Alexandra Groß chairs the Society of the Leading PR and Communications Agencies (GPRA) in Germany. She says: “Working time recording is our commercial foundation in the consulting professions.” Only what is recorded can also be billed. “Billable hours” are the hours booked to a customer. And everyone in the industry knows: They only cover a small part of the working time. “There is no time clock in our industry, but we operate with trust-based working hours,” agrees Groß. The employees would enter and add their hours themselves. From Groß’ point of view, this has proven its worth, and the GPRA has also introduced a seal of approval for agency management among its members. The certificate requires, among other things, proof of proper timekeeping. The GPRA believes that this is how the legal requirements are implemented.
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Susanne Hoffmann, managing director of the PR and marketing agency Palmer Hargreaves, knows about the danger of self-exploitation that lies in trust-based working hours. That’s why her agency carries out spot checks at irregular intervals. Since 2020, the agency has been recording the working hours of its workforce on a daily basis. But Hoffmann also says she expects “a wave of bureaucratic rust”.
One industry that needs to know the legal requirements very well is the large law firms. They advise companies on the implementation of the judgment of the Federal Labor Court. The well-paid lawyers often work a lot of overtime for their clients – in the past, this was rarely compatible with the classic eight-hour day. But here, too, a rethink must take place. Sören Seidel, employment lawyer at the commercial law firm CMS says: “It has a signal effect beyond the decided individual case and is perceived as ‘binding’ by the authorities in particular.”