Spain’s working-time record: what is mandatory today and where the royal decree stands

If you manage people in Spain, this is the question that matters: is digital clocking in mandatory yet? As of September 2026, the answer is no. The royal decree that would impose it has still not been published in the BOE, Spain's official gazette.

What is mandatory, and has been since 2019, is keeping a daily working-time record. That obligation is in force, it is inspected and it is penalised today, whatever happens to the royal decree.

This page separates the two, because confusing them is the expensive mistake: either assuming there is nothing to do until the new rule lands, or buying in a hurry believing the deadline is tomorrow. We keep it updated while the legislation is still moving.

In short. Mandatory today: a daily record of each person's working day, kept for four years and available to the labour inspectorate (article 34.9 of the Workers' Statute). The format may still be paper, a spreadsheet or a digital system, as long as the record is reliable. In progress: a royal decree that would make it digital-only and immutable, postponed to September 2026 after an unfavourable opinion from the Council of State.

---

What is mandatory today

Since 12 May 2019, Royal Decree-Law 8/2019 amended article 34.9 of the Workers' Statute and obliged every company, regardless of size or sector, to do three things:

1. Record daily the start and end time of each employee's working day.
2. Keep those records for four years.
3. Make them available to the employee, their legal representatives and the labour inspectorate.

The rule imposes no format. Paper, spreadsheet or digital system are all admissible on their face. What it does require is that the record be reliable, and that is the nuance most companies miss.

A spreadsheet can be edited without a trace and cannot prove when each entry was written. A sheet signed at month end cannot either. Neither is prohibited, but neither evidences its own integrity, so under scrutiny they are a document the company has to defend rather than proof that supports it.

What the penalty is

Failing to keep a reliable record is classified as a serious infringement under article 7.5 of Spain's Law on Infringements and Penalties in the Social Order (LISOS). The specific amount depends on the degree the inspectorate applies and on the current schedule in article 40, which has been updated over time, so it is worth checking the consolidated text in the BOE before quoting a figure.

---

Where the royal decree stands

Here is the timeline, worth reading in full because it explains why the schedule has moved three times:

• September 2025. The reform fails in Parliament, tied to the reduction of the working week to 37.5 hours. The Government separates the two measures.
• 30 September 2025. The Council of Ministers approves processing the digital working-time record as a royal decree, which does not pass through Parliament.
• October 2025 to March 2026. Public consultation and mandatory reports.
• 23 March 2026. The Council of State issues an unfavourable opinion. It finds the economic impact poorly assessed and the data-protection safeguards insufficient.
• 21 June 2026. The date the Ministry had set for approval in the Council of Ministers. It passes without approval.
• 24 July 2026. The Ministries of Labour and of Economy agree to postpone approval to September 2026 in order to rework the text in light of the opinion.
• September 2026. The royal decree still has not been published in the BOE.

One nuance that many articles get wrong: the dates announced are processing dates, not entry into force. A royal decree approved by the Council of Ministers is not enforceable the next day; it has to be published in the BOE, and there is usually an adaptation period. Anyone telling you digital clocking in is "already mandatory" is getting ahead of the facts.

---

What the draft proposes (and does not yet require of you)

Everything in this section comes from the text still in progress. None of it is law, and the Council of State has asked for it to be reworked, so it may change before publication.

• Digital format only. Paper and spreadsheets would cease to be valid.
• Immutability and an audit log. Any change to an entry would have to leave an immutable trail: who, when and why.
• Remote access for inspectors. The system would have to be interoperable with the inspectorate and consultable remotely.
• More mandatory detail. Not only start and end: also breaks, overtime and how it is compensated, and even whether each stretch was worked on site or remotely.
• Restrictions on biometrics. Fingerprints and facial recognition would be limited where less intrusive alternatives exist.
• Penalties per affected employee. The point with the greatest financial impact and one of the most contested. Today the penalty is per infringement, not per person.

---

So is there anything to do now?

