Recording working time: what the Labour Act requires

Recording working time is the employer’s duty, not the employees’. Two relaxations exist — and both are tied to conditions you have to know beforehand.

Author: Stefan Bernhard
Published: 23. August 2026
Data as of: August 2026
Reading time: 4 minutes

The essentials

The Labour Act obliges the employer to keep registers of working and rest times. That is a duty of the business, and it exists whether or not anyone asks about it.
Since 2016 there are two relaxations: waiving the recording, and simplified recording. Both are tied to conditions — among them an income level, autonomy in organising the work, and an agreement. Which applies to your business is to be clarified with your HR function or your fiduciary.
Software is not prescribed. A spreadsheet meets the form as long as it is complete and traceable — it only becomes less practical with every additional person.
The comparison covers 6 time tracking solutions. 4 state a price, from CHF 3.– a month; all 6 run in the browser and all have a mobile app. As of July 2026.

Rather filter for yourself? All 6 solutions with 12 criteria in one table Filter by profile and features, set a budget, read the columns side by side. This article gives the bearings — the table is the tool. To the comparison table

What has to be recorded

The Labour Act and its ordinance require registers showing the working time performed, the rest periods, and overtime and night work. The duty lies with the employer: they have to keep the records or have them kept, and present them to the authorities on request.

The means is not prescribed. A spreadsheet meets the form just as software does — the difference lies in completeness. What gets entered from memory at month end is not a record but an estimate, and that is exactly where inspections fail.

The two relaxations since 2016

Both are in Ordinance 1 to the Labour Act, and both are tied to conditions. What follows is orientation — the application to an individual case needs checking.

Waiving the recording
Possible for employees with substantial autonomy in organising their work and a high gross annual income — the ordinance names a threshold of CHF 120,000 including bonus components. It also requires provision in a collective employment agreement and individual written consent.
Simplified recording
Only the daily working time performed, instead of start, end and breaks. It requires an agreement — with the employee representation, or in smaller businesses with the employees themselves.
What remains in both cases
The rules on maximum working time, rest periods and night work continue to apply. The relaxation concerns the recording, not the limits — and whoever does not record also cannot prove, in a dispute, that the limits were observed.
Who inspects
The cantonal labour inspectorates. Records of the last five years can be demanded; they have to stay available for that time.

When software makes the difference

For one person a spreadsheet is simpler than any software. The effort tips at three points: when several people record, when hours have to be allocated to projects or customers, and when holiday and overtime balances are kept — those are the three calculations that become unreadable in a spreadsheet.

All 6 solutions compared run in the browser and all have a mobile app. In this category that is no longer a selection criterion but the precondition: recording happens on the move, not in the office in the evening.

Prices here are lower than in any other category: 4 of the 6 vendors state a price, from CHF 3.– a month, the highest published at CHF 11.–. It usually applies per user — for ten people it therefore has to be multiplied by ten.

Frequently asked questions

As a sole proprietor, do I have to record my own time?

The Labour Act protects employees; for your own working time as the owner of a sole proprietorship it does not apply. Recording stays useful where you bill by effort — then it is not evidence towards the authorities but the basis of the invoice.

Is an Excel sheet enough?

It meets the form as long as it is complete and contains the required details. It becomes impractical with every additional person and every report — holiday and overtime balances are the most frequent source of error in a spreadsheet.

How long must I keep the records?

Five years. They can be demanded by the cantonal labour inspectorates. That is a different period from the ten years for books of account and accounting vouchers under Article 958f of the Code of Obligations — both apply side by side.

What does time tracking software cost?

4 of the 6 vendors compared publish a price, from CHF 3.– to CHF 11.– a month, excluding VAT, as of July 2026. Check whether the amount applies per user or per business.

Where the information comes from

Legal information: Labour Act and Ordinance 1 to the Labour Act; the two relaxations apply from 1 January 2016. The conditions are summarised here and not reproduced in full — application to the individual case belongs with the HR function, the fiduciary or the cantonal labour inspectorate. This post is orientation, not legal advice.
Figures on the survey: Own survey, as of July 2026. Every figure in the text is calculated when the page is built.

The 6 time tracking solutions appear with all 12 criteria in the comparison table.

All 6 providers in the comparison table: Time tracking