Remote and Hybrid Work: Time Tracking That Complies with the Law

Time Tracking for Remote Work: An Obligation Many Ignore

Since the pandemic, remote work has gone from being something exceptional to becoming part of everyday life for thousands of Spanish companies. According to INE data, more than 13% of employed people work from home regularly, and a growing percentage combines office days with remote days - what we know as the hybrid model.

What many companies aren’t so clear about is that time recording is mandatory for remote workers too. It doesn’t matter if your team works from home, from a coworking space, or from the beach: the law requires a daily record of working hours, and the new Royal Decree adds that it must be digital.

How do you manage this without falling into micromanagement or violating the worker’s privacy? Let’s take a look.

What Does the Law Say About Time Tracking for Remote Work?

The legal framework regulating remote work and time recording in Spain rests on three pillars:

Law 10/2021, on Distance Work

Known as the “Remote Work Law”, it establishes that remote work is voluntary, requires a written agreement, and recognises the same rights as on-site work, including time recording. Key points:

• Remote workers have the right to adequate time recording.
• The company must provide the necessary means for clocking in.
• The right to digital disconnection is expressly recognised.
• The remote work agreement must specify working hours and means of control.

Royal Decree-Law 8/2019 (Time Recording)

Establishes the universal obligation to record working hours for all workers. It doesn’t distinguish between on-site and remote: if they work for you, they must clock in.

New Royal Decree on Digital Time Recording

Reinforces the obligation with technical requirements: the record must be electronic, accessible to the worker, tamper-proof, and retained for 4 years. For remote workers, this means they need a digital clocking system accessible from any location.

The Balance Between Control and Trust

Here’s the big dilemma of remote work: how do you record someone’s hours who isn’t physically in the office without becoming Big Brother?

The short answer: by recording hours, not activity.

A good time tracking system for remote work is limited to recording when the work day starts and ends. It doesn’t track what pages the employee visits, doesn’t take screenshots, doesn’t monitor mouse movement. That, besides being invasive, is counterproductive for team motivation and trust.

What you need is:

• A reliable entry and exit record that the employee can make from any device.
• Transparency: the worker must have access to their own records.
• Flexibility: it must adapt to different modalities (100% remote, hybrid, flexible hours).
• Regulatory compliance: it must comply with Data Protection Law and the right to disconnection.

Clocking Methods for Remote Workers

Each work modality has its optimal clocking solution. These are the most suitable for remote teams:

Browser Clocking

It’s the most natural method for remote workers. The employee opens the web platform in their browser, clicks “Start day” and done. At the end, they click “End day”. No installation, compatible with any operating system, accessible from anywhere with internet.

With Cleverfy, web clocking is literally done in 2 clicks. The platform records the exact time and the employee can check their clock history at any time.

Chrome Extension

For those who work all day in the browser (developers, designers, marketers, managers…), the Chrome extension is even more convenient. It installs once and stays available in the toolbar. One click to clock in, another for exit.

It’s especially useful for:

• Technical teams who already live in the browser.
• Freelancers and collaborators who work from different devices.
• Reminders: the extension can send an alert if you haven’t clocked in at the start of the day.

Mobile App

For workers who combine remote work with travel (salespeople, consultants, profiles who work from different locations), the mobile app allows clocking from anywhere with the same ease as from the office.

Automatic Clocking via Integration

Some teams opt to integrate clocking with other tools they already use. For example, starting the day when connecting to the company Slack or opening a project in their management tool. Although these integrations depend on each system, they reflect the trend towards increasingly less invasive and more natural clocking.

Hybrid Work: Managing On-Site and Remote

The hybrid model (some days in the office, others from home) is increasingly popular, but adds a layer of complexity to time tracking. The system needs to know not only when each person works, but also from where.

Modality Differentiation

A good system allows the employee to indicate whether they’re clocking in on-site or remotely. This is important for:

• Complying with the remote work agreement, which usually specifies which days are remote.
• Generating reports by modality for HR.
• Managing office positions if there’s hot desking or shared spaces.

Hybrid Calendars

Many companies establish a hybrid calendar: Monday and Friday remote, Tuesday to Thursday in office (or any other combination). The time tracking system must be able to reflect this planning and alert if there are deviations.

One System for Everything

The worst thing you can do is use one system for on-site workers and a different one for remote workers. That doubles management, fragments data, and complicates reports. The solution is a single system that works in all modalities: web, app, browser extension, kiosk mode for the office.

With Cleverfy, each employee clocks in with the method that best suits their situation that day. Records are unified in a single panel, regardless of how or from where they were made.

