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Rules: Time Registration (EU Working Time Directive)

48-hour rule, focus on work hours, message flow, edit back in time, etc.

Written by Mathias Anneberg

Achieve an Efficient Time Registration Flow

An effective time registration flow requires more than just choosing a method – it’s also about making sure the method is used correctly and consistently.

That’s why BitaBIZ offers a range of automatic messages tailored to your chosen time registration method.

These messages help ensure that time registration maintains itself – and that you also comply with the EU Working Time Directive.

EU Working Time Directive – What Are the Rules?

Key rules:

  • All employees must have access to register their work hours.
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  • The employer must monitor that employees do not work more than a maximum of 48 hours per week, averaged over a 4-month reference period.
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  • The employer must ensure that employees have a minimum rest period of 11 hours.
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    ℹ️ There is an important exception to the 11-hour rule. The exception is if the employee has planned the work themselves and is working from home, then the rule does not apply.

Notifications

All global notifications regarding the EU Working Time Directive can be found here:

  1. Click "Setup admin"

  2. Click "Modules"

  3. Click "Notifications & rules"

  4. Click "Time registration (EU Working Time Directive)"

  5. From here, you can activate all global settings mentioned in this article.

Remember to Register

This is perhaps the most important message for achieving a self-sustaining time registration flow.

When the "Remember to register" message is activated, the employee receives a friendly reminder (push notification) to remember to register their work hours, or register absence, if it was forgotten the day before. The message is sent every day at 9 AM if the previous workday has not been filled in.

ℹ️ Weekends, public holidays, and fixed days off do not trigger the message. If absence (vacation, sick day, leave, time off) is registered, the message is also not triggered.

Examples:

  • An employee forgets to fill in absence or work hours on a Friday. A message is sent on Saturday at 9 AM.

  • The message is triggered on Monday. The first message is sent on Tuesday at 9 AM, but only if Monday has not been filled in with work hours or absence.

The message must be activated "globally"

The message must be activated globally for:

  • Time registration - without hour bank

  • Time registration - with hour bank

The message must be activated at "Policy Level"

Once the message is activated globally, it can be activated at the policy level. On the policy, you control which staff groups should receive the message. Activate as needed for:

  • Time registration - without hour bank

  • Time registration - with hour bank

Example where the message is typically not used:

Student assistants who only work, for example, 2 days a week probably shouldn’t receive a message on the remaining 3 days. In this case, it’s recommended not to activate the message.

How to activate a message at policy level:

  1. Click "Setup admin"

  2. Click "Modules"

  3. Click "Edit" next to the desired article

  4. Open the section:

    1. "Time registration - without hour bank" or

    2. "Time registration - with hour bank"

  5. Check "Activate reminder if no registration on a workday". This will send a push notification every day at 9 AM if the previous workday has not been filled in.

The "Remember to register" message is used for the following time registration methods:

Time registration - with hour bank:

Time registration - without hour bank:

Remember to Check Out

Remembering to check out – it’s easy to forget, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Activate the BitaBIZ live feed, and you can easily check out directly from your phone’s home screen.

ℹ️ When the live feed is activated, employees automatically get access, and the next time they check in, the live feed will appear on their mobile home screen.

ℹ️ The first time the live feed is activated, you’ll be prompted to allow live activities from BitaBIZ. You must select "allow" to use the live feed.

Access to the live feed is activated "globally".

The "Remember to check out" message is used for the following time registration methods:

Time registration - with hour bank:

Time registration - without hour bank:

Remember to Edit

Remember to edit: missing edits of automatically created standard hours. Applies only to “Adjust time” without hour bank.

When the "Adjust time" method is selected, your employees do not need to actively register their work hours every day. It happens automatically.

When the message is activated, the employee and/or approver receives a friendly reminder after a selected number of weeks if the employee has not edited their work hours within the chosen period, according to the following rules:

  • For the selected period, the employee has not edited their time

  • The period restarts if an exception (absence) is created. Absence counts as an edit.

  • When a reminder is sent, the period restarts. No further reminders are sent until the employee edits their work hours.

  • An employee who gains access to a policy with the message attached: the period starts from the first day work hours are created automatically.

The message must be activated "globally".

There is a separate message for employees and one for approvers.

For example, you can set it so that employees are notified if no editing of work hours has occurred within the last 7 days, and notify the approver if no editing has occurred after 30 days.

The message must also be activated at the policy level.

There may be staff groups (policies) that should not receive the message.

ℹ️ The message can only be activated for the time method "Adjust time" under Time registration without hour bank.

Remember to edit the message for the following time registration methods:

The message is only used if automatic creation of the day's standard hours is enabled

Time registration - without hour bank:

Rules

Time registration: Activate terminal.

