them.
Mobile working without a permanently set-up station does not fall under that. The basic duties from the Occupational Safety and Health Act nevertheless remain, among them the risk assessment and the instruction of employees.
What the works council codetermines
Since 2021 the arrangement of mobile working has been expressly subject to codetermination (section 87(1) no. 14 BetrVG). Whether it happens remains free of codetermination, how it happens does not: extent, timing, availability, equipment.
On top of that come the classic grounds: the timing of working time (no. 2), order at the workplace (no. 1) and technical devices for monitoring behaviour or performance (no. 6). Time tracking when working from home touches all three.
- Record the place and the extent in writing, with a notice period on both sides.
- Agree availability times, so that the rest period does not effectively disappear.
- Name the work equipment and settle its return.
- Data protection: lock the screen, keep documents inaccessible to third parties.
- Record as at the business, with a notice when the rest period is not observed.
Further reading:Section 106 GewO, section 2(7) ArbStaettV · Section 8(1) SGB VII · Section 87(1) nos. 1, 2, 6 and 14 BetrVG · Federal Labour Court, order of 13/09/2022, 1 ABR 22/21
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.
Yes. The duty from the Federal Labour Court order of 13/09/2022 does not hang on the place. The start, the end and the duration have to be recorded there too, and the limits of the Working Hours Act apply unchanged.
No, at any rate not under the law. An entitlement can follow from the employment contract, a works agreement or a collective agreement. Conversely, the employer cannot order mobile working unilaterally where a place of work is agreed.
For activities connected with the insured activity: yes. Since 2021 journeys within the home are also included where they serve the work (section 8(1) SGB VII). Purely private activities are not covered.
The law does not settle it. It is usual for the employer to provide the work equipment; there is no statutory duty to reimburse running costs. Employees can claim the home office allowance for tax. An agreement creates clarity.
Not with means that monitor continuously. Screenshots at short intervals, a duty to keep the camera on or mouse-movement tracking are regularly impermissible in the view of the supervisory authorities. Time tracking that records the start, the end and the breaks, by contrast, is permissible and mandatory anyway.
Question not answered here? Every step is explained in the help centre.
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