Working hours in building cleaning: early and late shifts, travel, pay groups

The limits for cleaning businesses

Building cleaning has no exceptions of its own in the Working Hours Act. Two things make it special: the work is spread over the day, early before offices open and in the evening after the clients close, and it happens at other people's addresses.

Early and late: the rest period starts after the last assignment

Many cleaners work split shifts: in the morning from 5 to 8 in an office building, in the evening from 18:00 to 21:00 in a practice. The free time in between is not working time, but it is not a rest period either. The eleven hours only begin at 21:00, so the next early shift may start at 8:00 at the earliest.

A roster with evening cleaning until 21:00 and early cleaning from 5:00 the next day therefore breaches section 5 ArbZG, even if each assignment on its own is short. Building cleaning has no shortened rest period like hospitality or care.

Travel between sites

The way from home to the first site is usually not working time. The drive from the first to the second site during the working day is. For employees without a fixed place of work, the European Court of Justice ruled on 10.09.2015 (C-266/14, Tyco) that even the journey from home to the first and from the last assignment home counts as working time.

With three sites a day, the journeys in between can add up to an hour. They belong in the record, in the ten-hour daily limit and in the pay.

Mini-jobs and several employers

In cleaning, many people hold several jobs at the same time. The Working Hours Act adds the times with several employers together (section 2(1) ArbZG). Someone who has worked six hours at another business in the morning may only work for you in the evening up to the daily limit, and the rest period counts from the end of the last assignment, no matter for whom.

Ask about the second job when hiring and have changes reported to you. Without this information you cannot keep to the limit, even if your own shifts are short.

Records and pay groups

The building cleaning trade is listed in section 2a(1) no. 6 SchwarzArbG. Section 17 MiLoG follows: the start, end and duration of daily working time by the end of the seventh calendar day, kept for two years. Anyone who collects the sheets once a month has already missed the deadline for most days.

A generally binding minimum wage under the Posted Workers Act also applies to the industry, according to the national guild association since January 2026 15.00 euros in pay group 1 (interior and maintenance cleaning) and 18.40 euros in pay group 6 (glass and facade cleaning). Section 19 AEntG therefore applies in addition: where hourly premiums are payable, the start, end and duration of the premium times belong in the record too. Anyone who works in both pay groups on one day also needs the time per activity, not just the start and end of the day.

Under section 1 of the Minimum Wage Documentation Ordinance, the only exemptions are employees whose regular monthly pay exceeds 4,461 euros gross, or 2,974 euros if it has demonstrably been paid for the last twelve full months, and spouses, registered partners, children and parents of the employer who work in the business.

Building cleaning in the customs inspection statistics

In 2025 the Financial Monitoring Unit for Illicit Employment checked 949 employers in building cleaning and 14,954 persons. Checks take place on site, and the records must also be available at the place of work on request (section 17(2) MiLoG).

Clocking in on site

In MetronHR cleaners clock in on site via the app or at the terminal with an NFC card; without reception the app stores locally. The time is in the system to the minute, without rounding, per site, and several assignments on one day are added together for the daily limit.

In the roster of the Professional plan, MetronHR reports before publication when less than the configured rest period lies between the evening and the early shift or the daily and weekly limit is exceeded. At the end of the month, hours per person are in the monthly Excel overview and in the payroll file for DATEV.