Updated 2026-07-10 · 4 min read
Who this is for. This is Spanish employment law, and it applies to salons in Spain — including the many run by owners who don't read Spanish, on the coast, in the islands and in the big cities. If your salon is in the United Kingdom, Ireland or the United States, this does not apply to you: your working-time record-keeping runs under your own country's rules. If you employ anybody in Spain, read on, because this is in force now.
If even one contracted person works in your salon, the law has required you — since 2019 — to record their start and finish time every day. It isn't a change that's coming: it's an obligation in force that the Labour Inspectorate is checking more and more. And yes, a bigger change is coming too: a new decree that will make the record exclusively digital. Let's take it in order, without alarmism and without small print.
What the law requires TODAY (and has since 2019)
Royal Decree-Law 8/2019 amended the Workers' Statute (art. 34.9) to impose on all companies, of any size, a daily record of working time. Specifically:
- What to record: the start and end time of each worker's day, every day.
- How long to keep it: 4 years.
- Who can ask for it: the worker herself, her legal representatives, and the Labour Inspectorate — which, when it asks, usually gives very short deadlines, sometimes 24 hours.
The format is currently free: paper, a spreadsheet or an app. But «free» doesn't mean «anything goes»: the record has to be reliable and unalterable. And that's where spreadsheets fall down.
Why a spreadsheet can cost you dearly
There's also a ruling the whole trade should know about: the Audiencia Nacional upheld a penalty of 187,515 € against a company whose spreadsheet record could be edited without leaving a trace. The criterion is clear: if the record can be manipulated after the fact, as far as the Inspectorate is concerned it doesn't exist. A sheet where the owner writes down (or reconstructs at the end of the month) everybody's hours protects nobody — not you in an inspection, and not your team in a dispute.
What's coming: the digital time record
The Spanish government is processing a Royal Decree that will make the record exclusively digital. It's worth being precise, because a lot of confused information is circulating: as at this update (July 2026), the decree has not been approved or published in the official gazette — the Council of State required the text to be revised in March 2026 and there's no confirmed date. But the draft's requirements have been stable throughout, and they sketch the system worth moving towards already:
- A digital record of start, finish and breaks, with unique identification of each worker and of the workplace.
- Unalterable entries: any correction requires agreement between company and worker, leaving a trace of who and when.
- Each worker's access to her own records in real time.
- Remote access for the Inspectorate, and biometrics prohibited except in specific cases (no fingerprints).
- Penalties per affected worker (1,000 to 10,000 € each, according to the draft).
A warning for the informed buyer: there is no «official certification» for the new decree, because its technical specification hasn't been published. If a salesperson promises you a system «approved under the new royal decree», they're selling you smoke. The honest thing software can offer today is to comply with the law in force and to be designed around the draft's requirements, updatable when the final text appears.
What to do in your salon, in order
- If you have no record at all: start now, even on a template, because the risk is today. And plan the move to digital.
- If you use paper or a spreadsheet: it works until there's a dispute or a visit. Move to a digital system where records can't be edited and each employee clocks in herself (PIN, QR or app — not biometrics).
- Remember the breaks: the draft includes them, and recording them now saves you arguments about the lunch break.
- Keep 4 years of records and make sure you can produce a complete report in minutes if the Inspectorate asks.
How we've approached it in ClaudIA
ClaudIA's time-clock module is already running, built with exactly this philosophy: unalterable records, corrections requiring both parties to agree, each employee's access to her own hours, inspection reports in one click, and a parameterised design so it can adapt to the final decree the day it's published, without you buying anything new. It's included from the Pro plan. It is, of course, only relevant if you employ people in Spain — everything else ClaudIA does works the same in any country.
*An explanatory article; it does not replace employment-law advice. Last reviewed against the rules: July 2026 — we'll update it when the new decree is published.*