The time record of the work day.
On March 12, it was published in the Official State Gazette (hereinafter, “BOE“) Royal Decree Law 8/2019, on urgent social protection measures and the fight against job insecurity during the working day (hereinafter, “RDL 8/2019“).
Among other measures, RDL 8/2019 establishes the obligation to record the working day for all workers.
Indeed, RDL 8/2019 adds a new section to article 34 of Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015, of October 23, which approves the consolidated text of the Law on the Workers’ Statute (hereinafter, “E.T.“), with the following content:
“The companywill guarantee the daily registration of the day, which must include thespecific start and end time of the work day of each worker, without prejudice to the time flexibility established in this article. Through collective bargaining or a company agreement or, failing that, a decision by the employer after consultation with the legal representatives of the workers in the company, this working day record will be organized and documented. The company will keep the records referred to in this provision for four years and they will remain available to the workers, their legal representatives and the Labor and Social Security Inspection.”.
Before the entry into force of this RDL 8/2019, the time registration of the working day was mandatory only in cases of part-time working hours, with companies having the obligation, with regard to full-time workers, only to record the overtime hours that were performed through registration.
Now, as can be seen, the mandatory registration of working hours affects all companies and all workers (with the exception of some very specific cases).
Regarding the specific modalities for the daily recording of the day, the standard does not establish a specific or predetermined modality, therefore in principle any system or means suitable to meet the legal objective is valid.
Likewise, sanctions are established for failure to comply with the obligation to record the working hours of each worker, with fines of 626 to 6,250 euros.
The mandatory nature of time registration came into force this May 12, causing uncertainty about its applicability to certain groups, some complaints to the Labor Inspection and, more generally, certain doubts about the effectiveness of the measure for achieving the purposes of RDL 8/2019.
At Araújo&Benetti we offer specialized advice to companies and workers for any questions or queries regarding this new measure.
