Employee Time Tracking
Easily record work and project hours with a single, intuitive solution – all in time cockpit.
Employee time tracking documents the start, end and breaks of each working day, a legal requirement in Austria and Germany. time cockpit is employee time tracking software that records working hours, overtime, vacation and sick leave together with project time in one tool, online in the browser on PC, Mac and mobile devices.
Obligation to Record Working Hours
In many countries, employers are required to digitally record their employees’ working hours. This regulation aims to protect employees and ensure compliance with labor laws. In Germany, the Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG) ruled on September 13, 2022, that employers must implement a system for digital time tracking. This obligation is based on a European Union-compliant interpretation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (§ 3 Para. 2 No. 1 ArbSchG) and a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on May 14, 2019. Employers are therefore responsible for properly recording working hours and can be held liable for violations.
time cockpit at a glance
| Product | time cockpit, project and employee time tracking as software-as-a-service |
|---|---|
| Vendor | software architects gmbh, Leonding (Austria), time cockpit since 2010 |
| Hosting | Microsoft Azure, data centers in the EU (Amsterdam and Dublin), dedicated database per customer, 35-day point-in-time recovery |
| Price | €10.85 per user per month; Freelancer plan free in the first year; Starter €29.90 in the first year for up to 10 users |
| Trial | 30 days free, no credit card, cancel any day afterwards |
| Master data | Unlimited clients, projects, tasks and invoices |
| Platforms | Browser on PC, Mac, Android and iOS; Activity Tracker for Windows |
| Integrations | Web API (REST, OData, TCQL) with personal access tokens, Excel import and export, Office 365 appointments in the calendar |
| Single sign-on | Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) |
| Working time | Working time models per employee, overtime account, vacation and sick leave, public holiday calendars, approval workflow, booking lock, working time limits for AT and DE |
Features of Employee Time Tracking
Graphical Calendar - Everything at a Glance
The graphical time-tracking calendar provides all key information at a glance: you can easily view your target and actual working hours, planned vacations, time compensations (TCs), sick days, or home office days in a clear layout. Additionally, the calendar shows the current status of your time balance account (overtime account) and your remaining vacation days.
Time entries can be effortlessly created by dragging with your mouse or copied via drag-and-drop.
Office365 appointments are displayed directly in the calendar and can be converted into time entries with a double click.
If you use the Activity Tracker, you gain even deeper insights into your workday. You’ll know exactly when you started your workday—making traditional punch clocks unnecessary in the era of remote work. The Activity Tracker also automatically records inactivity times such as breaks, ensuring seamless tracking of your working hours. It further captures activities like opened applications, edited files, or sent emails, which can be converted into accurate time entries with a single click.
Efficient Time Tracking for Recurring Tasks
Template entries are perfect for tracking recurring tasks that are not directly tied to a specific project, such as mailing, administrative duties, HR, or marketing. These tasks can be saved as templates and quickly added to the calendar as needed. This allows regular activities to be recorded efficiently without the need for manual input each time. Template entries save time, ensure seamless documentation, and guarantee that non-project-related working hours are tracked transparently and comprehensibly.
Configurable Working Time Model
Define the target working hours per day for individual employees or entire teams—including flexible part-time models. Changes to working time models, such as a switch from full-time to part-time, are automatically logged for historical tracking, allowing you to trace how target working hours have evolved over time. Additionally, you can manage overtime allowances to integrate compensated extra work directly into the working time model.
Clear Booking Lock for Your Time Tracking
Time cockpit enables the automatic locking of time tracking for past months to ensure clear and audit-proof documentation of working hours. After the defined booking lock date, neither time entries nor absences can be edited for the locked period. This rule ensures that finalized periods remain reliably protected.
Flexibility for Exceptions
If changes are required in a locked period, the booking lock can be individually lifted for specific employees. This exception is valid for a defined timeframe, after which the general rule automatically re-applies. This approach ensures that time tracking remains flexible while maintaining organizational security.
Vacation, Time Compensation, and Sick Leave
Create and manage vacation entitlements, leaves, time compensation, and sick leaves for your employees. Time cockpit calculates absences down to the exact hour, based on the daily working hours defined in the working time model. Vacation entitlements are calculated in weeks, allowing seamless adjustments for transitions between part-time and full-time work—or vice versa. This ensures an accurate and flexible overview of actual, target, and absence hours.
Absence Approval
With the optional approval workflow, you manage vacation requests, compensatory time off, and sick leave transparently and traceably. Employees submit their absence requests directly in time cockpit. Managers and HR review them centrally in the absence calendar and approve or reject them with just a few clicks.
The entire process is clearly documented: All parties are automatically notified – both when the request is submitted and after the decision. Approved absences serve as binding confirmation, while rejected requests are automatically removed.
The approval requirement can be set individually per employee. For employees without an approval requirement, absences are automatically approved. This keeps the process flexible – from simple teams to structured organizations with clear approval rules.
