Is answering emails at home in the evening working time?

Yes. German working-time law does not depend on the place. If you work, you work, at home and in the evening too.

Is briefly reading a message from my employer working time?

According to a 2023 Federal Labour Court ruling, not if it is a very short moment, such as reading a text with tomorrow’s rota (5 AZR 349/22).

Am I doing something wrong if my rest period is shorter than eleven hours?

Under the Working Time Act, the duty to grant rest periods lies with the employer. Write the time down honestly anyway.

Magazine · The law, calmly explained

Back on the laptop in the evening: does it count as working time?

In short

Yes. If you answer emails or work on slides at home in the evening, that is working time, because German working-time law does not care where you work. Only very short things, such as reading a text with tomorrow’s rota, do not count according to the Federal Labour Court. Write the time down. Rest periods are your employer’s responsibility, not yours.

By Fieravend · Heidrich Digital · Published 20 October 2026 · As of 20 October 2026 · Reading time 6 minutes

Work is work, even on the sofa

Mira works at an agency. She goes home at 6 pm, and at 9:30 pm she opens her laptop again because a client wants the slides first thing tomorrow. An hour later she is done. Many people would say: it was only short, and voluntary. For the law, it is working time.

Section 2 of the German Working Time Act describes working time as the time from the start to the end of work, without breaks. It does not mention a place. What counts is that you work, not where. That applies in the office, at home, on the train and on the sofa. If you work for two employers, the times are even added together.

What does not count

Not every glance at your phone is work. In 2023 the Federal Labour Court had the case of a paramedic who was expected to read a text with his shift for the next day in his free time. The court said: reading it is not working time. The moment was so short, and he could choose when to read the message. It does not interrupt the rest period.

Being reachable while doing nothing is usually not work either. It is different once you actually get something done: answering emails, finishing a document, taking a call. Exactly where the line is has not been decided for every case. A rule of thumb: if you would write it down as work in the office, write it down in the evening too.

And the rest period?

In Germany, at least eleven hours of uninterrupted rest are required after the end of the daily working time (section 5 ArbZG). The EU Working Time Directive sets the same eleven hours per 24 hours. If Mira worked until 10:30 pm, eleven hours would take her to 9:30 am before the next start.

That does not mean Mira did anything wrong. The Working Time Act is addressed to employers: under section 22, it is an administrative offence for an employer not to grant the rest period. You risk nothing by writing it down. Quite the opposite: without a record, nobody sees that the evening happened at all.

Fieravend shows this as a calm hint, never as an alarm: when you stopped, when you started again, how much time lay in between. No red, no “violation”. What you do with it is up to you.

Writing it down, even if your boss “does not want it”

Some employers say: we do not work in the evening, so there is no time for it. Your own notes about your own work are still your business. No law we know of forbids you from writing down for yourself when you worked. Just keep customer data and business secrets out of your notes.

Whether you get paid for the evening hour is a different question. According to the Federal Labour Court, it also depends on whether your employer ordered, approved or tolerated the work, or whether it was necessary. So a short note is worth it: “Client wants slides by 8 am, manager asked at 5:50 pm.” More in the article Who ordered the overtime?.

How to record the evening

Enter it right awayStart and end, or at least the duration. By the next morning you often do not remember exactly.
As a separate blockDo not add it to the working day. A separate block shows that the work happened in the evening and makes the gap to the next morning visible.
With one sentence on whyWho asked, what was due. That is enough.
Adding it later is fineIn Fieravend a block added later stays marked as “added later”. That is honest and makes your record more credible, not weaker.

A look further afield

Australia introduced a “right to disconnect” in 2024, and since August 2025 it also applies in small businesses. Employees there may ignore contact outside working hours unless that is unreasonable. Germany has no such law. All the more reason to see for yourself how often your evening off was not really off.

Quick questions

Is answering emails at home in the evening working time?: Yes. German working-time law does not depend on the place. If you work, you work, at home and in the evening too.
Is briefly reading a message from my employer working time?: According to a 2023 Federal Labour Court ruling, not if it is a very short moment, such as reading a text with tomorrow’s rota (5 AZR 349/22).
Am I doing something wrong if my rest period is shorter than eleven hours?: Under the Working Time Act, the duty to grant rest periods lies with the employer. Write the time down honestly anyway.

Sources

All sources checked on 20 October 2026. This article explains things in general and is not legal advice. For questions about your own case, a works council, union, the Chamber of Labour (Austria) or an employment lawyer can help.