Trust-based working hours and quality of work

Supporters of stricter recording obligations view this promise critically, pointing to occupational safety and health protection. However, the de facto abolition of trust based working hours would directly restrict existing flexibility of many employees in Germany.

In Germany, trust based working hours constitute a widely used working time model in which employers grant employees a considerable degree of autonomy in organizing their working hours. Around 20 per cent of employees have no company working time recording, leaving them with broad discretion regarding the start and end of their workday. To measure trust based working hours, the Working Time Survey of the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (waves 2019, 2021, and 2023) is used. Highly qualified experts and specialists are particularly likely to work under trust based working time arrangements. Compared with the previous survey in 2021, the share of employees benefiting from such models has increased by 3 percentage points.

Employees with trust based working hours report significantly higher satisfaction with their working hours and with their work-life balance than employees with other working time arrangements. The high level of self determination in scheduling working hours inherent in trust based models also has a positive effect on employees’ sense of self efficacy.

Finally, the empirical analysis examines concerns that trust based working hours may pose health risks to employees, risks that could only be mitigated through comprehensive electronic time recording. However, empirical findings based on the Working Time Survey do not confirm these concerns. On the contrary: employees with trust based working hours more often feel capable of managing their work demands well and exhibit symptoms of chronic exhaustion less frequently.