Do I Have to Be Paid for Preparation Time?

The short answer for everyday restaurant work

Yes. In Germany, preparation time generally has to be paid if the business requires it and it is necessary for the work. In a restaurant, that can include getting the till ready, preparing the card terminal and your service station, or completing mandatory closing tasks at the end. What is not automatically paid is the normal commute or purely private preparation. The key point is not whether someone is already inside the building, but whether an operational task has already begun. That basic line is supported by Federal Labour Court case law current as of 30 September 2026, especially on necessary preparatory time and the distinction between time recording and pay claims.

I therefore do not organise this by gut feeling, but with one clear question: what is genuinely required before guests can be served or orders can be processed? If I require a server to be there ten minutes before opening to check glassware, restock the station and verify the float, that is no longer free time. A typical example is simple: the door opens at 5:00 pm, but the till is supposed to be counted by 4:50 pm and the receipt roll checked. Then I schedule the shift from 4:50 pm or earlier and let time recording start for exactly that purpose. That avoids the unfair message, “Please come early, but unpaid.” At the same time, the shift lead knows from when tasks may actually be assigned.

What usually counts as preparation time in hospitality

In hospitality, preparation time is the necessary work done before or after the main service activity. That can include setting up the workstation, starting and checking business equipment, stocking the station with napkins or takeaway packaging, counting the cash float, checking a reservation list, or completing a mandatory closing routine. If I specify in service that certain checkpoints must be done before the first guest arrives, that strongly indicates paid working time. It is different when someone chooses to come earlier and does things the business neither requires nor needs. Even a quick check of the terrace, entrance and toilets can fall under preparation time if it is a fixed part of the shift start.

This often gets blurred in restaurants because many tasks are short and happen in passing. For example, a bartender arrives five minutes early, drinks a coffee first and then takes off a private jacket. Those five minutes are not automatically working time. If the same person immediately fills ice, prepares garnishes and checks the dispensing system according to house procedure, we are talking about work. It is also important to separate presence time from working time: being on site does not always mean paid work has already started, because real breaks or private waiting time are treated differently. In practice, that distinction matters more than a single minute, because otherwise relaxed attendance quietly turns into an unfair expectation of free labour.

Changing, washing and walking inside the premises: where the line is

With changing clothes, there is no universal answer. Necessary changing time and the related walking time inside the business can be payable if the employer prescribes the clothing or process so clearly that the preparation is not merely private. Germany’s Federal Labour Court made that clear in its decision on changing and cleaning time, current as of 30 September 2026: Federal Labour Court, 5 AZR 212/23. So if I require kitchen clothing to be put on only at the premises and there is then a fixed walk to the production area, I should not dismiss that time as a private side issue. The same applies where hygienically necessary cleaning is inseparable from the required process.

That does not mean everything somehow connected to the start of work is automatically paid preparation time. The ordinary commute from home to the restaurant is usually not part of paid preparation time. Nor does voluntary early arrival become payable just because someone wants to get ready in peace. A practical example: a server arrives at 3:40 pm although the shift starts at 4:00 pm, hangs up a coat and touches up make-up. That remains private time. But if I require that by 3:50 pm the terminal has already been collected, the dining room checked and the team folder reviewed, the start moves into paid working time. I therefore draw the line at operational necessity, not at mere presence or the fact that someone is especially punctual.

Why a time stamp alone does not fully decide pay

Even when I record time cleanly, the punch itself does not answer every pay question. The Federal Labour Court distinguishes between recording working time and actually being entitled to payment for overtime or extra minutes. In a dispute about overtime pay, the issue is which hours were really worked and whether the employer caused or required them; that is shown by Federal Labour Court, 5 AZR 359/21. For restaurant operations, that means an early check-in at 4:32 pm does not by itself prove that I ordered 28 minutes of preparation work. As the operator, I need clear rules and I need to review exceptions in a traceable way. Otherwise every deviation turns into a dispute about assumptions instead of concrete assigned tasks.