QR code check in/out from terminal.

Activate terminal for check in/out

Terminal for on-site check in/out of work hours.

💁 Once the terminal is activated, the time registration method can be enabled on your policies.

Read more about installing the QR code terminal here!

ℹ️ The terminal works from all web browsers.

Time registration: Balances (Choose focus on work hours)

A setting that determines how much focus there should be on work hours.

Enable or disable employee access to statistics

💁 Setting for how much focus there should be on weekly, monthly, and yearly work hours.

Remove statistics and balance boxes

Statistics about work hours and balance boxes, as shown above, can be removed by disabling "enable balances" on the employees' policy.

Limit editing of time registrations back in time

An administrator can enable a global restriction for how many weeks employees are allowed to go back and create or edit time registrations, which helps ensure accurate and reliable data.

Absence cannot be registered back in time by the employee themselves, regardless of the setting.

EU Working Time Directive: 48 & 11 Hour Rules

48-hour rule:

  • The 48-hour rule applies to everyone in the Danish labor market.
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  • If the rule is broken, the affected employee may be entitled to compensation.
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  • Sick days, vacation, leave, and public holidays are not included in the calculation. Only the registered work hours including overtime are used as the basis for the 48-hour rule.

The message must be activated "globally" and applies to all users on your account.

When the 48-hour rule is enabled for your work hours registration, we recommend activating the message before the 48 hours are reached, as at 48 hours it is too late.

Therefore, activate the rule at 46 or 47 hours, so there is time to find a solution with the employee:

A log is kept of who has received a message about the 48-hour rule.

Find the log here:

  1. Click "HR Statistics"

  2. Click "Reports"

11-hour rule (rest period)

The rule checks the end time on day 1 and the start time on day 2. If there are less than 11 hours between the two times, the message is sent.

The 11-hour rule should not be activated if:

  1. Your employees are allowed to work from home and, for example, do so in the evening. In this case, a couple of work hours in the evening and starting work the next day at 8 a.m. could trigger the rule. In situations where employees can schedule their own work hours, such as working from home in the evening, the 11-hour rule does not apply.
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  2. Work hours are settled via net hours. When net hours are used, there is no official start and end time for the workday, so the 11-hour rule cannot be applied.

The message must be activated "globally" and applies to all users on your account:

A log is kept of who has received a message about the 11-hour rule.

Find the log here:

  1. Click "HR Statistics"

  2. Click "Reports"

FAQ

Why isn't the employee receiving a reminder when they forget to register time?

For the system to send messages about missing registration from yesterday, please check that the following are set up correctly:

1. The EU module must be active
Go to Setup admin → Modules → Notifications & rules and make sure that EU time registration is enabled.
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2. The message must be enabled under Notifications & rules
Go to Setup admin → Modules → Notifications & rules → Time registration (EU Working Time Directive) and activate the reminder for missing registration under either:

  • “Time registration: Remember to register” (Time registration - without hour bank)

  • “Flex time: Remember to register” (Time registration - with hour bank).
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3. The message must be enabled on the employee's policy
Go to Setup admin → Modules → Edit on the employee's policy and check:
​“Enable reminder if workday is missing registration”
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The reminder is only sent after a workday that is not registered as absence, public holiday, or fixed day off.

4. The employee must have accepted “Daily reminder about time registration” in their mobile app and allowed notifications from the BitaBIZ app on their device.

Can employees register or edit time retroactively?

An administrator can choose whether employees are allowed to create or edit time registrations retroactively – and how many weeks back this is allowed.
If enabled, the ability for employees to edit retroactively applies to the entire company.

Does ‘Remember to register’ work with hour bank and check in/out?

Yes, if the employee uses Flex time under Time registration - with hour bank. The message must be enabled on the employee's policy.

Why isn't an employee allowed to change or create their registration retroactively?

This is typically due to one of the following reasons if an employee cannot register or change a registration retroactively:

  • Restriction for retroactive registration is enabled

  • The registration has been processed for payroll

  • There is an attempt to register absence retroactively

When should we use the reminder for missing registration?

Use the reminder if employees need to be reminded to fill in workdays with either work hours or absence.

The reminder is relevant when the requirement is that the calendar and time registration are updated day by day.

This applies, for example, if you use:

  • time registration for payroll hours

  • flex time that is linked to the hour bank

The reminder does not mean that the employee is automatically deducted from the hour bank or payroll if the day is not filled in.

If a workday is missing registration, the employee can receive a message that the day needs to be filled in with work hours or absence. The hour bank is only adjusted when work hours or absence are registered.

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