Many German employers keep an Arbeitszeitkonto, a working-time account. Extra hours are credited to it as plus hours, and they are later taken back as time off. According to the Institute for Employment Research, IAB, about 37 percent of all employees had such a short-term account in 2023. The share of workplaces with these accounts had doubled to 29 percent. At the end of 2023, the average account holder had 30.4 plus hours. In total, about 473 million hours were held on these accounts. Some employers also offer long-term accounts. In these, pay is saved as a Wertguthaben, a value credit, for a later period of paid leave, such as care leave or early retirement.