Working time checks and premiums

Note: The rules are defaults based on German law (ArbZG, JArbSchG, MuSchG, § 3b EStG) and are not legal advice. They can be adjusted and switched off per company. Please have them checked before use – collective agreements or works agreements may allow or require deviations.

Checks

With the working time checks feature enabled, Punchify checks the clocked times:

Check	Default
Maximum per day	10 hours (§ 3 ArbZG)
Maximum per week	60 hours
Average over 24 weeks	48 hours per week
Rest period between two working days	11 hours (§ 5 ArbZG)
Breaks	30 minutes from 6 hours, 45 minutes from 9 hours; only interruptions of 15 minutes or more count (§ 4)
Continuous work	at most 6 hours without a break
Sunday and holiday work	notice (§ 9 ArbZG – often allowed)

An admin sets the limits under Company. Findings appear per day in Month, as a notice under Today and collected under Compliance (for admins and team leads, also as CSV).

Protection rules

Stricter limits apply to individual people when an admin enters a protection rule under People (optionally limited in time):

Minors (JArbSchG): 8 hours a day, 40 a week, 12 hours rest, breaks of 30 minutes from 4.5 hours and 60 minutes from 6 hours, no work between 8 pm and 6 am, no Sunday or holiday work.
Maternity protection (MuSchG): 8.5 hours a day, 90 hours per double week, 11 hours rest, no work between 8 pm and 6 am, no Sunday or holiday work.

Only admins see which protection rule applies; managers see the neutral notice "protection rule".

Premiums

With the premiums feature Punchify shows the hours that qualify for premiums – in Month, in the CSV and in the report. Defaults (based on § 3b EStG, adjustable):

Time	Default
Night	11 pm–6 am, 25 %
Sunday	50 %
Public holiday	125 % (takes precedence over Sunday)

Night time is added on top of Sunday or holiday time. Punchify does not calculate amounts; it reports the hours for payroll.

Shift plans

Punchify checks planned shifts with the same rules before publishing – see shift planning.