0_2936 Starting from a microscopic system-baths description, we derive the general conditions for a
time-local quantum master equation (QME) to satisfy the first and second law of thermodynamics
at the fluctuating level. Using counting statistics, we show that the fluctuating second law can
be rephrased as a Generalized Quantum Detailed Balance condition (GQDB), i.e., a symmetry of
the time-local generators which ensures the validity of the fluctuation theorem. When requiring
in addition a strict system-bath energy conservation, the GQDB reduces to the usual notion of
detailed balance which ensures QMEs with Gibbsian steady states. However, if energy conservation
is only required on average, QMEs with non Gibbsian steady states can still maintain a certain level
of thermodynamic consistency. Applying our theory to commonly used QMEs, we show that the
Redfield equation breaks the GQDB, and that some recently derived approximation schemes based
on the Redfield equation (which hold beyond the secular approximation and allow to derive a QME
of Lindblad form) satisfy the GQDB and the average first law. We find that performing the secular
approximation is the only way to ensure the first and second law at the fluctuating level.