# Time tracking > Time tracking means recording the start, end and breaks of working time. In CIRO NOISE your team clocks in with a button in the browser, and CIRO NOISE calculates target hours, actual hours and the time balance and checks the rules of the German Working Hours Act. - Page: https://www.ciro-noise.de/glossar/zeiterfassung - Deutsche Fassung: https://www.ciro-noise.de/glossar/zeiterfassung.md Since the Federal Labour Court decision of 13 September 2022, employers in Germany must record their employees' working time. The records should be objective, reliable and accessible. Paper slips without a system hardly meet that standard, and neither does a spreadsheet anyone can edit. In CIRO NOISE, time tracking is its own feature. Clock in, clock out and break are three buttons, at the desk or on the phone. From these entries CIRO NOISE calculates each person's target hours, actual hours and time balance. ## How time tracking works in CIRO NOISE You set a working time model for each person, either weekly hours for flexitime or fixed hours per weekday. This gives you target hours, actual hours, a time balance and a pro-rated vacation account. Overtime is paid out or taken as time off. Anyone who forgot to clock in adds the entry later with a reason, and by default the manager approves the correction. The original entry is kept, and every change leaves a trail with person, time, before and after. For temporary staff without their own account, the admin team keeps a timesheet. ## Checks under the Working Hours Act CIRO NOISE checks every entry against the German Working Hours Act (ArbZG): a notice at eight and a limit at ten hours per day under Section 3, breaks of 30 minutes after six and 45 minutes after nine hours under Section 4, eleven hours of rest under Section 5, Sundays and public holidays per federal state under Section 9, and night work. Each notice explains the rule and its section, and if a break is missing, CIRO NOISE suggests the missing time to add. No setting can switch these rules off. By default CIRO NOISE keeps working times for 24 months. For an inspection by customs or the labour inspectorate, the audit export lists start, end and duration per day along with the trail of every change. ## An everyday example Mara clocks in on her phone at 8:30 and skips her break while working on a client project. Her day then shows a notice that she worked more than six hours in a row, with a suggestion on how to fix the entry. At the end of the month Kira exports the payroll CSV for the month, with one row per person including overtime and vacation, and sends it to the payroll office. ## Permissions, privacy and cost Everyone sees their own times in full. Managers see their team, the admin team sees everyone, and the works council gets figures without names. CIRO NOISE records only what people clock and never tracks anyone by GPS. People pick their work location themselves (office, home, field, travel), and the organization can switch that field off. People who only track their time don't need a full seat: every full seat includes two time-tracking seats at no extra cost. ## Frequently asked questions about Time tracking ### Is time tracking mandatory in Germany? Yes. Since the Federal Labour Court decision of 13 September 2022, employers must record working time. Time tracking in CIRO NOISE records start, end and breaks and keeps every change traceable. ### Does time tracking in CIRO NOISE check the Working Hours Act? Yes. Time tracking in CIRO NOISE checks maximum hours, breaks, rest periods, Sundays and public holidays and night work under Sections 3, 4, 5 and 9 ArbZG and explains the rule for each notice. If a break is missing, it suggests the time to add. ### How long does CIRO NOISE keep working time records? Time tracking in CIRO NOISE keeps working time records for 24 months by default, longer if you choose. The original entry is preserved, and changes sit next to it with a reason. ### How do the hours get to payroll? From time tracking in CIRO NOISE you export a payroll CSV for a period with one row per person, including overtime and vacation,, or the timesheet as a PDF. The CSV is a generic format, not a DATEV payroll format. ### What does time tracking cost for employees who only clock in? Employees who only track their time in CIRO NOISE don't need a full seat. Every full seat includes two time-tracking seats at no extra cost. ## Related terms - [Leave request](https://www.ciro-noise.de/en/glossary/absence-request.md) - [Member](https://www.ciro-noise.de/en/glossary/member.md) See the feature: https://www.ciro-noise.de/en/features/time-tracking.md ## CIRO NOISE at a glance - CIRO NOISE is a workspace for small businesses and teams of up to about 50 people: wiki, tasks, customer requests, finance with quotes and invoices, customers (CRM), meetings, knowledge with AI, social media, password vault, and time tracking behind one login. - Price: the first 2 seats are free, with every feature. Each additional seat costs €25 per month plus VAT. No credit card to start. - Privacy: servers and AI run in EU data centers, content never trains AI models, and permissions apply per person and feature. - AI connection: Claude and other AI assistants connect through MCP, the open standard for AI tools, with exactly the permissions of the person. - Provider: CIRO GmbH, Eching, Germany. Contact: hello@ciro.gmbh, phone +49 89 24 88 31 22.