Working hours in retail: what applies to rosters, Saturdays and Sunday trading

The limits in the shop

Retail has no exceptions of its own in the Working Hours Act. The general limits apply, and Saturday is a normal working day. Retail collective agreements often set weekly hours and premiums more tightly; if one applies to your business, it takes precedence within these limits.

When the roster has to be fixed

There is no general statutory deadline for when the roster has to be posted. Fixed deadlines come from three sources: the collective agreement, a works agreement, because a works council has a say on the start and end of daily working time under section 87(1) no. 2 BetrVG, or the employment contract.

The law contains one exception: on-call work. Anyone deployed according to workload only has to work if they were told when their working time is at least four days in advance (section 12(3) TzBfG). Without agreed weekly hours, 20 hours count as agreed, and a deployment lasts at least three consecutive hours if the daily duration is not fixed (section 12(1) TzBfG).

Saturday and Sunday trading

Shop opening hours are regulated by the federal states in their own laws today. The federal Shop Closing Act only applies where a state has not made its own rule. Sunday work in sales is only permitted on the Sundays on which the shop may open, because retail is not on the list of exceptions in section 10 ArbZG.

Where the federal Shop Closing Act applies, nobody may be employed for more than eight hours on a Sunday or public holiday (section 17(2) LadSchlG). For shops that open under sections 4 to 6, 8 to 12, 14 and 15, which includes Sunday trading under section 14, compensation is added: for more than three hours a free afternoon from 1 pm in the same week, for more than six hours a whole free working day, and at least every third Sunday stays free (section 17(3) LadSchlG). In spa and holiday resorts under section 10, at most 22 Sundays and public holidays a year and at most four hours a day apply (section 17(2a) LadSchlG).

In addition, every person in a shop can ask to have one Saturday off in every calendar month (section 17(4) LadSchlG). State laws can have their own rules. So check what your state's law requires.

Trainees and temps under 18

Young people may work at most eight hours a day and 40 hours a week, between 6 am and 8 pm, with twelve hours off after work (sections 8, 13, 14 JArbSchG). In sales, Saturday is allowed for them, but at least two Saturdays a month should stay free, and for the Saturday there is a day off in the same week (section 16 JArbSchG).

The Youth Employment Protection Act does not allow Sunday work in sales. Retail is not on the list in section 17(2) JArbSchG, not even on a Sunday trading day.

Who has to record working time in a shop

Retail is not on the list of industries in section 2a SchwarzArbG. The duty under section 17 MiLoG therefore applies to mini-jobbers, and in retail they are a large group: according to the Minijob-Zentrale's quarterly report for the second quarter of 2026, 1,052,877 mini-jobbers were registered in trade including motor vehicle repair. For them the duty applies in full: the start, end and duration of every working day by the end of the seventh calendar day, kept for two years. Under section 1 MiLoDokV, only spouses, registered partners, children and parents of the employer who work in the business are exempt.

For everyone else, two things apply. Working time beyond eight hours per working day has to be recorded under section 16(2) ArbZG. And since the Federal Labour Court's order of 13 September 2022, employers have to record working time in principle, without a prescribed form.

Kiosks, petrol stations and beverage retail in the customs focus

In the inspection statistics of the Financial Monitoring Unit for Illicit Employment, part of retail appears as a branch of its own: beverage retail, kiosks and petrol station shops. In 2025 customs checked 480 employers and 3,632 persons there. Among other things, the checks cover the minimum wage, 13.90 euros per hour since 1 January 2026. The mini-jobbers' records are among the documents you have to keep available for this (section 17(2) MiLoG).

Roster, leave and time clock in one system

In MetronHR employees clock in at the terminal in the shop with an NFC card, without a private phone, or via the app. The time is in the system to the minute on the same day, without rounding, for every temp too.

In the roster of the Professional plan, MetronHR reports before publication when the configured rest period, the daily or weekly limit or the maximum number of consecutive working days is exceeded. For young people it also checks the time window, the five-day week and Saturday and Sunday. Approved leave is visible in the same plan, so you see who is off while rostering.