The end of trust-based working hours in Spain?

In Spain, since 12/05/2019, there has been an obligation for all companies to record the working hours of the entire workforce on a daily basis. It is mandatory to register the exact times of the start and end of work for all employees. The legal basis for this is the newly introduced paragraph Art. 34.9 of the Employee Act (Ley del Estatuto de los Trabajadores). The Royal Legislative Decree RDL 8/2019, which introduced the new regulation, does not specify a specific system for recording working hours, but leaves the form of this obligation to the collective agreements, company agreements or, where these are not available, to the decision of the employer (after consultation with the employee representatives). Thus, daily recording of working hours is permitted both using a corresponding document (in writing), as well as using a recording system (digital) or any other demonstrative form. The companies are obliged to keep the working time register for a period of four years. These must be submitted to employees, trade unions and the work inspection on request. Non-fulfilment of the obligation will be punished with a fine.

Spain has already met the requirements established by the Federal Labour Court since 2019. The ECJ ruling, which substantiated the decision of the Federal Labour Court dated last September, was based on a submission of a Spanish court (Audiencia Nacional C55/18 paragraph 62). In addition, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs / Department of Labour Inspection and Social Security reacted with the service instruction 101/2019 (Criterio Técnico) to the ECJ decision of May 2019 and specifies the specific inspection criteria for the review of work time recordings in accordance with the new Art. 34.9 ET.