Recording working hours

A guide to employer obligations across the EU and UK

About this guide

In the EU, accurate recording of employee working hours by employers is crucial to ensure compliance with local labour laws, minimise the risks of disputes and avoid potential sanctions which, in some circumstances, may lead to significant liabilities.

Our Recording working hours: A guide to employer obligations across the EU and UK will assist you to understand the key obligations, analyse your existing approach and gauge your risk. Our guide gives you access to recording obligations in 26 jurisdictions, providing at-a-glance information on general time recording obligations as well as detailed content on recordable hours, employees in scope and potential penalties for non-compliance. It contains helpful insights on enforcement as well as on upcoming legislative changes. Full information for each country is only available to our GENIE subscribers.

You can view content for a single country, or generate comparisons on a specific topic for multiple jurisdictions at a time. To get started, click on the map below, or select your countries and topic of interest from the dropdown menu.

To create a fully customised pdf report, click Create custom report.

This guide was last updated in November 2025 and will next be updated in November 2026.

Video transcript

Remke Beenen-Scheepstra, Partner: If your business operates in Europe, understanding the rules on working time can be a legal minefield and can differ from country to country, adding to the complexity.

But employers need to understand their obligations or face the risk of disputes and potential sanctions.

Monica Georgiadis, Partner: Our guide to recording employees working hours explains the rules in simple, clear sections.

Discover what record you need to keep for your employees and for how long, and find out who enforces the rules, and what sanctions you could face if you get it wrong.

Our guide will help you evaluate your current strategy and identify potential risks.

Remke Beenen-Scheepstra, Partner: For a speedy comparison, view our summary table.

You can select a specific country you are interested in, or compare the requirements in multiple countries at a time and create your own tailored report.

Monica Georgiadis, Partner: Ready to take control on working time?

Our guide gives you all the information you need to get started!

Jurisdictions covered

Select a country below to discover whether mandatory obligations to record normal daily working hours apply.

Legal obligations to
record normal daily
working hours

No legal obligations to
record normal daily
working hours

Country	In general, is there a legal obligation to record normal daily working hours?	Is there a legal sanction for failure to record normal daily working hours?	In general, can recording obligations be delegated to employees?	Is electronic recording mandatory?
Austria	tick	tick	tick	cross
Belgium	cross	N/A	cross	cross
Bulgaria	cross	N/A	tick	cross
Croatia	tick	tick	cross	cross
Czech Republic	tick	tick	tick	cross
Denmark	tick	cross	tick	cross
Estonia	tick	tick	tick	cross
Finland	tick	tick	cross	cross
France	tick	tick	tick	cross
Germany	tick	tick	tick	cross
Greece	tick	tick	tick	tick
Hungary	tick	tick	tick	cross
Ireland	tick	tick	tick	cross
Italy	cross* *No standalone obligation	N/A	cross	cross
Latvia	tick	tick	tick	cross
Lithuania	tick	tick	tick	cross
Luxembourg	tick	tick	tick	cross
Netherlands	tick	tick	tick	cross
Poland	tick	tick	tick	cross
Portugal	tick	tick	cross	cross
Romania	tick	tick	cross	cross
Slovakia	tick	tick	cross	cross
Slovenia	tick	tick	tick	cross (except in specific circumstances)
Spain	tick	tick	tick	cross
Sweden	cross	N/A	N/A	cross
UK	cross	N/A	tick	cross