Ruhezeit under § 5 ArbZG

The Ruhezeit, the statutory rest period under § 5 Arbeitszeitgesetz, is the continuous time free from work between two assignments. It must be at least 11 hours and must not be interrupted by short assignments, on-call duty or handovers.

In the security industry, the rest period is the most frequently overlooked ArbZG conflict because guards often work at several sites and on changing shift patterns. Example: Anyone who works a night shift until 6 may start the next shift no earlier than 17.

For certain industries, § 5 Abs. 2 permits a reduction to as little as 10 hours if it is compensated within one month by extending another rest period. The details must be documented properly.

This is precisely where an automated check helps: It identifies a rest period that is too short at the moment of assignment and warns before the roster is published.