The plaintiff was employed as a ticket inspector at public transport in Cologne. He recorded his working hours via a mobile app. The employer was reported that the plaintiff repeatedly pursued private matters, such as photo shoots, visits to mosques and hairdressers, during working hours, but did not record these times as breaks. The employer took this as an opportunity to hire a detective agency and to equip the company vehicle used by the plaintiff with a GPS tracker. The surveillance revealed that the plaintiff visited his girlfriend and visited bakeries during working hours. Recording break times? Bad news.

The employer resigned extraordinarily and without notice. The plaintiff filed an action for protection against dismissal. The employer filed a counterclaim and claimed reimbursement of detective costs in the amount of just under 22,000€.

The Cologne Regional Labor Court gave the employer the right. The plaintiff was convicted of repeated working time fraud. It could be ruled out that he had checked tickets at his girlfriend's apartment. The extraordinary and immediate termination was effective. The employer was also entitled to a refund of just under €22,000. Surveillance by the detective agency was permitted. Although there was an encroachment on the plaintiff's personal rights and right to informational self-determination, this interference was of low intensity. For example, monitoring was carried out only during the plaintiff's shift hours in public transport areas over a period of a few days and, in practice, only what any passer-by could also have noticed was documented.

Conclusion: Working time fraud is not a minor offense. If it happens repeatedly and to a non-irrelevant extent, it generally entitles him to extraordinary and immediate termination of the employment relationship. It is also possible to call in a detective agency to convict the crime. Data protection law does not help the perpetrator. Data protection does not protect perpetrators.