From the Handelsblatt archive: Anyone who cheats on working hours risks more than just a warning. Because working time fraud is not a trivial offense. What companies need to do now.
Dusseldorf. Elias Cos* says there is “no better trick” for working time fraud than using the mouse. All he needs for his fraud is a wristwatch with a second hand. He places his computer mouse on it. The red light lights up as the second hand rotates - the trick simulates a moving mouse. And that in turn simulates that he is working. This means that his status is displayed as available in the company's messaging service Teams.
Instead of the contractually regulated eight-hour day, Elias Cos only works between four and five hours a day. In his free time he washes clothes, tidies up or does sports. “If it’s made that easy for you, you’ll do it,” Cos says.
He doesn't feel good about the fraud. The more Cos tells us, the clearer it becomes that there is more than just audacity behind the working time fraud. And it becomes clear: If you want to prevent such abuse, you have to understand the motives of the fraudsters.
If employees only act as if they are working but in reality do not keep the working hours, this is working time fraud. It occurs when employees, for example, shop during working hours, go to the gym or, as Cos does, manipulate working hours.
Working time fraud is enormously damaging to companies. The industrial psychologist Laura Venz from the Leuphana University of Lüneburg even says: “Every minute that you don’t work is harmful because absences are so expensive.” But that's not all: working time fraud works like a virus that spreads to other colleagues, says Venz. After all, no one wants to be the stupid one, so that other colleagues can also withdraw their work.
This is how working time fraud is judged in court
Because the potential damage can be so great, cases of fraudulent working hours regularly concern labor courts, and some end with dramatic consequences for the employment relationship.
May 2022, Thuringia State Labor Court: An employee did not clock out for smoking breaks. The employer then fired her. The court ruled that the ordinary termination was legal.
January 2023, Hamm Regional Labor Court: A cleaner had not clocked out when she went for a coffee in the restaurant opposite. The cleaner initially denied her behavior, but the boss offered to show photo evidence. The court ruled that the employee’s dismissal was legal.
February 2024, Lower Saxony State Labor Court: A works council chairman registered for a three-day training conference, but only took part on the first day. In his proof of work he indicated full participation. The judgment concluded that the termination without notice was legal.
Many employees are not even aware of the deception, says labor law specialist Nathalie Oberthür, “but intentional fraud in working hours can constitute grounds for dismissal.” This is one of the reasons why it was a sensitive call that the Handelsblatt launched on the LinkedIn career network.
Anyone who cheats on working hours risks being fired. Photo: Imago/Westend61
Over 30 people, almost all of them men, contacted the Handelsblatt. They wrote: “In fact, I see myself as guilty in the context of the context,” or more specifically: “I have a contract for 40 hours a week and in many weeks I don’t work more than 20.”
Those who spoke to the authors on the phone wanted to remain anonymous for fear of the consequences and therefore went by different names. Not everyone had a guilty conscience, but they all shared a bad feeling and a need to explain themselves.
When trust-based working time is exploited
Before 29-year-old Elias Cos discovered the mouse and clock trick, he set up meetings with himself in his online calendar. So the controller was considered busy. At some point it became too noticeable. Even before that, he was even an ambitious employee.
In his previous jobs at accounting firms, Cos says, he worked a lot of overtime. "But I was paid for that too. Now there is trust-based working time. So I have no incentive to work more than I have to."
He explains why he still works a maximum of half of the contractual working hours: "The tasks are boring, I only need a tenth of the time, and I'm left alone when I have questions." He once asked for new tasks, “but they were boring too.”
At some point, Cos started calling in sick more and more often. His boss offered him a termination agreement. Elias Cos signed.
This is how widespread working time fraud is
13 percent of employees regularly do not record their working hours correctly, and around three quarters of all employees have already done private things during working hours. These are the results of a representative survey conducted by the market research institute Consumerfieldwork on behalf of Timo, a provider of time recording solutions, from this fall. They surveyed 1,000 employees and 373 employers. According to the survey, two thirds of employers fear economic damage from working time fraud.
Young employees between 18 and 29 are three times as likely to do private things during working hours as employees of other generations, according to the Timo survey. Photo: E+/Getty Images
Lawyer Nathalie Oberthür knows that employees' concerns about working time fraud can be justified because she regularly represents clients in cases of working time fraud. “An employee has an obligation not to do any private things during working hours,” she says of current labor law, “if he has to work from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., he is not allowed to read private emails at 9 a.m.”
In practice, however, the working time requirements are often laxer than the law: "There is often a social custom in companies where working hours and breaks are not clearly defined. Without clear guidelines from the company, a violation of work obligations cannot easily be sanctioned," says Oberthür. Therefore, not every cigarette break is a form of working time fraud, but can also be a simple breach of duty, which the employer may issue a warning about. “Fraud always requires an element of deception,” said the lawyer.
