Control of working hours in Spain

12/03/2019.- Today, the Royal Decree-Law 8/2019 dated 12th March has been approved and published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) which includes, among other measures, the obligation for companies to record the working hours of their staff on a daily basis, and thus increase the control of working hours in Spain. 

 Until now it was only compulsory to register the working day of part-time workers. However, the amendment of articles 4, 12, 34 and 35 of the Workers’ Statute, by means of the above mentioned Royal Decree-Law, imposes on companies the obligation to implement a system for recording the effective working hours of full-time workers who have not expressly undertaken, individually or collectively, to work overtime and, in this way, control unpaid or fraudulent overtime.

Main aspects of the new regulation on control of working hours in Spain:

 – In the first place, companies are required to guarantee the registration of daily working hours. This record must include the specific start and end times of the working day of each worker, without prejudice to the flexibility of the timetable.

 -Through collective bargaining or company agreement or, failing this, a decision by the employer after consultation with the legal representatives of the workers in the company, this record of working hours shall be organized and documented. The company is free to choose the modal or type of registration to comply with this obligation (electronically through a signing system or manually with the signature of the worker).

 -In addition, records of the working day must be kept for four years. They shall remain at the disposal of workers and workers’ representatives. Records shall also be available to the Labour and Social Security Authorities.

 -Failure to comply with this obligation shall be considered a serious infringement. Consequently, it will be punishable by a maximum fine of 6,250 euros.

 Finally, companies have two months (running from March 12th) to apply this measure.

 For further information on the working day register, please do not hesitate to contact us. From Avantges Outsourcing we will be delighted to solve all those questions you may have.