It’s a walk in the park to register your working hours

A bureaucratic monster. An interference. Unnecessary fuss and trouble.

After the news broke that we all have to register our working hours from 1 July, there has been no shortage of criticism of the new rules. However, a new survey suggests that the picture painted of recording working hours as an almost insurmountable burden is likely exaggerated when it comes to ordinary salary earners.

A new population survey from IDA shows that approximately three out of four employees in the Danish labour market already register their working hours. And if you ask them, an overwhelming majority of them answer that time recording is anything but difficult.

Specifically, 72 per cent say that it is "not at all" or "to a low degree" inconvenient. This is opposed by a total of 8 per cent, who respond that time recording is a hassle in their daily lives "to a very high degree" or "to a great extent".

"Part of the criticism of time registration has probably been driven by perceived rather than actual challenges. At least when it comes to employees. The vast majority of companies that use time tracking today have a pragmatic approach to it and use it for a reason. As the new rules include freedom of method for employers, I have faith that systems will be introduced which will neither be a time waster nor problematic for the trust between management and employees," says Malene Matthison-Hansen, chairperson of the Council of Employees in IDA.

The background for the introduction of time registration is the so-called 'Deutsche Bank' judgment from the European Court of Justice in 2019, which states that employers must ensure registration of employees' working hours, so that rules on rest periods and maximum working hours are observed.

As an employee, you have the right to take time off, recover and thereby take care of yourself. What’s new is that your employer must be able to document that the rules on daily and weekly rest time as well as maximum weekly working hours are complied with.

IDA welcomes the new rules. Because with mandatory time recording, it becomes easier to protect employees' working time and lift the burden of proof in cases about working time and compliance with the 48-hour rule . At the same time, IDA sees the requirement for time registration as a protection against work pressure and stress, which is massively widespread among members.

A considerable majority of the population also supports time registration. 61 per cent answer in the population survey that they think it is good that accounts are kept of their working hours. A little over one in five are opposed to time registration.

"It will be to the employees' advantage that there will be more focus on working hours. I have a hope that we will get an overview of the matter and can see how much the individual employee actually works. And then I hope that time recording will be used as a constructive tool for dialogue between management and employees about how working hours are organised locally at workplaces," says Malene Matthison-Hansen.

Read IDA's Q&A on recording working hours here.