April 5, 2026
How to prepare for the arrival of the new digital time tracking law
The mandatory digital time tracking decree hasn't been published yet, but the obligation to record working hours has been in force since 2019. We explain what the law already requires, what will change, and how to get ready without waiting.
Many businesses and self-employed people with staff are still tracking their employees' hours with a spreadsheet, paper notes, or simply verbally. They've been doing it for years without any issues. But that doesn't mean they're complying with the law.
Since May 2019, Article 34.9 of the Workers' Statute has required all companies — with no exception based on size or sector — to record each employee's daily working hours, retain those records for four years, and make them available to workers and the Labour Inspectorate at any time.
What's still pending is the requirement for that record to be exclusively digital, tamper-proof and remotely accessible by the Inspectorate. That's the step the Government has been trying to regulate by decree for months, and which the Council of State blocked in late March 2026. While the final regulatory framework is resolved, understanding what the law already requires — and what a compliant software solution must offer — is the best way to avoid being caught out.
What has been mandatory since 2019
Royal Decree-Law 8/2019 left no room for interpretation: all companies are required to record each employee's daily working hours. The record must show the start and end time of the working day, be retained for four years, and be available to employees, their representatives, and the Labour Inspectorate upon request.
The regulation did not specify that the record had to be digital. Paper, Excel and any other format were accepted, provided the record was objective, reliable and accessible. What was not permitted — even though it happened frequently in practice — was failing to keep it, or keeping it in a way that couldn't be demonstrated to the Inspectorate.
Important
Failing to keep a working time record, or keeping one that doesn’t meet the minimum requirements, is a serious infraction under the LISOS, with fines ranging from €751 to €7,500 per infraction. In companies with multiple employees, those fines apply per affected worker, which can multiply the total amount significantly.
What's pending: the mandatory digital time tracking decree
The Ministry of Labour has been working since mid-2024 on a decree that would strengthen the existing obligation with a new requirement: the working time record must be exclusively digital, with specific technical characteristics to guarantee its tamper-proofness, traceability and real-time accessibility for the Labour Inspectorate.
The Council of Ministers approved urgent processing of the decree on 30 September 2025, but on 23 March 2026 the Council of State issued a highly critical opinion: it found significant deficiencies in the assessment of the economic impact on SMEs, argued that certain obligations should be regulated by law rather than decree, and concluded that the decree does not adequately account for the specificities of different sectors.
The decree has not yet been published in the Official State Gazette (BOE). Some specialist sources suggest a possible delay until 2027. But it would be a mistake to confuse uncertainty about the decree with an absence of obligations: the working time record has been compulsory since 2019, with or without a new decree.
What the new decree will require when approved
Even though the text is still pending publication, the technical requirements set out in the draft are already known. These are the main changes compared to the current system:
New requirements of the digital time tracking decree
- Mandatory digitalisation: paper and Excel will no longer be valid. Records must be kept using a computer system that guarantees data integrity.
- Tamper-proofness and traceability: any correction is recorded alongside the original entry, with the user, date and reason for the change.
- Remote access for the Inspectorate: the Labour Inspectorate will be able to access records remotely in real time, without visiting the company.
- Complete record of the working day: not just clock-in and clock-out times, but also breaks, overtime and its compensation, and the work modality (on-site or remote).
- Four-year retention: with technical guarantees of security and availability.
- GDPR compliance: employee data must be handled with encryption, access controls and documented legal basis.
- Ban on biometric data except in very specific, duly justified cases.
Adaptation period
Once the decree is published in the BOE, the planned adaptation period is just 20 days from its entry into force. Companies that don’t have a compliant system in place when the decree is published will have less than three weeks to adapt, with no additional grace period.
Why it doesn't pay to wait for the decree
According to recent sector data, around 74% of Spanish SMEs still use manual methods to track their employees' working hours. Only 26% have dedicated software. In a business landscape dominated by companies with fewer than ten employees, that proportion is likely even higher.
The case for acting now isn't just regulatory. A digital time tracking system solves recurring practical problems: disputes about unrecorded overtime, difficulty proving working hours in the event of an inspection or labour dispute, and time spent every month manually reconciling records ahead of payroll.
Adopting a digital system now isn't getting ahead of a future rule: it's complying with the one that already exists, and doing so in a way that ensures compliance when the decree comes into force — whenever that may be.
What a time tracking software must include to comply with the rules
Not all time tracking software on the market meets the requirements of the current regulations, let alone those of the pending decree. These are the criteria to check before choosing a tool:
Minimum requirements a time tracking software must meet
- Complete record: start time, end time, breaks and overtime for each employee every day.
- Tamper-proofness: any subsequent modification is logged with the user, date and reason. The original entry is never deleted.
- Four-year retention: the system must guarantee secure storage of data for at least that period.
- Employee access: every worker must be able to view their own record at any time.
- Availability for the Inspectorate: the company must be able to provide records immediately upon request.
- GDPR compliance: with encryption, access controls and documented legal basis.
- Remote work compatibility: if employees work remotely, the system must record their hours with the same reliability as on-site.
Horalia: ready for today's law and for the decree
Horalia is a workforce management platform designed for SMEs and self-employed people with employees. It already meets all the requirements of the 2019 regulations and the technical specifications set out in the pending decree. Its architecture guarantees tamper-proof records, individual employee access to their data, and instant generation of reports for the Labour Inspectorate.
Why Horalia is the right solution
Beyond regulatory compliance, Horalia delivers real value every day:
- Multi-device clock-in: from a mobile phone, browser or physical terminal, on-site or remotely.
- Tamper-proof records with modification log: every change is traced with user and timestamp.
- Automated reports ready for the Inspectorate: exportable in seconds, no manual preparation needed.
- Absence and holiday management: requests, approvals and tracking all in one place.
- Shift and schedule planning: visual and intuitive, adapted to teams with variable hours.
- Document management with digital biometric signature: contracts, payslips and communications with no paper.
- Up and running in less than a day: no specialist technical training required.
Uncertainty about the decree is not an excuse for failing to meet the obligation that already exists. With Horalia, your business complies with current law today and will be ready for the decree the day it's published — with no need to change tools or rush to adapt.
Conclusion
74% of Spanish SMEs still track working hours on paper or in Excel. That’s already a legal infraction. Digitalising your records now with Horalia means complying with the law as it stands, and being ready for the new decree — with a platform that also manages absences, shifts, documents and digital signatures, all from one place.
