The EU Time-Tracking Obligation: What the ECJ Ruling Means for Your Business

In May 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union handed down a judgment that reshaped time tracking across the EU: the so-called time-clock ruling (Case C-55/18, CCOO v Deutsche Bank). Anyone employing staff in an EU country — or running EU branches from Switzerland — should know the ruling and its consequences.

What the ECJ decided

Drawing on the EU Working Time Directive and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the Court held that Member States must require employers to set up an objective, reliable and accessible system for measuring each worker's daily working time. The reasoning: without systematic recording, neither maximum working hours nor rest periods can be effectively enforced — and workers can hardly assert their rights.

Objective, reliable, accessible — what that means in practice

The ruling's three criteria are a useful checklist for any recording system. Objective means hours are captured as they actually occur — not estimated after the fact. Reliable means the data is complete and cannot be altered unnoticed. Accessible means both employees and authorities can inspect the records. A stack of paper slips rarely meets these criteria in practice.

How Member States are implementing it

Implementation varies by country. In Germany, the Federal Labour Court clarified in September 2022 that the duty to systematically record working time already follows from the existing Occupational Health and Safety Act — meaning it applies today, not only after some future reform. Other countries, such as Spain, have introduced their own registration duties backed by fines. The direction is the same everywhere: away from unrecorded 'trust-based' hours, towards systematic recording.

What this means for construction and trade businesses

In construction and the trades, two things collide: mobile teams, changing sites and travel time on one side — and strict inspections, for instance in the fight against undeclared work, on the other. A system that cleanly documents travel and work time per project doesn't just satisfy the obligation; it also gives you the basis for recalculation, site reports, and payroll.

Switch now, not under pressure

Businesses still operating without systematic recording will have to switch sooner or later — the case law leaves little room. Switching now means choosing a system calmly instead of under the pressure of an inspection or a lawsuit. With Maroni, employees clock in and out on site, sessions are documented per project, and admins get reports and payslips from the same data — objective, reliable and accessible, exactly as the ruling demands.

Note: this article is a general overview, not legal advice. Specific obligations depend on the Member State and your situation.