A café that calls in three extra staff on Friday evening. A restaurant with ten employees one week and five the next. A hotel kitchen running early, late, and night shifts in one day. Hospitality is one of the sectors where time tracking is most complex — and at the same time most often handled informally.
Paper timesheets, WhatsApp messages with scheduled shifts, or reconstructing after the fact how many hours an on-call worker put in: these are familiar scenarios. This article describes what the law requires and how digital time tracking can work in practice for small hospitality businesses.
What does the Working Time Act require of hospitality businesses?
Employers in the Netherlands are required under the Arbeidstijdenwet (Working Time Act) to record the working hours of their employees. This applies to hospitality too. The law sets rules on maximum working hours, minimum rest periods, and breaks — and it is the employer's responsibility to demonstrate compliance.
Key obligations for hospitality operators:
- Record working hours — you must be able to show when an employee started and finished
- Minimum rest period — employees are entitled to at least 11 consecutive hours of rest between shifts
- Break for shifts over 5.5 hours — employees working more than 5.5 hours in a row are entitled to a break
- Retention period — hours records must be kept for at least 5 years for employment law purposes; for payroll and tax purposes, the Belastingdienst requires 7 years
Consult the CAO Horeca (hospitality collective labour agreement) or your sector association for rules on shift premiums and overtime that go beyond the Working Time Act.
On-call workers and zero-hours contracts: extra attention needed
Many hospitality businesses work with on-call staff on zero-hours contracts. Under the Wet arbeidsmarkt in balans (WAB), additional rules apply:
- After 12 months of on-call work, the employee is entitled to a contract with a fixed number of hours (based on the average of the past 12 months)
- You must call in on-call workers at least 4 days in advance; if you cancel within 4 days, the employee retains the right to wage payment
Without accurate hours records, it is virtually impossible to calculate the 12-month average. This makes digital registration not just convenient but legally necessary.
Why paper timesheets no longer work
Hospitality has traditionally recorded hours on paper forms, in Excel, or through verbal agreements. That still just works for small teams on fixed shifts, but quickly causes problems with variable staffing:
- Paper slips get lost or are filled in after the fact
- Employees forget exactly when they started or stopped
- Overtime and shift premiums are not calculated automatically
- During an Inspectie SZW inspection, there is no complete administration
- Processing hours into payroll takes unnecessarily long
How digital time tracking works in hospitality
For a hospitality business there are two practical models:
Model 1: employee self-registers
Employees log in via their smartphone to a time tracking app, enter hours after their shift (or clock in on arrival and out on departure), and the manager approves. Works well for small teams where employees work independently.
Model 2: manager registers for the team
For larger teams or staff without smartphones, the manager or shift leader records hours centrally — tracking start and end times per employee per shift.
What PrikKlokPlus offers for small hospitality businesses
PrikKlokPlus is not a sector-specific hospitality tool, but suits small hospitality businesses looking for a simple, affordable solution for time tracking and invoicing.
- Employees enter hours via mobile browser — no app installation required
- Manager approves before processing — unapproved hours are excluded from reports
- Hours overview per employee — immediate insight into who worked how many hours in a period
- Project linking — useful for catering companies or event operators tracking hours per assignment
- Invoicing — for caterers or hospitality businesses billing services to corporate clients
For businesses with large workforces and complex shift rosters, sector-specific tools such as Planday or Shiftbase are better suited.
Frequently asked questions about time tracking in hospitality
Do I need to record break times as well?
The Working Time Act requires you to demonstrate that employees received their statutory break for shifts over 5.5 hours. In practice this means recording the start and end time of the break, or total break duration per shift. Check the applicable CAO for any additional break requirements in your sector.
What if an employee forgets to enter their hours?
In PrikKlokPlus, the manager can enter or correct hours on behalf of an employee. The approval workflow ensures hours are only processed after both parties have agreed.
How long must I keep hours records?
For employment law purposes, a minimum retention period of 5 years applies. For payroll and tax purposes, the Belastingdienst requires 7 years. Always store hours records digitally or in an organised physical archive that can be produced during an inspection.
Is a digital system sufficient proof during an inspection?
Digital time registration is accepted as administration, provided records are tamper-evident and cannot be altered after the fact without a trace. Systems with an approval workflow and timestamp history provide the strongest basis for this.