Apprentices under 18: what Zeitflex also checks

For staff who are not yet 18 years old, the ArbZG (German Working Hours Act) does not apply; in its place applies the JArbSchG (German Youth Employment Protection Act) (§ 18 (2) ArbZG). Each of its limits is stricter: 8 instead of 10 hours a day, 40 instead of 48 a week, 60 instead of 45 minutes of break, 12 instead of 11 hours of time off. Zeitflex also checks these limits in the working-time check — but only on one condition.

No date of birth, no check — and no all-clear

Zeitflex can only check against the Youth Employment Protection Act if it knows the age. The date of birth is optional in the employee profile and has exactly one purpose: this check. It is not needed for time tracking, payroll preparation or the mini-job monitor.

1. Open Employees and click Edit for the person.
2. Enter Date of birth (optional). Zeitflex only accepts a date in the past that is less than 100 years ago — this way a transposed digit in the year stands out.
3. Save changes.

Owners and management may enter it. The person themselves only receives their date of birth with their own record; colleagues never see it.

If the date is missing, no youth notice is generated — and no all-clear either. Zeitflex says so openly in three places: on the Employees page there is a box “N people have no date of birth” with a button per person to add it. On the working-time check page there is the Not checked box with the names — even when the notice list is empty, and especially then. And the tile on the dashboard shows the number of people without a date below the result.

The check is part of the Starter and Pro plans and runs during the 14-day trial. The box on the Employees page appears in every plan.

The weekly email report currently does not contain the youth notices: it checks without a date of birth and therefore only against the Working Hours Act. You can see the notices under the Youth Employment Protection Act on the working-time check page and in the tile on the dashboard.

The limits compared

These notices replace the ArbZG check for the day in question; they are not added to it. A 17-year-old with 9 hours gets one notice under § 8 JArbSchG and not, alongside it, an all-clear under § 3 ArbZG. For the same reason, their days do not count towards the adults' 48-hour week — their week is checked under § 8 JArbSchG.

Why some things are only a warning

For almost every rule, the Youth Employment Protection Act has exceptions for particular trades: restaurants and bars, bakeries, agriculture, hospitals and care, shops open to the public, multi-shift operations. Zeitflex does not know the industry at this point and therefore applies the strict basic rule. Where an exception could plausibly cover the case, there is deliberately only a warning; each notice states in plain language which exception may apply. Only what can be proven from the recorded times is claimed.

In concrete terms:

• Timing of working time. From age 16, young people may work in restaurants and bars until 22:00, in multi-shift operations until 23:00, in agriculture from 5:00 and until 21:00, in bakeries from 5:00; from age 17 in bakeries and confectioneries from 4:00. If the work falls within this widest window, Zeitflex reports a warning; if it falls outside, a breach. Under 16, none of these exceptions apply — every minute outside 6:00 to 20:00 is a breach.
• Shift duration. Over 10 hours is a warning as long as 11 hours (multi-shift operations, restaurants and bars, agriculture, family households) or 12 hours (agriculture at harvest time from 16) are not exceeded. Above that, a breach.
• Weekend. Work on a Saturday or Sunday is a warning — many trades are allowed to do that. But if fewer than two Saturdays or two Sundays in the month remain free, that is a breach in every industry.
• 8 to 8½ hours. Warning if no shorter working day in the same week is visible within the checked period; the compensation may lie outside the period.

Not checked are the rest on public holidays (§ 18 JArbSchG), the counting of vocational school hours (§ 9 JArbSchG) and the medical examinations (§§ 32 et seq. JArbSchG) — Zeitflex lacks the data for these. Nor whether a 15-year-old is still subject to full-time compulsory schooling and is therefore regarded as a child (§ 2 (3) JArbSchG); here only the age counts.

Age counts on the working day

What matters is the age on the day the work is performed, not on the day of the query. If an apprentice turns 18 on the 15th of the month, Zeitflex checks the days up to the 14th under the Youth Employment Protection Act and from the 15th under the Working Hours Act — even if you only look at the month weeks later. For the time off between two days, the age on the day work resumes counts. Anyone born on 29 February comes of age in a year without that day only on 1 March.

For weekly and monthly rules, only the days on which the person was not yet 18 count. A week with a birthday on Wednesday is therefore incomplete for the 40-hour limit — Zeitflex never rounds up here; a notice that is generated is backed by evidence.

When a notice appears

Click the row. Below it you will find the wording with the measured values, the provision and the way to correct it.

• Maximum working time or break: First check whether only clocking out or clocking the break was forgotten. Then correct it in the timesheet, with a reason — the original version is kept as a version. If the person really worked that long, the process needs to change, not the entry.
• Employment of a child: First check the date of birth — a mixed-up year is the most common reason. If it is correct, this is not a case for a correction, but for an immediate conversation.
• Timing, shift duration, time off, weekend, five-day week: These are questions for the shift plan. With a warning, check yourself whether your business falls under the exception mentioned; with a breach, only rescheduling helps.

If the person leaves the business and their account is anonymised, Zeitflex removes the date of birth too — its only purpose ends with the employment relationship.

Still stuck?

What lies behind the levels note, warning and breach is explained under Understanding the working-time check; the rules for adults under Breaks and rest periods. For everything else, Support is there for you.