Contents
The limits in consulting
Consultancies have no exception in the Working Hours Act. Three things set them apart from other offices: a lot of time on the road, long days at the client's site and employment contracts in which overtime is supposed to be paid already.
Working time rules for consultancies
| Rule | Limit | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| Working time per working day | 8 hours, up to 10 if averaged back to 8 over 6 months or 24 weeks | Section 3 ArbZG |
| Week | 48 hours on average, at most 60 in a single week (derived from 6 working days) | Section 3 ArbZG |
| Rest period | 11 uninterrupted hours, also in the project hotel | Section 5(1) ArbZG |
| Travel time | working time if driving oneself, working on the way or if the trip is set by the employer | CJEU C-110/24 |
| Recording | all working time, also with trust-based hours; beyond 8 hours per working day kept for 2 years | Federal Labour Court 1 ABR 22/21, section 16(2) ArbZG |
Highlighted is what consultancies most often handle differently from what the law provides.
Working time per working day
- Limit
- 8 hours, up to 10 if averaged back to 8 over 6 months or 24 weeks
- Provision
- Section 3 ArbZG
Week
- Limit
- 48 hours on average, at most 60 in a single week (derived from 6 working days)
- Provision
- Section 3 ArbZG
Rest period
- Limit
- 11 uninterrupted hours, also in the project hotel
- Provision
- Section 5(1) ArbZG
Travel time
- Limit
- working time if driving oneself, working on the way or if the trip is set by the employer
- Provision
- CJEU C-110/24
Recording
- Limit
- all working time, also with trust-based hours; beyond 8 hours per working day kept for 2 years
- Provision
- Federal Labour Court 1 ABR 22/21, section 16(2) ArbZG
Highlighted is what consultancies most often handle differently from what the law provides.
Travel time to the client
Travel time raises two questions, and they have different answers. The first is the one under the Working Hours Act. Anyone who drives because the employer requires it, or finishes the client presentation on the train, is working. For mere passenger time, the Court of Justice of the EU decided on 9 October 2025: if the employer sets the means of transport, times and destination and employees cannot freely dispose of their time during it, travelling as a passenger is working time too (C-110/24). Anyone who chooses the train themselves and reads whatever they like on the way, by contrast, is mostly not working during that time. Working time counts towards the ten hours and before the rest period.
The second question is pay. For a temporary assignment abroad, the Federal Labour Court decided that the necessary travel time is to be paid like work (judgment of 17 October 2018, 5 AZR 553/17). Otherwise pay depends on the employment contract, a collective agreement and section 612 BGB. A journey can therefore be paid and still not be working time within the meaning of the Working Hours Act. Recording both separately answers both questions.
The project week at the client
Arriving Monday morning, four days at the client, back on Thursday evening: this week easily produces days of eleven or twelve hours. The law allows ten, and only if the average over six months or 24 weeks stays at eight hours per working day. The week has six working days, Saturday included. A Friday in the office or off is therefore not a concession, but often the compensation the average needs.
According to the IAB's working time accounting, employees worked an average of 11.6 paid and 15.6 unpaid overtime hours per person in 2025, across all industries. What is not recorded cannot prove the average in an inspection by the supervisory authority.
- paid overtime11.6 hours
- unpaid overtime15.6 hours
Figures as a table
| Group | hours |
|---|---|
| paid overtime | 11.6 |
| unpaid overtime | 15.6 |
Source: IAB working time accounting 2025, press release of 03.03.2026
Overtime covered by the salary
Many consultants' contracts say that overtime is covered by the salary. A clause meant to cover all overtime without an upper limit is non-transparent and invalid according to the Federal Labour Court (judgment of 1 September 2010, 5 AZR 517/09). A clause with a clear number, such as ten hours of overtime a month, can be valid.
With high salaries, things are different: anyone earning above the contribution assessment ceiling of the pension insurance can, according to the Federal Labour Court, as a rule not expect overtime pay if the contract is silent on it (judgment of 22 February 2012, 5 AZR 765/10). That only concerns the money, though. The limits of the Working Hours Act and the recording duty apply regardless of salary.
Executive employees within the meaning of section 5(3) BetrVG are exempt from the Working Hours Act (section 18(1) no. 1 ArbZG). These are people with authority to hire and dismiss, with general power of attorney or Prokura, or with entrepreneurial tasks of considerable weight. A title such as senior manager or principal does not make anyone an executive employee.
Working time and project margin in one step
In MetronHR, consultants clock in in the browser, in the desktop app for Windows and macOS or via the app, also on the road. Every time can be booked to client, project and service, to the minute and without rounding. Whoever sets up travel time as a service of its own sees it apart from consulting time, and internal time remains working time, even without a client.
In the Professional plan, MetronHR shows the state against the budget for each project: green up to 80 percent, a budget warning above that, red above 100 percent. This shows when a fixed-price project tips while it is still running. Overtime goes to the time account, and at the end of the month hours per person are in the monthly Excel overview and in the payroll file for DATEV.
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: 2 November 2026