New regulations on working time recording: key implications for companies

The new Royal Decree redefines the recording of working time in companies

On 30 September 2025, the Council of Ministers of the current Government urgently approved the processing of the draft Royal Decree that would amend the consolidated text of the Workers’ Statute Act in relation to working time recording, with a clear impact on companies. The purpose of the regulation is to establish strict control measures, bearing in mind the essential objective pursued by Directive 2003/88, namely to ensure effective protection of workers’ living and working conditions and better protection of their safety and health.

In line with the proposed wording, which is not expected to undergo significant changes, organisations will have to implement, within a foreseeably short period of time, a working time register that complies with the necessary requirements announced:

• Digital recording. Recording on paper or similar media will become obsolete, as it does not meet the requirements of objectivity, reliability and immediate remote access. The use of paper records will be limited solely to duly justified technical incidents.
• Minimum content. Identification of the worker, working time arrangement, start and end time (exact hour and minute), including breaks, waiting time or time at the employer’s disposal that is not counted as effective working time, indication of whether the work is carried out on site or remotely, indication of the existence of overtime (and its type) or additional hours, hours worked as a result of work–life balance measures or irregular distribution of working time, among other necessary minimum content. If any entry is modified, the system must identify the person who modifies the information and whether there is authorisation (by the company and by the worker concerned).
• The recording system must allow workers’ legal representatives and the workers themselves to consult and obtain a copy of all entries and amendments, at any time and immediately, at the workplace. Furthermore, the system used must allow the labour inspectorate to access it at any time and immediately, both remotely and in person at the workplaces.
• Companies are required to draw up a protocol for the organisation and documentation of the working time register, after informing and consulting workers’ legal representatives in advance.
• All workers who have to access the register or make entries in it must receive training and information on the above protocol and on the functioning and use of the recording system. The time devoted to this training and information will be considered effective working time.

As a result, companies will have to urgently adapt the time recording system used to date, since significant changes are envisaged to the system that companies have commonly used so far. Likewise, if the current regulatory text is confirmed, and given that it will also apply to special employment relationships and special working time arrangements (with their specific features), before implementation companies must draw up, after consulting with workers’ legal representatives, a protocol for the organisation and documentation of the working time register that includes a system for the periodic evaluation of how the register functions, in which, at a minimum, the company and workers’ legal representatives participate.

At Baker Tilly we can work with companies and organisations to ensure compliance with the new rules and to avoid financial penalties arising from non-compliance and possible additional liabilities in the event of different kinds of claims by workers.

According to the latest information provided by the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy, the new requirements on working time recording must be implemented 20 days after the new regulation is approved, which is expected to occur between the end of the year and the beginning of 2026.