New draft Royal Decree on time recording: new developments in time control

The draft proposes to turn time recording into a much more robust, transparent and controllable instrument. The face-to-face or manual system - sheets of paper, Excel or "artisanal" systems - will become obsolete, as the regulation would impose a mandatory digital register that guarantees traceability, authenticity and permanent availability. The register would have to capture not only the start and end of the working day, but also interruptions, breaks and clearly specify whether the hours are ordinary, overtime or on-call. In this sense, each worker would have to clock in "personally and directly", and the system would have to have identity verification mechanisms.

Another central issue is accessibility: not only the worker but also the Labour Inspectorate must be able to consult the records telematically, immediately and remotely. This means that the systems will have to be interoperable with the labour inspection bodies.

As for sanctions, the Ministry had contemplated raising the amounts to €10,000 per worker affected, but this still faces legal obstacles and would require additional parliamentary reform. For now, it is more likely that the current system of sanctions per company will be maintained, although the criteria could be tightened.

The draft decree takes on greater urgency as it dissociates itself from the controversial reduction of the working week to 37.5 hours - a measure that has met with parliamentary resistance - in order to move forward with regulatory control of working hours. The government understands that it must also respond to European and judicial mandates that require a reliable record of working hours.

The Council of Ministers recently approved the urgent processing of this regulation, which reduces deadlines and allows the decree to enter into force in about five months if everything goes according to plan. However, the text still has to go through inter-ministerial and consultative bodies, leaving room for last-minute changes.

For businesses, this means that getting ahead of the curve is already an imperative. It is recommended to evaluate current registration systems, invest in digital tools with integrity certification, design access protocols, and train staff so that there are no "light-versions" of the fichaje. The actual adaptation period may be short, and not being prepared could lead to administrative sanctions and reproaches.