EU Time Tracking Laws

August 6th 2025

Time tracking laws form a vital foundation for fair labor practices, helping employers and employees stay aligned with regulated hours, rest breaks, and overtime rules. Within the EU, these regulations are strengthened by the EU Working Time Directive, which sets uniform standards for maximum weekly working hours, rest periods, and annual leave.

Both employers and employees must understand these requirements to ensure compliance, foster transparency, and protect their rights in the workplace.

This Article Covers:

Is Time Tracking Legal in the EU?

Tracking employees’ work hours is mandatory in the EU, as the law obligates employers of member States of the EU to establish an “objective, reliable, and accessible system” for measuring the daily working time of each employee.

EU time tracking regulations do not prescribe a specific time tracking method; the system chosen must meet the criteria of the EU Working Time Directive. Employers can choose to use digital time trackers, time clock software, or manual timesheets.

Employers must also ensure the chosen method complies with data protection regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which governs the lawful processing of personal data.

Time Tracking Laws in the EU

What are EU Working Hour Laws?

Working time is defined as any time an employee spends carrying out their job duties, or any period of time during which the employee can be accessed by their employer, as per EU time tracking laws.

Although there is no daily work hour limit for employees in the EU, employers are required to provide 11 consecutive hours of rest in a 24-hour period to workers.

Additionally, workers must receive 24 consecutive, uninterrupted hours of rest in a seven-day period.

Employees scheduled to work night shifts — including those who work in jobs with mental and physical strain or with special hazards — cannot be required to work over an average of eight hours in a 24-hour period.

What are EU Overtime Laws?

Time tracking laws in the EU, as per the Working Time Directive, establish clear weekly work hour limits for all employees in the region.

On average, employees cannot be required to work more than 48 hours in a seven-day period, including hours worked as overtime.

Further restrictions on weekly work times can be dictated by national legislation or a collective agreement between two parties.

However, some member States of the EU can choose not to apply the 48-hour weekly work hour limit, provided that they ensure their workers’ health and safety and meet the following conditions:

  • Employees must agree before they are asked to work more than 48 hours per week.
  • The employer cannot discipline employees who refuse to work more than 48 hours per week.
  • The employer must keep accurate time records of employees who work more than 48 hours a week.
  • Recorded information related to employees who work more than 48 hours must be easily accessible and also be readily available upon request by the relevant authorities, who can review, restrict, or stop extra work hours if needed.

What are EU Break Laws?

Member States of the EU must ensure that employers provide workers with rest breaks after six hours of work.

The duration of these breaks can be decided by a collective agreement between an employer and an employee. If a collective agreement is absent, then the national law of the member State in question applies. 

What are EU Leave Laws?

All employees in the EU are entitled to at least four weeks of paid annual leave, which can be provided following the guidelines of the national law of member States of the EU.

Employers in the EU can not pay out an employee’s annual leave unless the employee is terminated from their job.

Key EU Time Tracking Directives

Several European Union directives and regulations establish the legal framework for time tracking, setting standards for working hours, rest periods, and employer obligations. Below is a list of these key laws, along with explanations of how they relate to time tracking:

  • Working Time Directive (Directive 2003/88/EC): The Working Time Directive establishes fundamental rules on maximum working hours, minimum rest periods, and annual leave. Time tracking is critical to ensure compliance with these provisions.
  • Directive 2019/1152 on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions: Directive 2019/1152 requires employers to clearly inform employees about their working hours, making accurate time tracking essential for transparency and predictability.
  • Council Directive 91/533/EEC on Employers’ Obligation to Inform Employees of the Conditions Applicable to the Contract: According to Directive 91/533/EEC, employers must provide written details of working conditions to ensure that actual working hours align with contractual terms.
  • Directive 89/391/EEC (Occupational Safety and Health “Framework Directive”): Directive 89/391/EEC focuses on preventing work-related risks. Proper time tracking helps prevent excessive working hours, reducing worker fatigue and enhancing workplace safety.
  • Directive 2002/15/EC on the Organisation of the Working Time of Mobile Workers in Road Transport: Directive 2002/15/EC sets specific rules for mobile road transport workers. Accurate time tracking ensures compliance with driving limits and rest requirements, improving safety and working conditions.
  • Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 on the Harmonisation of Certain Social Legislation Relating to Road Transport: Regulation No 561/2006 mandates the use of tachographs and similar devices for tracking drivers’ hours, breaks, and rest periods, ensuring the safe and fair working of commercial drivers.
  • Directive 94/33/EC on the Protection of Young People at Work: Directive 94/33/EC establishes special working time restrictions for young workers. Employers must track hours to ensure compliance and protect young employees’ health and safety.
  • General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Regulation (EU) 2016/679): The GDPR governs the protection of personal data, including time tracking records. Employers must handle working time data lawfully, ensuring privacy and informed consent.

Who is Exempt from EU Time Tracking Laws?

Certain types of employees may be exempt from time tracking laws in the EU — including daily/weekly rest requirements, breaks, and maximum weekly work hours — if their roles do not have fixed work schedules, their work hours are not measured, or they set their own working time. These include:  

  • Autonomous workers with decision-making authority, like managing executives
  • Family workers
  • Workers who officiate religious ceremonies in churches and other religious establishments

Some employees can be exempt from daily/weekly rest laws and break requirements if required by national or administrative policy, collective agreements, or agreements between two parties, only if they are provided compensatory periods of rest equivalent to the provisions of EU law. 

