Business

Work Time Fraud in Germany: 13% of Employees Admit to Irregularities

Herz — Business Desk · 24 July 2026 at 11:03 · 30s summary · 2 min read

The essentials

A Consumerfieldwork survey of 1,000 German employees reveals that 13% admit to incorrectly recording their working time. Three-quarters say they have already performed personal tasks during their work hours. The consequences can be severe: in early 2025, a Cologne regional labour court validated the immediate dismissal of a ticket inspector who spent his working hours at his girlfriend's place, in cafés and at the hairdresser's. He was ordered to reimburse €21,000 in detective fees incurred by his employer. Such a dismissal also triggers a suspension of three months of unemployment benefits.

13% of German employees admit to not properly recording their work time
75% have already performed personal tasks during work hours
A Cologne court in 2025 validated immediate dismissal for work time fraud
The dismissed employee had to reimburse €21,000 in detective fees to his employer
Such dismissal results in up to 3 months of unemployment benefit suspension

What we know

According to a survey by the Consumerfieldwork firm among 1,000 German employees, 13% say they regularly fail to record their working time correctly. Three-quarters of respondents admit to having already performed a personal task during their work hours.

Behaviours reported by 1,000 German employees (Consumerfieldwork)

Regular incorrect recording of work time13

Personal task already performed during work hours75

Source ↗

A ticket inspector fired and ordered to pay €21,000

A case decided in early 2025 illustrates the real risks. A ticket inspector at a transport authority had spent his working hours at his girlfriend's place, in cafés and at the hairdresser's. The Landesarbeitsgericht (regional labour court) of Cologne — a German labour court — upheld his immediate dismissal, according to Handelsblatt.

The dismissed employee was also ordered to reimburse the detective fees incurred by his employer to establish the facts, totalling €21,000.

Legal consequences

Immediate dismissal for work time fraud exposes the employee to a suspension of three months of his unemployment benefits.

Employment lawyer Michael Fuhlrott points out that fraud can also occur under a so-called Vertrauensarbeitszeit regime — literally 'working time based on trust', in which hours are not necessarily clocked — if the employee works only 20 hours instead of the agreed 40 hours.

Criminal prosecution is legally possible, but German prosecutors show little eagerness to pursue such cases, Fuhlrott adds.

Expert analysis: a management problem above all

Sascha Stowasser, director of the IFAA (Institut für angewandte Arbeitswissenschaft, or Institute for Applied Labour Science), believes that work time fraud results primarily from poorly defined objectives and lack of management. He therefore rules out any systematic malicious intent on the part of employees.