September 15, 2025
Time Tracking Penalties and Fines
Discover what penalties a company can face for not complying with time tracking requirements.
Time tracking has been mandatory in Spain since the **Royal Decree-Law 8/2019** came into force, and failing to comply with this regulation can result in significant financial penalties for companies.
Fines for not tracking work hours, manipulating time records, or exceeding working hour limits are designed to protect workers' rights and ensure fair working conditions.
On this page you'll find a detailed list of the most common infractions, their descriptions, and associated fines. Learn about the risks and how to avoid them!
Minor Penalties (€60 to €625)
Minor infractions are usually related to formal errors in time tracking or omission of basic information. These include:
- Not properly documenting hours worked.
- Partially recording the working day.
- Not maintaining records for the time established by law (minimum 4 years).
Serious Penalties (€625 to €6,250)
Serious penalties result from non-compliance that directly affects employees' labor rights. These infractions include:
- Exceeding working day limits or night work hours.
- Not paying or reporting overtime hours worked.
- Refusing to provide time tracking data to legal worker representatives.
Very Serious Penalties (€6,251 to €187,515)
When infractions seriously affect employee rights, penalties are classified as very serious. Some examples include:
- Repeated delays in salary payments.
- Not paying overtime hours worked.
- Imposing working conditions inferior to those established by regulations.
Warning
If you don’t implement time tracking, you can receive fines up to €187,515.
Who monitors and how are penalties applied?
Compliance with time tracking in Spain is primarily supervised by the Labor and Social Security Inspection (ITSS). This organization is responsible for verifying that companies comply with regulations and imposing penalties in case of non-compliance.
Penalties can be applied ex officio, through routine inspections, or following complaints filed by employees or union representatives. In both cases, the company must prove time tracking records and maintain them for at least 4 years.
Ways the Inspection detects non-compliance
Inspectors can act in different ways to verify the validity of time records:
- Directly request time records from recent years.
- Interview employees to verify data accuracy.
- Review payrolls and declared overtime hours.
- Check consistency between recorded hours and actual company activity.
Important
Companies have the obligation to cooperate with the Labor Inspection. Refusing to provide documentation or manipulating records can be considered a serious or very serious infraction.
How to avoid penalties
Horalia facilitates compliance with time tracking and labor regulations through automation and precise control of hours worked.
With Horalia, your company can:
- Automatically record each employee's working day.
- Generate accurate and auditable reports for inspections.
- Avoid human errors in documenting hours worked.
- Alert about possible non-compliance before they become penalties.
Advice
By implementing Horalia, your company significantly reduces the risk of financial penalties and ensures legal compliance in a simple and transparent way.