Digital Disconnection: The Right That Time Tracking Protects

Law 10/2021 and Organic Law 3/2018 (LOPDGDD) recognise the right to digital disconnection: the worker is not obliged to respond to emails, calls, or messages outside their working hours.

What does this have to do with time tracking? Everything.

The Record Delimits the Working Day

When a worker clocks out at 6:00 pm, it’s recorded that their day has ended. Any subsequent work communication violates their right to disconnection. The time record is the objective proof of when work availability starts and ends.

Internal Disconnection Policies

The law requires companies to develop an internal digital disconnection policy that establishes:

• The hours during which work communications should not be sent.
• Justified exceptions (real emergencies, not invented “urgencies”).
• Training actions on reasonable use of technology.

Digital time tracking is the mechanism that supports this policy. Without a clear record of when the day ends, the right to disconnection becomes meaningless.

Excessive Hours Alerts

A good system can be configured to alert the manager and the worker themselves when the day exceeds established hours. This not only protects the employee but prevents the company from incurring violations for uncompensated excess hours.

Data Protection in Remote Clocking

Clocking remote employees involves processing personal data (time, location if applicable, device). This is regulated by GDPR and LOPDGDD:

Legal Basis: Employer’s Legal Obligation

Data processing for time recording has legal basis in compliance with a regulatory obligation. You don’t need explicit worker consent to record their hours, but you must inform them how their data is processed.

Proportionality

The system should only collect data strictly necessary for time recording. For a remote worker, this is entry and exit time. It’s not necessary (or legal) to record the GPS location of someone working from home, or monitor their computer activity.

Transparency

The employee must have access to their own records at all times. This is not only a legal requirement but reinforces trust in the system.

Limited Retention

Records must be kept for 4 years, as established by regulations. After that period, they must be deleted.

How to Implement Remote Clocking in Your Company

If your company has remote workers or a hybrid model, these are the steps to implement time tracking correctly:

1. Update Remote Work Agreements

If you haven’t already, make sure individual remote work agreements include a reference to the time recording system that will be used.

2. Choose a System Accessible from Anywhere

The system must work in browser, mobile app, and Chrome extension at minimum. Avoid solutions that depend on hardware installed in the office or complicated VPN networks.

3. Communicate the Policy to the Team

Explain how clocking works, what data is collected, who can access it, and how privacy is protected. Transparency eliminates resistance.

4. Establish Your Digital Disconnection Policy

Take advantage of implementing time tracking to formalise (if you haven’t already) the digital disconnection policy. It’s a legal obligation and the perfect time to do it.

5. Monitor the First Days

The first days are the most important. Check that all employees are clocking in correctly, resolve questions, and adjust configuration if necessary.

With Cleverfy, all this is configured in 10 minutes. No contract, no lock-in, with all clocking modalities available from day one and from just 1.50 EUR/user/month.

FAQ: Time Tracking for Remote Work

Is clocking in mandatory if I work from home?

Yes. The time recording obligation applies to all employees, regardless of whether they work in the office, at home, or from anywhere else. The employer must provide adequate means for clocking to be possible.

Can my company track my location when I work remotely?

For time recording purposes, it’s neither necessary nor proportional to record the GPS location of a worker at their home. Remote clocking only needs to record time. Geolocation is only relevant for itinerant workers who travel to different locations as part of their work.

What happens if I forget to clock in while working from home?

Most systems allow correcting forgotten clock entries with manager approval. Additionally, many offer automatic reminders (push notifications, emails) to prevent this from happening. The important thing is that the oversight is corrected as soon as possible and documented.

Can I clock in from my personal mobile if I work remotely?

Yes, as long as the company provides access to the clocking system. Installing the clocking app on a personal device is voluntary - the worker always has the alternative of clocking in from the web browser without installing anything.

How does flexible hours affect time recording?

Flexible hours don’t exempt from recording. The worker clocks in when they start and when they finish, regardless of what time it is. The system records actual hours, and HR can verify that agreed total hours are met even if distribution varies each day.

Does my company have to pay for internet or computer so I can clock in?

The Remote Work Law establishes that the company must cover expenses associated with distance work, including necessary digital means. However, clocking itself can be done from any device with a browser, so it usually doesn’t require specific additional equipment.

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Does your team work remotely or in a hybrid model? Check out our solution for offices and remote work or try Cleverfy free and make clocking easy from anywhere: web, app, or Chrome extension. See all Cleverfy features - everything in one system, 100% legal compliance. Questions? Book a demo and we’ll show you in 15 minutes.