Yes, but not because of the royal decree. Because of the 2019 rule.

Inspectors already penalise records they consider unreliable, and that is a present risk, not a future one. If your time control is a signature sheet or a shared spreadsheet, the problem is today's, not the day the decree is published.

Seen that way the decision gets simpler: digitalising the record is not getting ahead of a rule that may still change, it is resolving an obligation that has been in force for seven years. And as a side effect, whoever has it sorted will be ready for whatever arrives, in September, in January or whenever.

Checklist: what your system should do

1. Audit what you have. Paper, spreadsheet or an app with no traceability? Then you are already exposed.
2. An immutable change history. A correction should record who, when and why, rather than overwriting the value.
3. Four-year retention, guaranteed and exportable.
4. Coverage for remote and field work. Clock-in from mobile and desktop, not only a fixed terminal.
5. Breaks and overtime recorded, not just start and end.
6. Export per employee and period, in a format you can hand over as-is.
7. Data protection. Unique identification, encryption and controlled access. If you use geolocation, validate the point of the clock-in rather than tracking the person all day.
8. Train the team. The best system fails if people do not clock in correctly and consistently.

---

The figure behind the reform

It is worth understanding why this keeps coming back. According to Spain's Labour Force Survey, published by the INE, more than 40% of the overtime worked in Spain goes unpaid. Those are hours worked that appear on no payslip and in no reliable record.

The stated aim of the new framework is that every hour actually worked is recorded, visible to the employee and verifiable by an inspector. Digitalisation is not the goal, it is the tool.

---

Frequently asked questions

Is digital clocking in mandatory in Spain?

No. As of September 2026 the royal decree that would impose digital-only format has not been published in the BOE. What is mandatory is the daily working-time record under article 34.9 of the Workers' Statute, which accepts paper, spreadsheets or a digital system provided the record is reliable.

Are spreadsheets still valid?

Formally yes, with a serious caveat. The rule requires the record to be reliable, and a spreadsheet can be edited without a trace and cannot evidence when each entry was created. It is not prohibited, but it rarely survives scrutiny from an inspector.

When will the digital working-time record come into force?

There is no firm date. Approval was postponed to September 2026 and, in any case, the date of approval by the Council of Ministers is not the date of entry into force: publication in the BOE still has to happen and there is usually an adaptation period. We review this page monthly while the legislation is in progress.

Will penalties be calculated per affected employee?

That is what the draft proposes, not what the rule in force says. Today, failing to keep a reliable record is a serious infringement under article 7.5 of the LISOS and is penalised as such, not per person.

---

How Quantum Mycos helps

Our time tracking is built for the demanding scenario, not for today's legal minimum. Your team clocks in from mobile or desktop and every shift is recorded to the second, with timestamps and a traceable change history, four-year retention and one-click export per employee and period.

And because time control does not live alone, it integrates with leave management, shifts and performance reviews, so the actual clock-in is cross-checked against the planned shift and recorded absences. Less administration, and no spreadsheet an inspector can question.

Would your clock-in system survive scrutiny today? Book a demo and we will show you in 20 minutes how to have it resolved, decree or no decree.

---

Keep reading

• What time-tracking software is in Spain, if you are starting from the basics.
• Paid leave in Spain 2026: the full table of days by situation, the other obligation managed day to day.
• 10 key features in HR software in Spain, to evaluate tools with a clear head.

Sources

• Workers' Statute, article 34.9 (consolidated text, BOE).
• Royal Decree-Law 8/2019, of 8 March (BOE), which establishes the working-time record obligation.
• Consolidated text of the LISOS (BOE), articles 7.5 and 40.
• Guide to the working-time record, Spanish Ministry of Labour (MITES).
• Unpaid overtime figures: Labour Force Survey, Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE).

This page is informational and does not constitute legal advice. The digital working-time record is still in progress and this content may go out of date: always check the current consolidated text in the BOE and consult your employment adviser. Last reviewed: September 2026.