Recording of working time: When does it become mandatory?

• Employment Law
• Private Clients
• SME

Working time must always be recorded and documented without gaps. The employer is responsible for correct time recording and compliance with the statutory working hours. The law provides for a waiver of the recording of working hours under narrow conditions as well as a simplified recording of working hours.

Ordinary recording of working hours

The employer must provide the authorities with the relevant documentation on systematic and complete recording of working hours. The duration and time windows of working hours, breaks and rest days must be evident from this documentation. Employees must record working hours because of weekly maximum working hours and other protective measures. Even in the case of new forms of working time regulation (flexitime, or target working time and annual working time) and home office, the responsibility for complete recording of working time remains with the employer.

Waiver of working time recording

The law provides for a narrowly defined exception to the principle of the obligation to record working hours. The prerequisite for waiving the recording of working hours is that the waiver option is provided for in a collective labor agreement (CLA). In addition, the employee must have a large degree of autonomy in his or her work and be able to determine the majority of working hours himself or herself. A gross annual income of at least CHF 120,000 is required. The employee must waive the recording of working hours individually and in writing.

Simplified working time recording

In the case of simplified working time recording, only the daily working time is to be recorded. The time and location of working time and rest time do not have to be documented. Only in the case of night work and work on Sundays must the beginning and end of these working hours also be documented.

Simplified recording of working time is intended for employees who can determine their own working time to a considerable extent. If there are fewer than 50 employees in the company, the simplified recording of working hours can be agreed with each employee individually and in writing. A written reference to the applicable working and rest time regulations is required. In addition, an end-of-year workload discussion must be conducted and documented annually. In the case of more than 50 employees, the simplified recording of working hours is usually agreed by means of a collective agreement between the employer and the employee representatives or a majority resolution of the employees. This agreement must specify the categories of employees to whom the simplified recording of working hours applies. In addition, it must be explained with which measures the company will comply with the statutory working and rest times (e.g. prevention measures or information obligations). Furthermore, a procedure based on parity must be defined for checking compliance with the agreement (e.g. annual discussion). The employees concerned are nevertheless free to document their working hours without gaps. The employer must provide a suitable instrument for this purpose.

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