Recording working hours: national requirement from 2027

Belgium is moving towards a general requirement for all employers to record working hours from 1 January 2027. This development is not an isolated decision: it gives concrete expression to the requirement arising from European case law (CJEU, 2019) — according to which Member States must ensure the existence of an objective, reliable and accessible system for measuring daily working time — and reflects a national political desire to better monitor compliance with labour law and combat abuse.

What will change in practical terms?

From 2027, all employers will be required to have a system for recording their employees’ actual working hours. The form of the system is not imposed in a dogmatic manner: the obligation focuses on the result (objectivity, reliability, accessibility of data) and leaves companies technical leeway. A simple manual table will only be acceptable if it meets reliability requirements; in practice, most SMEs and large companies will opt for a digital solution (time clock, terminal, cloud software, HRIS integration).

Why this obligation?

There are three main objectives:

• To ensure compliance with maximum working hours and rest periods (prevention of excessive working hours).
• End certain flexible practices that are not documented (unrecorded hours, misuse of ‘self-employed’ status).
• Improve transparency during social inspections and the clarity of wage costs.

Practical consequences for employers

• Investment: deployment of a tool (software, hardware) + adaptation of HR procedures.
• Data protection: the register contains personal data; the GDPR must be complied with (minimisation, retention period, restricted access, legal basis).
• Social negotiation: it is prudent to involve the social partners immediately — adaptation of work regulations, information for staff representatives, training for managers.
• Inspections: documents to be produced during an inspection (export of the register, justification of overtime, etc.). Penalties for non-compliance are possible (fines, corrections).

Points to consider

• Scope: teleworkable positions, mobile work, on-call duty — all cases that need to be specified contractually and technically.
• The use of a single badge system must be carefully considered (risk of excessive monitoring, managerial image).
• Start-ups and very small organisations must integrate a proportionate solution: there are economical and flexible cloud-based tools available.