You can record short-time work in Timebutler and configure the working time account to be reduced automatically. Proceed as follows depending on your short-time work model:
Short-time work model 1: Employees on 50% or 100% short-time work (no fractions)
Create absence type “Short-time work”
Log in to Timebutler as an admin, click Settings > More… in the bottom left, then click Absence types on the right. Create a new absence type Short-time work (or Released due to short-time work). Enable the Reduces planned working time option. Set whether all employees may enter this absence type or only admins (and, if applicable, managers), then save the change.
Enter short-time work
You can now enter short-time work for individual employees the same way you would enter any other absence such as sick leave, training, or home office — either by clicking directly in the calendar or via Employees > Absences > Enter absence in the top left.
You can also create recurring entries, as with other absences — for example: “Every Monday and Friday from 1 April to 1 July.” In the absence entry form, enable the Create recurring entry option.
You can also create bulk entries for multiple employees at once. Click Employees > Absences > Enter absence in the top left, then click the Bulk entry link next to the employee selection box.
Short-time work and working time account
For days on which short-time work is entered, Timebutler reduces the planned working time to 0 h, since employees are not required to work on those days. For half-day short-time work entries, the planned working time is halved. This ensures the working time account is calculated correctly.
Short-time work model 2: Flexible or varying working hours, or percentages other than 50% or 100%
Option 1: Reduce planned working time
You can configure a reduced planned working time for a specific period — for example, 20% less than usual.
Employees continue to record their working time as normal and will naturally enter approximately 20% fewer hours, since they know they are working less. Short-time work is not recorded separately in Timebutler; it simply appears as though the employee works 20% less.
You only need to inform payroll once which employees are on 20% short-time work — payroll can then calculate automatically how many short-time work hours accrued in the month.
To configure this, log in to Timebutler as an admin and click Settings > Working days in the bottom left. Click the blue Edit button for the relevant employee, then click Add new period. You can now set different planned working times and weekly working days for the period before the short-time work phase and from the start of the short-time work phase.
Once the short-time work phase ends, add another period for the time after and increase the planned working time again.
Option 2: Leave planned working time unchanged, employees record short-time work separately
Alternatively, leave the planned working time unchanged and have each employee record their short-time work as a separate time entry.
For example, if an employee normally works Mon–Fri 8 h and from the following month works Mon–Fri 6 h with 2 h of short-time work, the employee records their actual working time as usual (approximately 6 h per day) and additionally records a separate time entry of 2 h each day, booked to the Short-time work category. At the end of the month, you can then evaluate how many hours of short-time work and how many hours of actual work each employee performed.
To do this, create the Short-time work category first. Log in to Timebutler as an admin, click Settings > More… in the bottom left, then click Time tracking on the right, then the Categories tab.
Note: Timebutler cannot and does not provide legal or tax advice. The information in this article is provided without warranty.
Note: Short-time work (Kurzarbeit) as described here refers to the German government-subsidized reduced working hours program. Similar schemes exist in other countries — such as partial unemployment (chômage partiel) in France, Cassa Integrazione in Italy, and furlough arrangements in the UK — but the legal frameworks, eligibility criteria, and administrative requirements differ by country. Check the applicable regulations before applying this configuration outside of Germany.