Coffee breaks do not necessarily mean cheating on working hours. Photo: dpa
And the deception becomes easier and easier. Cheaters no longer even need to own a wristwatch to cheat on Elias Cos' working hours with the mouse. So-called mouse jigglers are available from Amazon for just six euros, which prevent the PC from switching to sleep mode. A Jiggler with 5,377 customer reviews even made it into the top 100 bestsellers in the mice, keyboards and input devices category.
Working time fraud: The “revenge” of employees
Timo Hammer* doesn't care about the economic damage he could potentially cause to his company. He is a consultant for artificial intelligence at one of the four largest accounting firms, the “Big Four”. “I know how advisors rip off customers, I don’t think it’s a bad thing if I rip them off,” says Hammer.
It is unclear to his superiors how long he needs to complete his tasks. He can always be reached via his work cell phone, but he only works 15 hours of the agreed 40. In his free time he goes jogging, shopping, he spends a long time training during working hours, and sometimes he just sleeps. “I party a lot, so I need sleep,” says Hammer.
If you can party, you can also work... right? Photo: DigitalVision/Getty Images
However, the real reason for his lack of enthusiasm for work is that he is not being promoted. No matter how hard he tries, says Hammer. Even a colleague who worked 60 hours was not promoted. “The budget isn’t there.” Just like his work motivation.
For work psychologist Venz, working time fraud is the result of so-called personal factors, such as how conscientious an employee is, and situational factors, such as working conditions or living situation.
Part time
Do Germans really not want the 40-hour week?
“The fact that someone is just lazy is an individual case,” says Venz. According to the industrial psychologist, negative aspects in the workplace are much more often the reason for counterproductive behavior on the part of employees. “Working time fraud is like a small revenge against the employer.” Or there is an error in the system.
How the performance principle reaches its limits when it comes to weekly working hours
In Germany, performance is measured and paid primarily based on working hours. If you only fill a half-time position instead of a full-time position, you will usually only be paid for half. The system is initially easy to control and pay for, but is it also up-to-date? What about the one who is simply more efficient than the others?
Friedrich Körber* is 26 years old and a manager of several hundred employees. “I could work four days instead of five, maybe even just three, and have the same output,” says Körber. He simply finished all the tasks quicker than expected. At first he “gave it his all”, then he was given new tasks and was still able to finish it even quicker.
» Read also: Why Germans work too little – and how that could really be changed
Körber is aware that his employer would actually expect him to look for new projects if he took on such a leadership role. But if they don't contribute to the specified goals, Körber leaves it alone.
Körber achieves its goals much faster than expected. That's why he goes to lunch for hours in his free time. Photo: imago/photothek
Anyway, his job is all about achieving annual goals. But if he exceeds them, it will only lead to an increase in the goals. So Friedrich Körber prefers to aim for the exact target value. Everyone is happy with him anyway. “I get regular feedback and am constantly being promoted. That’s why I don’t worry about being exposed,” says Körber.
Is it right not to look so closely at working hours when goals are achieved? Photo: IMAGO/Zoonar
He would prefer to only work part-time. Even for half the money. “If I asked about part-time work, my bosses would say that it wasn’t possible in my position as a manager,” says Körber. But that's why it wouldn't bother him if his employees worked less than they should, as long as the goals were right. “I assume my employees are chilling too.”
What prevents working time fraud
For work psychologist Venz, the pure focus on working hours for performance measurement is outdated. It would be better if, in addition to the hours worked, the tasks completed also became a performance indicator. “But that depends on realistic planning.” Simply giving higher goals to those who finish faster is counterproductive, says Venz. It would be better to give more responsibility.
In order to know overall how long employees need to complete tasks, time tracking is an opportunity, says Venz. However, simply using this as a control instrument only helps companies to a limited extent. “Anyone who wants to take revenge on their employer can also do so using other means beyond fraudulent working hours,” says the industrial psychologist. Banning working from home is also not the solution. “All empirical data does not even come close to suggesting that working from home leads to more fraudulent working hours,” says Venz. On the contrary.
The work psychologist sees a solution in more flexibility of times. The more inflexible the working hours, the more necessary fraud sometimes becomes.
This woman cheats out of necessity
Anna Tiefer* is the mother of two schoolchildren and works as a clerk for a city. She actually should work 28 hours a day, but since she became a single parent she can no longer do that. Some time ago, Tiefer asked her manager to reduce her hours. In vain.
Some employees feel forced to cheat due to the lack of flexibility. Photo: dpa
Anna Tiefer stuck to her 28 hours. But whenever the children's doctor's appointment comes up, she doesn't take the absence into account. She works around three hours less per week. "Of course I feel bad, I'm cheating the taxpayer. But I just can't manage the 28 hours," says the clerk. That’s why Tiefer tries to do her work particularly well, “and I get my projects done in a timely manner.”
Germany has a problem with working time fraud. But much bigger than the problem of people working too little is the problem of people working too much, says industrial psychologist Venz. Finally, overload can also lead to expensive absenteeism. "In Germany there is a mindset of hard work. We don't want to let the team down, we are loyal and have the desire to fulfill expectations," says Venz.