I solve that organisationally in three steps. First, I define by role which preparation is mandatory and how long it realistically takes, for example seven minutes for bar setup or twelve minutes for a till-and-terrace start. Second, I define from what time punching in is permitted for that purpose. Third, I do not treat deviations as automatically good or bad, but ask for the reason. If someone regularly clocks in twenty minutes early, I look beyond the number and ask about the task: was there a delivery, a handover, or simply habit? That turns a bare timestamp into a fair, reviewable process instead of a grey area. For the shift lead, that also means not silently tolerating excessively early starts, but actively stopping them or formally approving them.

How I organise preparation time fairly in the team instead of by casual instruction

The most common mistake is the unofficial early start. In practice it sounds like this: “Please be there before things begin,” but the rota still shows the later time. I avoid exactly that. If preparatory work is mandatory, it belongs inside the scheduled shift. For my team, that means clear start points, fixed checklists and unambiguous responsibilities. With clean shift planning and traceable time recording, I can reflect those requirements properly in daily operations; how I structure roles, shifts and time data is part of giving the team a clear start to each shift. That does not replace legal review, but it creates the order we need in the business. It also matters who may approve exceptions and who may only report them.

A service example makes it concrete: opening is at 6:00 pm, the first reservations arrive at 6:15 pm, and before that the dining room has to be checked once, cutlery topped up and the station prepared with water and the bill folder. Then I do not schedule the shift from 6:00 pm, but perhaps from 5:45 pm if those fifteen minutes are genuinely needed. The same applies to closing work: if polished cutlery, locking the till and a short handover are mandatory, the shift does not end with the last contact with a guest. The decisive point is that I do not quietly rely on free labour, but plan the necessary time in advance and document it afterwards so it can be checked. With changing teams, that also prevents the typical conflict where new staff “voluntarily” begin earlier than experienced colleagues.

Special cases: instruction, breaks and chaotic handovers

If I instruct employees, that is not private time either. Under section 12 of the German Occupational Safety and Health Act, instruction must be task-related and take place during working time; it is required before someone first performs the task or uses new equipment, current for Germany as of 30 September 2026: ArbSchG section 12. For example, if I introduce a new card terminal or a changed till routine and require the team to attend a twenty-minute briefing before service, I schedule those twenty minutes as working time. They do not disappear into an allegedly voluntary pre-shift meeting. The same applies to a mandatory safety briefing for new equipment in the kitchen or storage area.

It is just as important to separate preparation time from a break. A real break exists only when the person can freely use that time. If someone has to stay nearby between two waves of guests, wait for deliveries or sort glasses on the side, that is not an undisturbed break. On the other hand, not every idle minute automatically becomes payable extra work. In chaotic handovers, what helps me most is one shared operational structure so that handovers, reservation status and till questions do not stick to individuals. For that wider connection between floor, service and closing, I need one connected workflow for the whole restaurant day. In practical terms, handovers get a time slot, but not a hidden duration outside the plan.

How I avoid disputes about preparation time and what staff should raise

When someone asks me whether preparation time must be paid, I check four points first: was the activity necessary, was it expected by me or by my shift lead, when exactly did it begin, and how is it documented? In many cases that already produces the fair answer. One practical trap is the word “voluntary.” If everyone in the team knows that the operation cannot start properly without arriving early, that voluntariness is often only apparent. In that case, I would rather correct the rota than rely on an unspoken expectation. In a restaurant, fairness is cheaper than arguing every week about ten minutes that keep coming back. I also check whether the same task arises every day or only on certain shifts such as terrace service, brunch or a delivery intake.

For employees and staff representatives, I put it this way: do not speak only about clock times, speak about concrete tasks. “I was already there” is less precise than “I was supposed to count the till, open the outside area and check the first reservation.” For me as the operator, the right solution is usually not complicated: put mandatory tasks into the shift, open time recording accordingly, clarify exceptions with reasons and do not make closing work invisible. Where contracts, works agreements or collective rules contain specific arrangements, I review those as well in the German context. But the basic rule remains clear: necessary preparation time that the business requires is not an unpaid favour. It is part of properly organised work, and if I require that work, I have to treat it as part of the real start of the shift.