This law was brought in in May 2019. High penalties may be incurred for non-compliance.
“The use of employee time cards is no longer a matter of company policy in Spain; it became compulsory on May 12th due to a new law. The intentions of the new regulation, however, differ from the dated motivation of companies desiring to track workers. This initiative arose out of consideration for the welfare of the worker, with the goal of reconciling work and personal life more feasible by holding companies accountable for abusive work hours and unpaid overtime, which are reportedly frequent in some traditional sectors of the Spanish labour market.”
Despite the statements from the Labour Minister on the granting of a moratorium for those companies that are negotiating with their employees on how they will implement the registration the daily hours worked. The reality is that many companies are still not complying.
Inspections have been made, especially in the hospitality sector , mostly in bars and restaurants in the Malasaña neighbourhood of Madrid. The inspections were made after 9:30 p.m.
It is important to know that for non-compliance of this law, there are severe panalties which can result in fines of between 626 and 6,250 euros for each establishment.
Regarding the negotiations with the representatives of the workers, the Inspection takes this into account , but it is something that affects large companies more than the small businesses, where it is relatively easy to keep records on, for instance, up to 10 employees.
If a digital method has been implemented for registration, either through a hardware device or through an App, it is essential to have control of reports and to be able to review what employees are doing.
It must be taken into account that the person in charge must be aware of whether an employee has not registered his / her work or has done it incorrectly, in order to rectify these situations . It is the company in any case, that is responsible, not the worker, although it is possible to negotiate the imposition of penalties if you do not comply with the registration repeatedly.
If, as a result of the inspections of time records, if it is verified that they are not paying extra hours or worse still, the working day hours are exceeded , the penalties could be much higher . It must be borne in mind that complaints of excessive working hours before inspection are the second most popular reason for these changes to legislation.
If in doubt, consult your gestor.
Cover Photo: El Pais