If, for some serious reason, these rest periods cannot be afforded, workers must be provided with other types of appropriate protections by their employer.

Furthermore, in the context of the exemption described above, the following types of employees may also be exempt from daily/weekly rest and break laws:

  • Remote and distant location workers, such as offshore workers
  • Security and surveillance employees who need to be permanently present on-site 
  • Employees who need to perform 24/7 duty, like doctors in training, airport/dock workers, media and communications workers, and emergency personnel
  • Workers employed in occupations with high seasonal demand, such as agricultural, tourism, and postal workers
  • Rail workers, including those with irregular hours, those who work on board trains, and those managing transport timetables

Penalties for Breaking Time Tracking Laws in the EU

Although the Court of Justice of the European Union requires EU Member States to ensure that employers accurately record working time, there are no directives that prescribe exact penalties for the inaccurate recording of working time.

However, member States of the EU are required to penalise violations of data processing laws under the GDPR. These fines are determined on a case-by-case basis and are proportional to the nature and sensitivity of the violation.

Legal Cases Related to Time Tracking Laws in the EU

Deutsche Bank Fails to Track Time Properly and EU Court Overrides National Law

Case: CCOO v Deutsche Bank (Case C-55/18)

This case revolved around the fundamental rights of workers and the obligations of employers under European law. A Spanish trade union brought the issue to court, challenging a company for failing to implement a system to record employees’ daily working hours. The union argued that this omission left workers vulnerable to unpaid overtime and violated their rights under EU directives. The defendant, Deutsche Bank SAE, claimed that Spanish law, as interpreted by national courts, did not require such a system.

The court examined EU law, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Directive 2003/88, and concluded that reliable daily tracking of all hours is necessary to protect workers’ rights to rest and limited working time. It found that without such a system, employees have no practical means to ensure their rights are respected, and authorities cannot effectively monitor compliance.

The Court’s decision emphasized the importance of protecting workers’ rights under the Charter by declaring that directives prohibit national laws that, as interpreted by national case law, fail to require employers to implement systems for measuring daily working hours. With this judgment, the Court of Justice of the European Union upheld the directives and made it compulsory for states to implement changes to make national laws compatible with time tracking directives.

Key Lessons from the Case:
  • Domestic laws that fail to meet EU requirements can be overridden.
  • Member states must ensure their time tracking regulations align with EU directives and the Charter.
  • All employers in member States of the EU need to adopt an objective, reliable, and accessible time tracking system in the workplace.

UK Called Out for Failing to Ensure Sufficient Rest Periods

Case: Commission v United Kingdom (Case C-484/04)

The European Commission brought a claim against the United Kingdom, alleging that its implementation of regulations concerning the organization of working time, failed to protect workers’ rights to rest and health. After inspecting the state of workers in the country, the Commission argued that the UK’s Working Time Regulations (WTR) improperly applied a derogation to workers whose hours were partially unmeasured or self-determined, undermining these protections.

The Commission claimed that the UK’s approach went beyond the derogation allowed under Article 17(1) of the directive, which applies only to workers whose hours are entirely unmeasured or self-determined. It also criticized the UK for failing to implement measures requiring employers to ensure workers could exercise their right to rest. Instead, the UK’s guidelines left it to workers to take rest periods without obliging employers to facilitate them, effectively weakening the directive’s safeguards.

The Court ruled in favor of the Commission, finding the UK in breach of Articles 17(1), 3, and 5 of Directive 93/104. It held that minimum rest periods are essential for worker health and safety and that the UK’s regulations and guidelines failed to meet the directive’s objectives. By allowing employers to avoid responsibility for ensuring rest, the UK had undermined the directive’s core purpose, necessitating corrective action.

Key Lessons from the Case:
  • Employers cannot rely on vague policies; rest periods must be clearly guaranteed and recorded.
  • Proper time tracking is essential to prove that employees receive their legally mandated downtime.
  • Tracking only actual working time is not enough; rest time should also be tracked.

On-Call Duty at the Workplace Counts as Working Time

Case: Jaeger (Case C-151/02)

Dr. Norert Jaeger was required to remain on-call between shifts, with a room provided at the hospital for him to sleep. According to the collective agreement, only 49% of the on-call time (which typically ranged from 16 to 25 hours) was classified as working time and he was not compensated for the entire time he was at the hospital. However, Dr. Jaeger argued that the entire on-call period should be regarded as working time.

The European Court of Justice determined that all time Dr. Jaeger was required to remain at the hospital, including periods spent sleeping, must be considered working time. The Court clarified that the Directive does not permit inactive on-call time to be classified as a rest period. Additionally, it highlighted that Dr. Jaeger faced greater restrictions than a doctor on call from home, as he was isolated from his family and social life.

Key Lessons from the Case:
  • Being physically present and ready for work is considered working time — even if not actively performing tasks.

Important Cautionary Note

This content is provided for informational purposes only. While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information presented, we cannot guarantee that it is free of errors or omissions. Users are advised to independently verify any critical information and should not solely rely on the content provided.