Public Holidays and Holiday Calendars
Does your company have branches in multiple countries or need to account for different public holiday regulations within a country, such as varying state holidays in Germany? With Time Cockpit, you can create holiday calendars for different countries, regions, or religions and assign the respective holidays. You can then link each employee to the appropriate calendar to accurately reflect local holiday regulations.
Overtime at a Glance
Time cockpit calculates an hourly balance for your employees by factoring in absences, public holidays, and planned working hours from the working time model. Recorded time entries are automatically compared against target hours, and overtime is calculated to the exact hour. Overtime allowances are also included in the calculation to ensure accurate representation of working time models. Clear working time statistics and the hours account are displayed directly in the time tracking calendar, providing maximum transparency and easy monitoring.
Stay Compliant - Working Time Limits and Violations
With Time cockpit, you can set working time limits that align with your organization’s requirements. Define maximum hours per day or week and specify when an employee should take a break after a certain number of working hours. By default, Time cockpit includes working time limits for Austria and Germany, helping ensure compliance with applicable labor laws. Additionally, you have the option to define your own working time limits to meet specific organizational or legal needs.
Timesheet
Create a comprehensive timesheet that shows the total worked hours, break times, as well as public holidays and absences for each day. Additionally, the timesheet includes information on whether work was performed from home on a given day—an important factor in meeting legal requirements, such as the correct application of the home office allowance in Austria. At the end of the report, you will find a summary of the current status of vacation days, overtime, and home office days worked so far. This ensures that employees can keep track of all relevant data.
More Features
Extend and Customize Functions
With time cockpit, we have already done the groundwork for you. Standard tasks such as input validation, user interface layout and styling, and object-relational mapping (ORM) for database interactions are seamlessly integrated. This allows us to focus entirely on customizing the platform to your specific needs, without reinventing the wheel or spending resources on time-consuming basic development.
Customize It Yourself or Let Us Implement It for You
Our platform is designed so that you can either make the customizations yourself or have us implement them for you. Whether you prefer to design it yourself or rely on our expertise, we offer flexible support tailored to your exact requirements.
A Proven Platform
Time cockpit has proven itself as a flexible and customizable solution in a variety of time tracking projects. Thanks to its flexibility, the platform also serves as a powerful foundation for non-time tracking-related projects.
Reduced Programming Effort
Time cockpit enables a significant reduction in programming effort. Developers can declaratively define data structures, validation rules, business logic, and even the user interface – for quick and straightforward customizations.
Over 15 Years of Experience
Benefit from our expertise of over 15 years in time tracking and best practices. Take a look at how we have tailored time cockpit for other customers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is time tracking legally required in Austria and Germany?
Yes, in both countries employers are legally obliged to document the working hours of their employees. In Germany this obligation follows from the Working Hours Act (ArbZG) and was confirmed by a ruling of the Federal Labour Court (BAG). In Austria, time tracking is regulated in the Working Hours Act (AZG).
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Which working hours have to be recorded?
Daily working time, breaks, and overtime must be recorded. Deviations from the contractual working time, such as extra hours or work on Sundays and public holidays, must be documented as well.
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Which time tracking methods are permitted?
Time can be recorded manually (e.g. timesheets), electronically, or automatically. What matters is that the recorded data is tamper-proof and traceable.
What are the advantages of digital time tracking?
Time tracking software makes it easier to comply with legal requirements, reduces administrative effort, and provides transparency about working hours and breaks. It also allows flexible working models such as home office or flexitime to be mapped.
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What happens if working hours are not recorded or recorded insufficiently?
If working hours are not recorded or the records do not meet the legal requirements, fines and legal consequences may follow. In addition, employers may find themselves unable to provide evidence in disputes, particularly about overtime or break rules.
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Why are specialized time tracking systems superior to Excel spreadsheets?
Specialized time tracking systems like time cockpit are superior to Excel because they offer automated processes, fewer errors, higher data security, and better scalability. They are also more user-friendly and meet legal requirements such as tamper-proof records. Excel quickly reaches its limits, especially with larger teams and complex requirements.
What is special about time tracking for part-time employees?
Part-time employees are subject to the same legal time tracking requirements as full-time employees. It is essential to document the individual working time agreements correctly so that the recorded hours match the contractually agreed hours. This ensures transparency and fairness for both sides.
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Are there special requirements for time tracking in the home office?
Yes, the documentation obligation also applies in the home office. In Austria in particular, recording home office days is important because they can be tax-privileged, for example through the telework allowance (Telearbeitspauschale, called home office allowance until 2024).
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What role does data protection play in time tracking?
Time tracking involves the processing of personal data and is subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Employers must ensure that data is processed securely and only for its intended purpose, and must inform employees about how their data is handled.
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What role does the works council play when introducing time tracking systems?
In Germany, the works council has a co-determination right when time tracking systems are introduced or changed, according to Section 87 (1) No. 6 of the Works Constitution Act (BetrVG). Employers therefore have to obtain the works council’s consent before implementing a new system. The situation is similar in Austria, where Section 96 of the Labour Constitution Act (ArbVG) requires consent. These rules protect the interests of employees and ensure that the systems are used fairly.
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