Unions push for the digital time-tracking decree to land now

Legal note: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The digital time-tracking Royal Decree is still in process and has not yet been published in the official gazette (BOE).

The date Díaz set has passed, and the decree still hasn’t shipped

In early May, Yolanda Díaz set a clear ceiling: the Royal Decree requiring working hours to be recorded by digital means would be approved before 21 June. That date arrives this week, and the text hasn’t gone through the Council of Ministers or appeared in the BOE.

The unions have filled the void. On 16 June, Unai Sordo (CCOO) and Pepe Álvarez (UGT) appeared together to ask the Government to drop “the excuses” and approve time tracking once and for all. Sordo’s phrase sums up the tone: they’re “fed up with the paralysis” on a package of measures the Executive has been announcing for months.

Why the unions are pressing now

UGT’s argument is about numbers. Álvarez put it bluntly: in Spain between two and three million overtime hours are worked every week that go unpaid. Without a reliable record, those hours don’t show up anywhere, so they neither get paid nor count toward social security. For the unions, that’s where the priority lies, not in the paperwork.

Behind it is a political calculation. Time tracking by decree is plan B. Plan A was cutting the workweek to 37.5 hours by law, which fell in Congress for lack of support. The Government is left with the measures it can push through without going through the chamber, and time control is one of them. Hence the union insistence: it’s something the Executive can approve on its own, without negotiating votes.

The obstacle that’s still there

The brake has a name. In March, the Council of State issued an unfavourable opinion on the draft. Not out of whim: the advisory body pointed out that the text fails to properly assess the economic impact, that it imposes obligations that should be processed as law and not as regulation, that it doesn’t adapt to the specifics of each sector, and that worker data protection falls short.

The opinion doesn’t force anything —the Government can press ahead anyway— but it has handed ammunition to anyone wanting to delay the rule and opens the door to actual enforcement slipping to 2027. And there’s a detail that has come out in recent weeks: the Labour Ministry has pointed at the Economy Ministry for feeding that critical opinion. In other words, part of the blockage is coming from within the Government itself, not just from the opposition.

The new variable that’s looking toward Geneva

A factor almost nobody had on the radar a month ago has been added to the equation. Yolanda Díaz is listed as a possible candidate to lead the International Labour Organization (ILO). Candidacies close at the end of August and the election is voted on in November.

For an SME this seems remote, but it has practical consequences. The Labour Minister is the one driving the decree. If her personal horizon shifts to Geneva, she loses some of the political muscle to close, before summer, a text that already carries an opinion against it and internal friction. Time tracking could go ahead precisely because Díaz has an interest in leaving it settled before she leaves, or it could end up back in the drawer once more. Both readings are on the table.

What all this means for your company

The decree’s political timeline is a soap opera, but the underlying direction hasn’t changed in two years. Whatever date comes out, paper and Excel are on borrowed time and the record will have to be digital, tamper-proof, and accessible to the Inspectorate. In fact, the Supreme Court has already been striking down manual records case after case, decree or no decree.

This leaves SMEs in an awkward but clear position. Waiting for publication in the BOE before acting carries a real cost:

• History can’t be manufactured backwards. The Inspectorate can request data from previous months, so the sooner you start recording, the more backing you’ll have the day they come knocking.
• Migrating under pressure costs more. When the rule is published, every company that clocked in on paper will look for a provider at once. Lead times and support get saturated.
• The habit takes time to settle. Getting a workforce used to clocking in properly takes weeks, and that doesn’t depend on any official date.

Sitting still and waiting for the BOE makes little sense when the only thing in doubt is the timing, not where the rule is headed.

What your system has to meet

When the Royal Decree is published, the bar is already known because it’s in the draft that has been circulating for a year. At a minimum, a time-control system will have to offer:

1. Digital clock-in —web, mobile app, or kiosk—, no paper or spreadsheets.
2. A tamper-proof record with full traceability of any change.
3. Exact hour and minute of clock-ins, clock-outs, and breaks.
4. Remote, immediate access for the Labour Inspectorate.
5. Secure data retention for four years.
6. A monthly summary available to each worker alongside the payslip.

If your current solution doesn’t cover one of these points, it doesn’t meet what’s coming. You can see the full requirements your software must meet and how they fit into your day-to-day.

What getting ahead costs

The part that throws many SMEs off is the price. Complying with digital time tracking doesn’t require an investment of thousands of euros. Solutions like Cleverfy cover every requirement in the draft from €1.50 per employee per month (see pricing). For a workforce of ten that’s €15 a month, less than the minimum penalty for a single breach detected in an inspection.

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Would you rather arrive with your homework done? With Cleverfy you digitise working-hours tracking in ten minutes and start building history before the BOE forces you to. Try it free for 14 days →

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Sources: Autónomos y Emprendedor, Servimedia, elDiario.es.

Photo: Unai Sordo, general secretary of CCOO. Sami Falafel, CC0. Image cropped.