Frequently asked questions about time tracking

Time tracking has been a statutory part of our everyday working lives for more than two years now, which means that we have all become familiar with recording working hours in one form or another. However, the legislation does not specify a general framework for how working hours must be recorded. As a result, time tracking varies considerably depending on the solution provided by your workplace.

As there is no standardised method of time tracking working hours across all workplaces, it is understandable that questions may still arise. These may concern the rules, best practices or the different types of time-tracking solutions available. To provide some clarity, we have compiled the most frequently asked questions about time tracking, helping you better understand what you need to do.

What does the time-tracking legislation involve?

In Denmark, it became a legal requirement on 1 July 2024 for all businesses to document and time track their employees’ working hours. This means that every business with employees in Denmark must introduce a system or method for time tracking daily working hours.

The purpose of the legislation is to protect you as an employee against excessive working hours, promote healthy working conditions and ensure compliance with working time regulations. These include the rules on daily rest periods and the 48-hour limit on average weekly working time.

In general, businesses must provide an objective, reliable and accessible time-tracking system that also complies with GDPR requirements.

What do I need to time track?

Under the legislation, you must time track your daily working hours - that is, the total number of hours you work during the day. Short telephone calls and time spent responding to emails, including work performed outside your normal working hours, must therefore be included in your total daily working time.

If you work according to a fixed rota with the same start and finish times, it may be sufficient simply to record any deviations from your scheduled hours.

You do not need to record breaks, as these are not regarded as working time. The same applies to annual leave, absence, public holidays and similar types of leave, as these must be recorded using other methods.

What counts as working time?

Broadly speaking, the time tracking legislation distinguishes between working time and personal time. Any time during which you are available to your employer and carrying out your duties must be time tracked as working time.

For example, time spent working from home, travelling to customers or assignments, attending training courses or being on call when you are required to remain physically present at the workplace must also be recorded as working time.

A useful question to ask yourself is: “Am I currently required to remain available to my employer and perform duties for the business rather than being free to use my time as I choose?”

If the answer is yes, the time must be time tracked as working time.

Are there any exemptions from time tracking?

As a general rule, time tracking applies to all employees. You may therefore be exempt if you have a different type of employment status. This may apply, for example, to autonomous workers, managing directors and self-employed people.

For an employee to be classified as an autonomous worker, however, this status must be stated in their employment contract. These groups may be exempt from time tracking because they have considerable freedom to organise their own working hours, making those hours difficult to measure or determine in advance.

How do the time-tracking rules apply to autonomous workers?

Most standard working time rules do not apply to autonomous workers. These include, for example, the 11-hour rest rule, rules governing breaks and the maximum average working week of 48 hours.

As mentioned above, any exemptions from the working time rules must always be stated in the employee’s contract before they can be regarded as an autonomous worker.

Under EU legislation, the duration of the employee’s working time must either not be measured or predetermined in its entirety, or the employee must be able to determine it in its entirety.

If you belong to this category of employee, the time tracking requirements do not apply to you.

How often should I record my working hours?

EU legislation on time tracking does not specify how frequently individual employees must record their working hours. This is therefore up to the individual business.

Some employees clock in and out every day, while others enter their time tracking retrospectively each week. If your working hours vary, it may be easiest to record them daily. For salaried employees with fixed working hours, weekly time tracking of each day’s hours may be more convenient.

In any case, speak to your employer about how they expect you to record your working hours. Ultimately, the most important thing is that you can document compliance with all working time rules and ensure that you receive the correct pay.

How long must employers retain time-tracking records?

If you are an employer, you are legally required to retain your employees’ time tracking records for five years, plus the applicable reference period. This requirement also applies after an employee has left the business.

The rule allows employers to demonstrate to the Danish Working Environment Authority that the business complies with working time regulations. It also ensures transparency and provides documentation, helping to prevent discrepancies between employees’ actual and recorded working hours.

Employees must also be able to access information about their own working hours throughout their employment.

What should I do if I have split working hours?

If you work at several different times during the same day for the same business, you must time track your total working time for that day. You do not necessarily have to report your start and finish times - only the total number of hours worked that day.

Some employers may nevertheless require you to time track your start and finish times. If so, simply clock in and out whenever you are available to your employer.

It is important that you still comply with the 11-hour rest rule if, for example, you continue working in the evening and are due to start work again the following morning.

What happens if working hours are not recorded?

If your employer does not introduce a time tracking system that enables you to record your working hours, the business may be at risk of sanctions. However, the legislation does not contain a specific provision requiring sanctions to be imposed solely because working hours have not been recorded. The business may nevertheless face sanctions if its failure to record working hours results in non-compliance with working time regulations.

It may seem paradoxical to have legislation with no specific fine for non-compliance. However, its purpose is to protect employees by shifting the burden of proof if a dispute about working hours arises. This means that a court may accept the employee’s account if the business cannot provide documented time tracking records.

What time-tracking solutions are available?

There are many international software solutions available for time tracking. It is also possible to use something as simple as Excel. It is therefore important to identify what matters most to your business when choosing a time tracking solution.

Time tracking can do much more than simply keep track of employees’ daily working hours. It can form part of your broader workforce management toolkit, covering working hours, payroll, absence management and shift planning. With a cloud-based time-tracking solution, you can establish a wider ecosystem of management systems that reduces the time spent on administration.

Our Timegrip system is one example. Its open API allows us to create integrations with your payroll system, enabling payroll processing to run smoothly. At the same time, the shift-planning software helps ensure compliance with your employees’ collective agreements and working time rules, while employees can easily record their hours using our mobile app.

Would you like to learn more? Contact us today for a no-obligation conversation.