Time-tracking rules head for a September decision as UGT issues a fresh ultimatum

The digital time-tracking record enters September exactly where it has sat for months: unpublished in the BOE (Spain’s official gazette) and past its deadlines. What’s new is that UGT (a major Spanish trade union) has issued another ultimatum. Its general secretary, Pepe Álvarez, warned on 26 August that the union will walk out of talks with the government if the Council of Ministers does not approve the time-tracking decree this month. The first negotiating session is set for 2 September.

This is the second time the unions have drawn a deadline. In July, CCOO and UGT gave the government until the 31st of that month, and the date came and went without the rule reaching the Council of Ministers. Now the clock resets in September, except the political margin is thinner.

Why the decree hasn’t shipped yet

The holdup isn’t a quirk of the calendar. In March, the Council of State (Consejo de Estado), Spain’s top legal advisory body, issued an unfavourable opinion on the Ministry of Labour’s text, and those objections are the real reason for the delay.

The advisory body flagged three problems, none of them trivial. First, the lack of sector-specific tailoring: a single record model fits poorly across a construction site, hospitality and remote work, and the text failed to sharpen those distinctions. Second, the burden on small businesses, with an impact estimate running into the hundreds of millions of euros and an adaptation window judged too short. Third, and most technical, the one that may weigh most: some of the obligations would require the rank of a law, not a royal decree, opening the door to a legal challenge once the rule is published.

Those objections were compounded by internal reservations from the Economy and Civil Service ministries, which forced Labour to rewrite parts of the draft. The picture that remains is a text Labour wants out as soon as possible, held back by the rest of the government on legal and economic grounds.

That question of the rule’s legal rank is worth keeping in view. If it is ultimately approved as a royal decree while some of its obligations should have been set by law, the CEOE (Spain’s main employers’ association) has a ready argument to appeal, and a rule under appeal is born with a shadow of uncertainty for everyone.

What’s really at stake

Beyond the political standoff, the decree pins down a time-tracking model that today’s law leaves open. The draft requires records to be digital, tamper-proof and traceable for any change, with daily and monthly totals per worker, and gives the Labour Inspectorate remote, immediate access to the data.

For the Inspectorate, the shift runs deep. Moving from requesting records during a site visit to consulting them remotely changes how enforcement works: fewer warnings, more direct checking.

What this means for your company

UGT’s threat, the date slipping from July to September, the Council of State’s objections, none of it changes what is already mandatory today. Recording working time has been mandatory since 2019, under Article 34.9 of the Workers’ Statute, and the Inspectorate has been fining those who fail to do it for years.

The new decree does not add the duty to clock in, but the technical requirements for how to do it: digitally, with entries that can’t be altered and data available to the Inspectorate. A company that clocks in today on paper or in a spreadsheet only half-complies and, when the decree takes effect, will have to switch systems in a hurry. One that already tracks time digitally arrives with its homework done, whether the rule passes in September or slips again.

That’s why the sensible decision doesn’t hinge on the political calendar. Cleverfy records working time digitally, with protected entries and reports ready for an inspection, and it’s up and running in minutes. If you want to reach September with time tracking sorted, you can try it free for 14 days or see a demo.

This article is general information about a rule still in progress and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult an employment lawyer.

Image: Pepe Álvarez, by Montserrat Boix (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons.

Sources:

• UGT insiste: dejará las mesas si no se aprueba en septiembre el control horario — Capital.es
• Estatuto de los Trabajadores — art. 34.9 (registro de jornada)