The 2024 Spanish Labour Bill introduces significant changes to the management of the working day, highlighting the obligation to implement digital systems for time tracking. This measure aims to guarantee the authenticity, traceability and accessibility of records, both for employees and the Labour Inspectorate.
Requirements of the new regulation
- Keep a daily working-time record for every employee, without exception based on company size.
- Guarantee objectivity and reliability: paper or Excel spreadsheets are no longer valid because they can be altered without an audit trail.
- Ensure accessibility: records must be immediately available to the employee, workers' representatives and the Labour Inspectorate.
- Keep records for at least 4 years, in a format that allows verification and reproduction.
Exceptions to the time control law
- Senior managers (art. 1.3.c Workers' Statute).
- Self-employed workers.
- Working members of cooperatives.
-
Special employment relationships:
- Domestic services.
- Professional athletes.
- Artists.
- Other categories listed in article 2 of the Workers' Statute.
In the case of interns and trainees, time tracking must be carried out since their working hours are subject to control by the education centre and the collaborating company.
When will the new digital time-tracking law come into force?
The bill is currently in the Preliminary Draft phase, awaiting approval by the Council of Ministers and subsequent parliamentary processing. Once published in the Official State Gazette (BOE), companies typically have a transition period (usually 6 months) to adapt their systems.
We recommend that companies start preparing now to comply with the law's requirements and avoid future penalties. With tools like ETEMPUS you can already meet all the requirements of the new law without waiting until the last minute.
Will paper time tracking be banned?
The answer is yes. Paper records will not comply with the new requirements of authenticity, traceability and real-time accessibility.
Will Excel time tracking be legal?
The answer is no, because it does not allow automatic audits and lacks the advanced security and real-time traceability required. A spreadsheet can be altered without leaving a trace, which contradicts the reliability principle the new regulation demands.
Which time tracking application to use?
With mandatory digitisation, companies must adopt software that records both entry and exit of each employee and can be audited. The change is part of an effort to combat labour fraud and simplify management, protecting both companies and workers.
Approved systems must offer: unequivocal identification of the employee, tamper-proof records, real-time access for the Labour Inspectorate, minimum 4-year retention, and legally valid PDF export.
Why ETEMPUS?
Because it's not just a time tracking tool, it's your ally to simplify processes, avoid problems and gain time:
- Nominal, tamper-proof and traceable records.
- Real-time access from the browser to any date range.
- Legal PDF export for the Labour Inspectorate in one click.
- Optional geolocation of clock-ins.
- Multi-workplace and multi-employee management from a single dashboard.
- Compliant with GDPR and AEPD criteria (PIN over biometrics).