As of today, Article 10 of Royal Decree-Law 8/2019, which amended Article 34 of the Workers' Statute, establishes the following:
"The company shall ensure the daily recording of the workday, which must include the specific start and end times of each employee’s workday. The company shall retain the records referred to in this provision for four years and make them available to employees, their legal representatives, and the Labor and Social Security Inspectorate."
Must the workday record be digital starting in 2025?
Here’s how your company should handle it:
- Companies that fail to register their employees’ working hours will have to pay full-time wages to part-time employees.
- Furthermore, incorrect time registration could result in fines exceeding €10,000, according to recent government updates.
- This measure aims to combat labor fraud, as it is still common in Spain for companies not to properly record employees’ overtime.
- To enhance compliance, the Ministry of Labor has proposed that the Inspectorate be granted remote access to companies’ workday records.
How should the workday be recorded?
Clocking in with fingerprints?
As of November 23, 2023, companies are no longer allowed to require employees to clock in using fingerprint scanners or facial recognition. To use biometric data, voluntary consent is required and cannot be imposed.
The Supreme Court supports the need to clock in breaks for coffee, smoking, or breakfast and to deduct them from the workday. The TSJC (Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia) endorses the payment of overtime if the company fails to provide time records. In such cases, it is the company’s responsibility to produce the records to prove whether the claimed overtime was worked or not.
Key considerations for compliance: One aspect labor inspectors focus on is the start and end times of the workday. There must be at least 12 hours between shifts, and employees are entitled to at least one and a half days of rest per week.
Employees working remotely must also record their workday start and end times. Additionally, their right to digital disconnection must be guaranteed.
To strengthen the supervision of workday registration, the Ministry of Labor has proposed that inspectors be able to access records remotely.
What would this measure entail?
- A Digital Register (eliminating paper-based records).
- Remote Access (inspections could occur without in-person visits).
A new system of fines for non-compliance with workday recording, which could exceed €10,000 for companies.
This rigorous approach for 2025 aligns with the context of the potential reduction in working hours.
What happens if employees refuse to clock in?
In some cases, companies fulfill their obligation to implement a workday registration system, but employees choose not to clock in.
