Working time models at a glance:
Which one suits which business?
Expert knowledge I 22 September 2026
What are working time models and why are they so important?
Working time models are agreements between employers and employees that define daily, weekly or annual working hours. Alongside provisions on salary and wage supplements, holiday entitlement and the handling of overtime, they are an essential part of employment contracts and/or collective agreements.
Working time models are highly relevant in practice because they determine when, and to what extent, an employer may require employees to work. This provides the basis for workforce scheduling and staffing requirements planning. Conversely, they also define when, and to what extent, employees are entitled to work and to time off.
Choosing a suitable working time model is essential for flexibility and reliable staff availability, for example in healthcare with its shift and on-call services, or in businesses where workloads fluctuate significantly.
The most important working time models at a glance
The full-time model: Full-time employees generally work five days a week, for seven to eight hours a day, totalling 35 to 40 hours per week.
The part-time model: Employees work fewer hours than full-time staff. In practice, this means that they work only on certain days or for fewer hours per working day. The number of weekly hours can be agreed individually. This allows both parties to find solutions that meet their respective requirements and preferences. Part-time work can also be temporary, with a guarantee that the employee can return to full-time work after an agreed period. The best-known example is parental leave. This model is also frequently used when caring for relatives or when returning fully to work after an interruption, for example due to illness.
The flexitime model: Core hours are defined during which employees must be present, for example from 10 am to 3 pm. Employees can decide for themselves when to work the remaining hours in order to reach the agreed total. Additional hours and hours owed are recorded in a working time account and must be balanced within a specified period.
The shift work model: Employees work consecutively during defined periods, for example an early shift from 6 am to 2 pm and a late shift from 2 pm to 8 pm. This means that only part of the workforce is working at any given time, but the entire workforce works over the course of the day. Night shifts are also common in healthcare, security and critical infrastructure, as well as in businesses that cannot simply interrupt production. Employees are generally required to be present during their shifts.
The job-sharing model: Under this model, two employees share one full-time position, usually on a 50/50 basis. The two employees generally agree between themselves exactly who works when.
The annualised hours model: Under this model, both parties agree on a total number of working hours per year. These can be distributed relatively flexibly throughout the year in line with demand. This model is suitable for sectors with highly seasonal business, such as tourism, hospitality, agriculture or certain services. The principle can also be extended across a person’s entire working life. This is known as a lifetime working hours model.
Special case – mini-job: The decisive factor here is gross pay, not working hours. At the current limit of €603 per month and a minimum wage of €13.90 per hour, the maximum monthly working time is around 43.5 hours. If the hourly rate is higher, the maximum number of hours is correspondingly lower.
Trust-based working time: Strictly speaking, this is not a working time model. Rather, trust-based working time is an approach that measures performance by results instead of presence in the workplace. Whether employees actually work the agreed hours is of secondary importance. Since the 2022 ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on time recording, employees have had to record their working hours, including overtime, precisely. However, employers are only required to carry out spot checks to confirm that the information is plausible.
Working time accounts or traffic-light accounts: Again, these are not standalone working time models, but an approach to managing additional hours and hours owed. Specific thresholds are defined for the working time balance; once they are reached, action is taken to bring the balance back into line.
Working from home and hybrid models: Working from home is considered an essential way of making work and family life easier to combine. However, very few employees work exclusively from home. Most work from home for part of their working time, for example on certain days, and spend the remainder at a conventional on-site workplace. Depending on how they are implemented in practice and the degree of flexibility involved, working-from-home and hybrid models may or may not be regarded as working time models.
Do you have any questions? We will be happy to help:
Which working time model suits which business?
A working time model should be chosen so that the available resources can be used as efficiently as possible: ensuring adequate staffing at all times while keeping idle time to a minimum.
The best working time model always depends on the individual circumstances. As a general rule, however, the greater and more short-term the fluctuations in workload, the more flexible the working time model needs to be.
The nature of a business and its operations may also rule out or require particular working time models. Hospitals, for example, must remain operational around the clock, including at weekends and on public holidays. In certain sectors, such as steelworks, energy supply and transport, work cannot simply be interrupted either. Shift models are suitable in these cases.
Hospitality, tourism, agriculture and e-commerce experience significant seasonal fluctuations that must be reflected in staffing levels. Flexible arrangements such as annualised hours are better suited to this than fixed models.
Businesses can also offer several working time models in parallel. The core team, for example, can work ‘standard’ full-time hours, while employees on annualised hours can be deployed flexibly to cover peaks in demand.
Legal framework: What do employers need to know?
