Working Hours Calculator (Arbeitszeitrechner)

Your daily net working time is the actual time worked without breaks. You subtract the start time from the end time and then deduct the breaks:

Net working time = end of work − start of work − breaks

The distinction between gross and net matters:

• Gross working time (Brutto-Arbeitszeit) is the attendance span from start to end of work, breaks included.
• Net working time (Netto-Arbeitszeit) is the time actually worked without breaks – this is the figure that counts on the payslip, the timesheet and the invoice.

Day-shift example

You work from 08:00 to 17:00 with a 45-minute break:

• Gross: 17:00 − 08:00 = 9:00 hours
• Net: 9:00 − 0:45 = 8:15 hours = 8.25 hours in decimal

Overnight shift past midnight

For a shift from 22:00 to 06:00, the end of work falls on the next day. Count across midnight: 22:00 to 24:00 is 2 hours, 00:00 to 06:00 is another 6 hours, for 8:00 hours gross. With a 30-minute break, that leaves 7:30 hours = 7.50 hours net.

The working hours calculator above detects overnight shifts automatically: if the end time is earlier than the start time, it adds 24 hours and shows the result in HH:MM and decimal, including the calculation steps.

Minimum breaks are set out in § 4 of the Working Hours Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz, ArbZG) and depend solely on hours worked:

The break may be split into segments of at least 15 minutes each. No one may work more than 6 hours straight without a break – so the first break must fall no later than after six hours.

Rest break vs. rest period

These two terms are often confused:

• A rest break (Ruhepause) is the interruption within working time (the 30 or 45 minutes above). It does not count as working time and is usually unpaid.
• A rest period (Ruhezeit) is the continuous recovery between two working days. Under § 5 ArbZG it must be at least 11 uninterrupted hours.

Under § 3 ArbZG, daily working time must in principle not exceed 8 hours. An extension to up to 10 hours is allowed if an average of 8 hours per working day is maintained within six calendar months. These limits apply regardless of how high your hourly rate is.

On payslips, timesheets and invoices, working time is recorded as decimal hours, not in HH:MM format. The reason: only decimal numbers can be multiplied correctly by an hourly rate. 8:30 hours are not 8.30 hours but 8.50.

Decimal hours = hours + minutes ÷ 60

So you divide the minutes by 60. The most common values:

Example: 8 hours and 20 minutes give 20 ÷ 60 = 0.333…, so 8.33 hours. The hours-to-decimal converter above works both ways live – including from decimal back to HH:MM (8.75 → 8:45).

To turn your weekly working time into an average monthly figure, multiply by the exact factor 13 ÷ 3 = 4.3333…:

Monthly hours = weekly hours × 13 ÷ 3

The factor comes from 52 weeks ÷ 12 months = 4.3333…; the frequently quoted 4.33 is only the approximation rounded to two decimals. With the exact factor 13/3, the common models give:

A 40-hour week therefore equals around 173.33 hours per month (40 × 13 ÷ 3 = 173.33; with the rounded factor 4.33 it would be 173.20). In the week mode of the calculator you enter several days as rows; the tool sums the week and extrapolates it to the month via × 13/3.

This overview helps with converting time units. It distinguishes calendar time (all hours) from working time (hours actually worked):

A calendar year has 8,760 hours (365 × 24), a leap year 8,784 hours. A week has 168 hours (7 × 24). On this 365-day basis, an average month has 730.0 hours (8,760 ÷ 12).

The gross working year at a 40-hour week is 52 × 40 = 2,080 hours. Realistically, the time actually worked drops to about 1,680 to 1,800 hours after deducting statutory holiday (at least 20 days on a 5-day week), public holidays and sick days. You can calculate the exact figure in the time-unit mode above.

Yes. Employers in Germany are required to record their employees' working time. The basis is the ruling of the European Court of Justice of 14 May 2019 (Case C-55/18, "CCOO"), under which member states must ensure an objective, reliable and accessible system for recording working time.

The Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht) confirmed this duty for Germany in its decision of 13 September 2022 (1 ABR 22/21): § 3 (2) no. 1 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act already requires employers to introduce a system for recording working time.

What must be recorded is the start, end and duration of daily working time. The form is not prescribed – a timesheet, a spreadsheet or software all suffice. The working hours calculator is built for exactly this: enter start, end and breaks, then document the result.

Overtime is the hours worked beyond your contractually agreed working time. You calculate it as the difference between hours actually worked and contractual hours:

Overtime = hours worked − contractual hours

Example: your contract sets 40 hours per week and you actually worked 46.5 hours in one week. You have then worked 6.5 hours of overtime.

Whether overtime is paid, paid with a premium or compensated by time off depends on the employment or collective agreement. Bear in mind the limits in § 3 ArbZG: even with overtime, the maximum remains 10 hours per working day within the averaging period.

If you bill by the hour as a self-employed person or freelancer, the calculated net working time is only the start. Decimal hours turn into an invoice amount.

Fee = decimal hours × hourly rate

Two steps to the invoice:

1. Check your rate: Hours calculated? Use the hourly wage calculator to work out what your rate is worth net and gross – including the VAT it contains.
2. Write the invoice: Carry the hours and rate into a proper invoice. With the invoice generator you create a § 14 UStG-compliant invoice as a PDF – as a small business (Kleinunternehmer) without shown VAT, otherwise with 19 % or 7 %.

This turns the recorded timesheet into a finished, auditable invoice with no transcription errors.