March 29, 2026
Cost for businesses of the new 2026 working time tracking law
The new mandatory digital time tracking law will cost around €50 per employee per year. We explain what costs it really involves, how to manage them, and why with Horalia they become a genuine investment with real returns.
The approval of the new mandatory digital time tracking requirement has caused concern among many freelancers and small business owners in Spain. It's understandable: any new legal obligation comes with costs — software, time, adaptation — that can initially feel like yet another burden.
Spain's Council of State, in its opinion on the regulation, estimated that the new system will cost a minimum of €50 to €55 per employee per year in software alone. Across all Spanish companies, the total figure could reach €867 million. But there's context worth understanding before you worry.
Horalia costs less than half — and saves you far more
While the Council of State estimates a minimum cost of €50 per employee per year in software alone, Horalia is priced at around €24 per worker per year — less than half. But the real savings go well beyond the price: with Horalia, businesses recover time and money on multiple fronts. Fewer hours lost managing shifts and absences manually, fewer errors in overtime calculations, fewer labour disputes thanks to transparent records, and all labour documentation centralised and digitally signed — no paperwork, no trips. The real savings for the business far exceed the cost of the tool from the very first month.
What costs does the new time tracking law actually involve?
The Council of State warns that the Government's official estimate does not account for all the cost elements. Beyond software, there are other economic impacts that businesses will need to consider:
Direct costs identified
- Time tracking software: the main new cost, estimated at around €50–55 per employee per year according to the project's economic impact assessment.
- Initial implementation: acquiring or subscribing to the system, configuration and integration with existing tools.
- Employee training: getting staff up to speed with the new system, particularly in businesses with low levels of digitalisation.
- Management time: overseeing the register, resolving incidents and monitoring the system.
Other impacts to consider
- Organisational adaptation: reviewing shifts, schedules and internal processes to align with the new level of control.
- Less flexibility in managing working hours: particularly in sectors like hospitality or retail, where schedules typically adapt to demand.
- The cost of not adapting: fines for non-compliance with time tracking requirements range from €626 to €6,250 per infraction.
By the numbers
For a 10-employee SME, the estimated base cost is around €500 per year. For a business with 20 workers, it could approach €1,000 annually. According to sector estimates, the total cost for many SMEs will fall between €400 and €1,000 per year, including all factors.
The Ministry is pressing ahead: the law will apply to everyone equally
Despite warnings from the Council of State and requests from business associations and freelancer organisations, the Ministry of Labour has confirmed that it will not introduce any differentiation based on company size or sector. Digital time tracking will be mandatory for everyone, from the micro-business to the large corporation.
The Ministry has left the door open to minor technical adjustments — around data protection and the role of collective bargaining — but without changing the core of the regulation: digital recording for all, traceable, tamper-proof and remotely accessible by the Labour Inspectorate.
Spain’s main employers’ association CEOE has warned it may take the regulation to court over potential data protection violations and the burden it places on businesses. Even so, the Government is sticking to its timeline and could approve the rule within weeks, giving businesses up to six months to adapt.
A manageable cost — if you choose the right software
The figure of €50 per employee per year sounds significant, but in perspective it's just over €4 per worker per month. For most SMEs, that's a perfectly manageable expense — especially if the software chosen delivers value beyond simple legal compliance.
And that's the key point: not all software solutions are equal. Some tools do nothing more than log clock-ins. Others turn that cost into comprehensive workforce management, with absence tracking, shift planning, labour documentation and electronic signatures. The price may be similar, but the return is radically different.
Less flexibility, but more clarity: how to manage it well
One of the biggest concerns in certain sectors is the reduction in scheduling flexibility. Stricter recording of actual working hours means formalising arrangements that previously ran on more informal lines.
The good news is that well-designed software doesn't eliminate flexibility — it organises it. With a tool that allows you to manage variable shifts, schedule changes and absences efficiently, many businesses find that formalising the register doesn't complicate their operations but actually improves them. Less confusion, fewer disputes with employees, and less time wasted on clarifications.
Why the software cost should be seen as an investment, not an expense
When a business pays for time tracking software, it's not just buying legal compliance: it's buying saved working hours, avoided conflicts, and clarity in managing the team.
A platform that centralises time tracking, absence management, shifts, schedules and labour documentation in one place isn't an additional cost: it's a management tool that previously didn't exist, or was covered by partial, time-consuming workarounds.
Real value that good time tracking software delivers
Beyond legal compliance, these are the areas where the return is tangible:
- Time saved managing shifts and absences: fewer calls, fewer messages, less confusion.
- Fewer errors in calculating overtime and its compensation.
- Less friction in working relationships: employees have visibility over their own records.
- Automated reports ready for inspections: no need to prepare documentation on demand.
- Integrated document management and signing: payslips, contracts and communications with no paper or travel.
Horalia: everything you need, at a perfectly manageable price
Horalia is the answer many SMEs and freelancers have been looking for: a platform built for the Spanish market that covers all obligations under the new digital time tracking law and goes well beyond simple clock-in logging. At a price designed for small and medium teams, Horalia offers a complete management suite that turns a regulatory cost into real day-to-day value.
Everything Horalia includes
One platform to manage everything around working time:
- Digital time tracking: multi-device clock-in with full traceability and modification log.
- Absence management: requests, approvals and tracking of holidays, sick leave and other time off.
- Shift and schedule management: visual planning, adapted to teams with variable schedules.
- Document management: centralised storage of contracts, communications and labour documents.
- Digital biometric signature: legally valid document signing from any device.
- Instant implementation: no lock-in, no extensive training, up and running in minutes.
The cost of Horalia isn't just the cost of time tracking: it's the cost of having all your people management in one place, with full legal compliance and no complexity. For most SMEs, that price is perfectly affordable and pays for itself from the very first month in management time saved.
Conclusion
The new mandatory digital time tracking law is an opportunity, not just an obligation. With Horalia, the cost is around €24 per worker per year — less than half of what other solutions on the market charge — and the return is immediate: order, efficiency and peace of mind from day one. Guaranteed legal compliance, absence management, shift planning, document management and digital biometric signing, all from a platform built for freelancers and SMEs.
