What you need to know today
If you search for “new Spanish time-tracking law” in August 2026, you will find headlines that mix three different things: the duty that has existed since 2019, a digital royal decree that is still not in the Boletín Oficial del Estado, and the 37.5-hour working week, which is not law.
The duty to record working time is not new. What is still open is how that record will be required if and when the government passes the digital regulation.
This article is informational for SMEs and payroll firms. It is not legal advice and it does not replace the official gazette. It will be updated when the royal decree is published.
What the law requires today (18 August 2026)
The rule in force is article 34.9 of the Workers’ Statute, introduced by Royal Decree-Law 8/2019. Labour Inspection does not need a new decree to ask for the record. That duty has been in force since May 2019.
- A daily record of each employee’s working time.
- Start time and end time for each day.
- Keep those records for four years.
- Make them available to the employee, employee representatives (if any) and Labour Inspection.
- The system must show actual hours, not the contractual timetable. A rota is not a record.
- Current law does not mandate a specific medium. Paper, Excel or software are still formally valid if the record is daily, complete and retrievable.
- Remote work is not an exemption: people working from home also record start and end times.
The digital royal decree: the real status
As of 18 August 2026 the digital time-record royal decree has not been published in the official gazette. It is not in force. It has not replaced article 34.9. Anyone saying “paper has been banned since 2025” or “certified software is already mandatory” is treating a draft as law.
- On 24 July 2026 the ministries of Labour and Economy agreed to postpone approval to September 2026 (El País, EFE, Europa Press).
- The Council of State issued an unfavourable opinion in March 2026.
- There is no commencement date in the gazette and no approved adaptation period.
- The draft talked about digital-only records, more fields than start and end, and tougher fines. None of that is law today.
- September is not the day you are fined for not being digital. It is when, under the July agreement, the government would process the rule.
- If today’s record would not survive a visit, do not wait for the decree. Inspection already works under the 2019 rule.
What has NOT changed
The legal week is still 40 hours
On 10 September 2025 Congress rejected the 37.5-hour bill. The maximum remains 40 hours a week on an annual average, unless a collective agreement or pact is more favourable.
A self-employed person with no staff does not clock in
The record is an employer duty for employees. A sole trader with no staff does not record themselves. If they have staff, they must record those employees.
There is no official certification list
There is no AEAT or Labour Inspection list of “certified” time-tracking software. Anyone selling “official homologation” is using a word that does not map to a public register today.
What Inspection already checks
Inspection does not wait for the royal decree. Under the current framework it usually checks whether a daily record exists, whether it has real start and end times, whether it is kept for four years, whether it is accessible, and whether it is reliable.
- A shared Excel file, a sheet with no change history, or a chat where messages can be deleted does not look reliable.
- Unrecorded overtime, identical clock-ins every day, or field staff with no marks raise more questions than a single well-handled missed clock-in.
- Current fines sit in the LISOS minor and serious bands, roughly €70 to €7,500 depending on the case.
- Much higher “very serious” and per-worker figures from the draft are not current law.
- For payroll firms the usual problem is not having nothing: it is a different spreadsheet per client, or a paper file that “is at the office” and cannot be produced on the day.
SME checklist for this week
- List who must clock in: every employee, including part-time, seasonal and remote staff.
- Check start and end times every day, not a Friday weekly total.
- Pick one system and close the others. Mixing paper, Excel and software with no rule leaves blank days.
- Define what happens when someone forgets: who corrects it, by when, and with what audit trail.
- Keep four years somewhere you can actually retrieve.
- Test access: can an employee request their record? Could you show it tomorrow if Inspection called?
- Separate the channel from the record. A WhatsApp ping is not a clock-in unless it lands in an unalterable system.
- Review overtime. If it happens, it must appear.
- Tell the team why. If it only sounds like surveillance, adoption suffers.
- If you are a payroll firm, ask every client for the same standard.
Clocking in without friction: web, app and WhatsApp
A record only works if people use it every day. WhatsApp is not a legal record on its own. It does work when WhatsApp is only the interface and the entry is stored in an unalterable backend.
Web
Useful in an office or at a fixed desk.
App
Useful on the road, on site, in retail or at home.
Useful when you do not want another app. The chat is not the archive. The system is.
FAQ
Is digital time tracking already mandatory?
No. As of 18 August 2026 the daily record is mandatory (start and end, four years, accessible). A digital-only medium is part of the draft royal decree, which is not in the gazette. Paper and Excel are still formally valid if the record is reliable.
Does our Excel still count?
Yes, if it is complete, daily, and you can show and keep it. Not as a long-term plan if anyone can edit it with no trail. If the digital decree passes as discussed, it will move against Excel as the main system.
Is the legal week 37.5 hours?
No. Congress rejected that bill on 10 September 2025. The maximum remains 40 hours unless your agreement says otherwise. Time recording and the shorter week are different debates.
Do self-employed people have to clock in?
A sole trader with no staff does not. An employer (including a self-employed person with staff) must record their employees.
Can people clock in via WhatsApp?
Yes, if WhatsApp is the door into a system that stores the entry in an ordered, unalterable way. No, if the “record” is a group chat or a loose message.
What is the fine today?
Under the LISOS, record failures sit in the minor and serious bands, roughly €70 to €7,500. The much higher draft figures are not in force.
Should we wait until September to change systems?
No. September is, under the July 2026 agreement, when Labour and Economy intend to process the decree. It is not the day the law magically changes.
How Vacly Time handles this
Vacly Time puts clock-in via web, app or WhatsApp in one module (WhatsApp is a channel; the record stays in the system), optional geofence, leave, absences, shifts, validations and reports. From €8.89 per employee per month, VAT included. It is not “certified” by Inspection: that badge does not exist. It is a daily start/end record you can look up and export, for SMEs and payroll firms that do not want a different spreadsheet per client.