Taking a break at work is extremely important. Not only for a healthy body, but also for healthy cooperation. And yet: Simply taking a break is hard work for many people. High stress levels, too many appointments and enormous pressure of expectations make many employees work through their working days completely — huge mistakes! Man is not a machine. Here we have summarized why breaks are worthwhile, what the legislator requires, tips from experts and which tool is as flexible as your break habits.
Labor Law: This is What the Legislator Requires
Not only does your body tell you when it is high time to take a break, the legislator also has strict rules as to when a break MUST be taken. This is regulated in Working Hours Act § 4. Anyone who works between six and nine hours a day must have a fixed rest period of at least (!) Put in for 30 minutes. If you work more than nine hours a day, you must pause your work for at least 45 minutes. And: After six hours at the latest, legislators require a break — this also applies to the most dedicated workaholic.
However, employees can divide their breaks into several sections — the break does not have to be taken in one go.
ℹ️ Sample calculation:
You start your work at 8:00 in the morning. In this case, according to the ArbZG, you must take a break of 30 minutes at the latest at 14:00. However, you can split this half hour into two 15-minute sections — such as a break from 12:30 to 12:45 and the next from 1:45 to 14:00. But beware: A break block must be at least 15 minutes long!
Definition: That is a break according to the law
A break within the meaning of the Working Hours Act is an interruption of working time of a certain duration, which serves to recuperate the employee. Breaks are not part of working time and are therefore generally not remunerated. Smoking breaks are not recognized as breaks in the legal sense and are therefore also not paid for.
What is the automatic subtraction of breaks?
With automatic break deduction, break times are automatically deducted from working hours without the employee having to enter them manually. This is particularly useful when employees forget to stamp their breaks. In times of Home office And more flexible working time models The Automatic Pause Trigger offers a reliable method for recording working hours correctly and in compliance with the law.
Subtract breaks automatically: These are the benefits
The automatic deduction of breaks offers numerous benefits for companies and employees. Automation not only reduces effort, but also ensures compliance with legal requirements. Here is an overview of the most important benefits:
⚙️ Increased efficiency: Fewer manual interventions result in faster and easier time recording.
🎯 High accuracy: Automated calculation according to fixed rules minimizes errors.
👥 More transparency: Both employees and employers keep track of working and break times.
✅ Regulatory compliance: Reduces risks and ensures that all break regulations are met.
Special Rules: These deviations are possible!
In employment law, there are various exceptions to break arrangements. Deviations from the legally required breaks are in accordance with Section 7 ArbZG Permitted if they result from a collective agreement or a works agreement. For certain groups of people, such as managers or public sector workers, the statutory break regulations apply in accordance with Section 18 ArbZG Not.
Consequences of disregarding the break regime: These consequences are imminent
Compliance with break times is not only in the interest of employees, but also protects the company from sanctions. State offices for Occupational safety Monitor compliance with legal break regulations and can carry out operational audits. Employees have the right to report violations to the state authority. In the Event of Violations, the Employer Is Threatened Fines of up to 15,000 euros.
Does the employer have to check whether breaks are being taken?
As an employer, you are required to ensure that your employees comply with break times. This can be done using an electronic time recording system or manual records, which document the start of work, breaks and end of work. You should check these records regularly. If you find that an employee is not following the break regulations, you can issue a warning.
Who is liable for violations of the Working Hours Act?
In the event of violations of the Working Hours Act, the employer is generally liable. He is responsible for compliance with legal requirements and can be prosecuted with fines of up to 15,000 euros in the event of non-compliance. Employees can also report violations, which can trigger an inspection by the state authority.
Comply with legal break regulations with ZEP — these are the benefits!
The best break regime is only half as good if it is not complied with and documented. Because: With BAG time clock verdict In order to record time, the total working time (including all breaks) Be recorded exactly. Are you still relying on Excel lists or handwritten time sheets? Get rid of this further source of stress and rely on a modern, web-based solution for Working time recording.
With ZEP, you can easily record your times via browser or app — Statutory rest and break periods are automatically recorded. For you, this means: Less stress and more time. As a ZEP user, you therefore do not have to worry about the complexity of legal requirements. The features in our tool are as flexible as your break habits. You configure your days in ZEP as you need them and comply with all legal regulations and regulations — very intuitively.
5 ultimate ZEP Clock hacks
Our digital time clock offers you some useful tricks that can make your everyday work easier. True to the motto: Small but powerful! Our compact tool for pure time recording comes around the corner — which you can of course also use in all other ZEP product lines. But: How can you get the ultimate out of ZEP Clock? Very simple:
Automatic pause trigger
Do you want to be sure that your employees' minimum breaks are always correctly observed? Then set up in ZEP Clock Turn on the automatic pause trigger. If an employee forgets to take all or part of their break, ZEP Clock automatically deducts the minimum break from the employee's time account.
“Execute in the Background” of Evaluations
With ZEP Clock, the working hours of your employees can be viewed from a variety of perspectives. However, some evaluations are required regularly. Simply run the evaluation in the background and determine who, for what period of time and in which format the report is automatically sent to you or your employees.
Task: Automatic Logout
I'm sure you know that: an employee forgets to stamp out after work and you're always busy correcting the crooked stamps afterwards. Simply set up the task “Automatically log off all employees” and ZEP clock stamps out all those who have forgotten to do so at a specific time or after a specific time. You and the affected employee will be informed and the next working day can start off smoothly. In our other product lines, you need the module for this Attendance.
Create an activity list in the app
In addition to location recording when stamping with the ZEP Clock App You can record even more precisely what your employees are doing by creating a list of activities in the app. You decide for yourself what the employee is offered to book. The classics here include “office” and “home office,” but also more creative ideas such as “trip to customer,” “customer A” and “customer B.” The employee must select one of the terms to stamp and you can evaluate the time recorded in this way according to the list terms. You can then see exactly how many person days your employee has worked for “customer A”. Get creative!
Exclude periods with fixed breaks
Do you want to prevent your employees' working hours from being recorded before they actually start working? Set “fixed breaks” in the break regulations for the period before the start of work and your employees can stamp, but the booked working time only starts after the fixed break has ended. For example, if you take a fixed break from 2 to 8 in the morning, your employees can stamp themselves in and drink coffee as early as 7:30 a.m., but the working time is not calculated until 8:00 a.m.
6 signs that you need a break
Your body sends you unmistakable signals when it's time to take a break. So give your “motor” a little more mindfulness in order to burnout and prevent further (health) consequences.
In these cases, it is time for a break — for you too:
🤔 You can't focus.
😡 They are irritable
😞 They are unmotivated.
😴 You are permanently tired
😕 You're not ambitious anymore.
🙁 They make mistakes.
Conclusion
Statutory break regulations are not only a legal requirement, but an essential measure for well-being and efficiency in the workplace. Breaks are critical to reduce stress, increase productivity, and protect employee health. The Working Hours Act requires clear guidelines that both employees and employers should comply with in order to avoid sanctions. ZEP is a powerful partner for precise and efficient time recording that goes far beyond basic functionality. The automatic pause removal not only reduces the amount of manual intervention required, but also ensures compliance with legal requirements. The versatile features such as automatic deregistration, background evaluations and the customizable activity list offer you comprehensive opportunities to optimize your work processes.
With ZEP, you benefit from software that both increases your administrative efficiency and improves the transparency and accuracy of your time recording. In this way, you can ensure that your time management runs smoothly and that all legal requirements are met at the same time.
