How to apply the hourly record of the working day?
There are many self-employed companies and clients who ask us at the law firm how to correctly apply the new law on the time registration of employees' working hours. In this new article we will try to answer each of the most requested questions.
What is the purpose of the new time record?
The time record of the workers' working day has a dual purpose:
1)- Create a framework of legal certainty in the relations of workers and employers.
2)- Enable control by the Labor and Social Security Inspectorate
It is about facilitating the knowledge of the real working day carried out by the worker, avoiding the requirement of working hours higher than the legal or conventionally established one.
What should the workday record include?
Regardless of the system chosen to record the working hours of workers, it must include at least the following data:
- Date
- The worker's name
- Time for entrance
- The time of departure
- The worker's signature
How to record in the register everything that is not actual work?
As dictated by the norm, the entire period during which the worker remains at work, at the employer's disposal and in the exercise of his activity or functions, will be considered effective work.
Should the snack break be recorded?
As dictated by the norm, whenever the duration of the continuous daily shift exceeds six hours, a rest period must be established during the same of no less than fifteen minutes. This period of time, therefore, will be considered effective working time when so established or established by collective agreement or employment contract.
Therefore, in most cases it will be computed as a working day.
What happens in cases where a worker goes to the bathroom, or goes out to smoke?
In the case of the worker who goes to the bathroom, he will not have to register anything, on the other hand, the worker who goes out to smoke will only be considered effective working time if it is included by agreement or contract within the break established by working day, not less to 15 minutes.
Does the Hourly Registration apply only to companies?
No, the time record applies to both companies and workers. Thus, it applies to all companies, whatever their size or organization of work, as long as they are included in the scope of application defined in article 1 of the Workers' Statute. As for workers, the time record applies to all workers in any category or professional group, whether they are mobile, commercial, temporary workers, remote workers, etc.
Are there some cases where the time record is not applied?
According to our labor lawyers, there are some cases in which the time record is not applicable, among others:
Workers with labor relations of a special nature (among which are domestic workers, artists, self-employed lawyers or athletes, etc.
Self-employed workers / worker members of cooperatives
What types of recording systems or media can be used?
There are many ways to carry out time control in a company. From using an excel template to advanced biometric systems.
The law is silent on which registration control system companies must use.
Nor does it refer to the fact that it is the worker himself who has to register the working time control, but rather that the company itself can do it.
Each company or self-employed employer can choose the system that best suits them so that their workers can record their working hours.
Other systems include the following:
- paper registration
- Registration in spreadsheets
- Registration at a time machine
- Biometric Registration
- Registration through cloud applications for both desktop and mobile.
The record of working hours must be kept for four years.
In addition, the workday record must be kept in the work center or, otherwise, it must be immediately accessible.
What sanctions exist for not complying with the time record of the working day?
Companies that do not comply with the obligation to record the daily working hours of their workers correctly face fines of between 626 € and 6.250 €.
Violations are divided into two types:
- Minor infractions that range from 60 € to 625 € and can be applied for not reporting working conditions.
- Serious infractions: ranging from 625 € to 6.250 €, if irregularities have been detected in the schedules or the performance of overtime or complementary hours that are not computed or paid.
Contact us, and at Forcam Lawyers we will study your specific case.
We can assist you in person in our offices located in Barcelona, Madrid and Reus, and also from a distance, electronically via online (videoconference, etc.), since in our law firm we offer advice on labor matters to clients from all over the world.