All working time models must comply with applicable law, including the German Working Time Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz, ArbZG), occupational health and safety regulations, collective agreements and works agreements. An amendment to the Working Time Act is planned for 2026. The maximum working day of eight hours is to be replaced by a maximum working week. This is intended to give businesses and employees greater flexibility.
However, the rules on breaks and rest periods must still be observed: there must continue to be at least 11 hours between two working days. A break of at least 30 minutes is required for more than six hours of work, and at least 45 minutes for more than nine hours. The prohibition on working on Sundays and public holidays under Section 9 of the German Working Time Act also remains unaffected by the amendment.
Managing working time models digitally: From Excel to software
The more flexible the working time models, the more flexible the recording and analysis of working hours – and scheduling – need to be. If workforce scheduling involves few changes and is highly predictable, a digital version of a paper payroll ledger is, in principle, sufficient. With a fixed shift system, for example, an Excel spreadsheet in which only absences and holidays had to be entered was adequate for a long time.
As working arrangements become more flexible and individualised, the administrative effort increases rapidly. Digital solutions for time recording and workforce scheduling have therefore become standard practice.
Different working time models in Celero One: Flexible scheduling and legally compliant documentation
Celero One is not HR software, but an intelligent operating system for frontline organisations. In this highly dynamic environment, workforce management means adapting flexibly to rapidly changing requirements and deploying available resources efficiently.
Flexibility is one of Celero One’s fundamental principles. This also means being able to integrate a wide range of working time models seamlessly into every process, from scheduling and payroll through to evaluation.
More specifically, Celero One offers a wide range of capabilities and functions
… for scheduling
- Individual working hours stored in the employee master data.
- Warning if a resource’s individual working hours are exceeded during scheduling.
- Automated assignment of jobs using the ‘Auto-Assign’ function in the Booking module. This allows employees to decide for themselves whether they can accept a job. It minimises coordination effort and ensures that resources are deployed effectively.
- Time windows instead of fixed timings: Where the task allows, a time window can be created within which it must be completed. Employees can then integrate jobs into their own workflows as effectively as possible. This saves time and effort and eases the workload.
… for time recording
Regardless of the working time model chosen, German law requires actual working hours to be recorded fully and accurately. Celero One meets all of these requirements: employees record their own working hours on their personal digital device using the Celero One mobile app’s self-service function. Time recording is designed as a deliberate, active step carried out after a job has been completed or when it is interrupted. The data is also used to analyse and invoice jobs and can, for example, be transferred to payroll accounting. All working time recorded in Celero One is archived in a legally compliant, auditable manner and in accordance with compliance requirements.
… for employee development
Keeping knowledge up to date and acquiring new skills are essential if businesses are to remain competitive. Other training, such as safety briefings, is mandatory. One practical challenge with training is how to schedule sessions at times and locations that enable all employees to take part.
Celero One therefore includes a learning management system (LMS) for planning, delivering and evaluating learning content, enabling both e-learning and mobile learning. Training content can be accessed and used regardless of time or location. Celero One monitors individual progress and records completed training in an audit-proof manner. Digital evidence of every completed training course is stored in the system and automatically incorporated into workforce scheduling. Among other things, this ensures that jobs are offered only to employees who have all the skills or qualifications required for the work.
Do you have any questions? We will be happy to help:
FAQ: Working time models
What working time models are available in Germany?
What working time models are available in Germany?
There are many working time models for employees. The most important are full-time work, the various forms of part-time work, flexitime, shift work, annualised and lifetime working hours, and job sharing. Working from home is also often included because it allows working time to be distributed more flexibly around family life.
Is greater flexibility in working hours automatically better?
Is greater flexibility in working hours automatically better?
The advantage of greater flexibility is that working hours can be adapted more closely to the individual requirements of employers and employees. However, flexibility can also reduce predictability for one of the parties.
Working time models and their advantages and disadvantages at a glance
Working time models and their advantages and disadvantages at a glance
Does Celero One include a working time account function?
Does Celero One include a working time account function?
As a workforce management solution, Celero One does not include the type of working time account found in various HR solutions. However, Celero One displays each resource’s individual utilisation as target and actual hours for the day, week or month. This data can be exported as a report or transferred automatically to external HR and payroll systems, for example for payroll processing.
How does Celero One handle additional hours and hours owed?
How does Celero One handle additional hours and hours owed?
To balance a resource’s hours in an external working time account, their target hours can be adjusted for a defined period.
Does Celero One take holiday into account when scheduling?
Does Celero One take holiday into account when scheduling?
Yes. If a resource is on holiday for a specified period, they cannot be scheduled during that time..
Can individual availability be entered in Celero One?
Can individual availability be entered in Celero One?
Yes. If a resource is available only on certain days, this can be entered and is automatically taken into account when scheduling.