Ask a lawyer on the topic of Labor law

Break regulation / overtime

July 14, 2010 | 25,00 EUR | answered by Steffan Schwerin

In my company, where I have been employed since 08.2009, there is no uniform time tracking system. We fill out an Excel sheet with our working hours, vacation, and flextime. I have been doing this since the first day. It is signed by the supervisor every month. I work in the IT sector, so my working hours and business trips vary a lot. In the past, I did not record the breaks that were due after 6 or 9 hours because I did not always have time, and when I eat, I do it while working without leaving my workstation. Now, for the past 4 months, I have a new boss who has always signed off on all time sheets. However, this month he has deducted all my extra hours due to the missed breaks and claimed that I am unlawfully producing extra hours. It seems like they want to cancel all my overtime hours and who knows what else is coming. In any case, my question is: If I work through my breaks and therefore work from 8 am to 5 pm for 9 hours, have I cheated my employer by working extra hours (I did not take breaks)? Should I now record the breaks in the Excel form and add them as working hours at the end so that I comply with the legal break regulations? What should I do if I don't have time to take breaks? Can my employer deny my overtime or even issue a warning or terminate my employment because of this? If I have really taken a break or gone to eat, I have recorded it as a break. It would be great if someone could help me with this. Since my boss now demands that I convert all flextime requests (even the ones already approved) into vacation time.

Steffan Schwerin

Dear questioner,

I will answer the questions you have asked, taking into account the circumstances described and your input, as follows:

If I work through the breaks, and therefore work 9 hours from 8 am to 5 pm, have I deceived my employer by working overtime (I did not take the breaks)? Or should I now enter the breaks in the Excel form and add them as working hours at the end, so that I comply with the legal break regulations?

Not really, according to the Working Hours Act, you must take a 30-minute break after 6 hours of work. Therefore, you can only record 8.5 hours for 9 hours, regardless of whether you took the break or not.

Since break times are regulated by law, you must factor them in accordingly.

What should I do if I have no time to take breaks?

In that case, you still have to record those 30 minutes as a break.

Can my employer therefore deny my overtime or even issue a warning or terminate me?

No, he cannot do that, he can only deduct the overtime, subtracting the break times.

I must finally point out that this platform cannot replace a detailed and personal legal consultation. The sole purpose is to provide an initial rough assessment of your described legal problem based on the information you have provided by a lawyer. The legal advice I provide is based solely on the information you have provided about the situation. Adding or omitting relevant information in your description of the situation can lead to a completely different legal assessment.

I hope that I have given you an initial overview and that my explanations will help you further. You are welcome to contact me through the follow-up option on this platform.

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Best regards,

Steffan Schwerin
Lawyer

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