Royal Decree-Law 8/2019, passed on 8 March 2019, was published on the Official State Gazette (“OSG”) on 12 March 2019, on urgent measures of social protection and disputes against job insecurity in the working time (“RD-law 8/2019”).

The labour measures approved in RD-law 8/2019 are focused on the need of measures for social protection, promotion and maintenance at work in relation to especially sensitive individuals to job insecurity and unemployment. Additionally, RD-law 8/2019 introduces the compulsory record of working hours for the purposes of: (i) ensuring the compliance with the working time limits; (ii) creating a framework of legal safety for employees and companies; and (iii) enabling the monitoring by the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate.

Given the impact that the record of working hours involves from a practical point of view and in terms of business management, we explain below the key points of said mechanism included into Article 34.9 of the Workers’ Statute:

· Companies will be obliged to guarantee the “the daily record of working time, which must include the specific timetable of start and end of the working day of each employee, without prejudice to the hourly flexibility” in Article 34 of the Workers’ Statute.

· By means of collective negotiation or company agreement or, in its absence, the employer’s decision prior to consultation with the employees’ representatives, the working time record will be organized and documented.

· Thus, companies must preserve these working time records for 4 years and will be at the disposal of the employees, their representatives and the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate.

· In relation to the above, RD-Law 8/2019 sets out that the working time record will be applicable within 2 months from the publishing in the OSG. Consequently, companies have a 2-month deadline as from 13 March to implement the working time record of the employees.

· The breach of the new section 9 of Article 34 of the Workers’ Statute in terms of working time record is deemed a serious infringement as per Article 7.5 of Law on Labour Infringements and Sanctions involving an economic fine ranging EUR 626 and EUR 6,250.

· Finally, the Government, at the proposal of the Employment and Social Security Ministry and prior to consultation with union and company organizations, “will be able to establish the extensions or limitations on the duration of working and rest time as well as specific actions on working time obligations in those working areas, jobs and professional categories due to their characteristics”.

On the other hand, RD-law 8/2019 includes other labour and Social Security measures as follows:

i. An advance of the special employment subsidy for people over 52 years old. Likewise, if the recipient of the subsidy does not find a job will be entitled to receive this subsidy until they reach the legal retirement age.

ii. Rebates to the Social Security contributions for the hiring of long-term unemployed on permanent basis: the rebates will be of EUR 1,500 per year for the hiring of women and EUR 1,300 for men, the company must maintain the employment contract in force for at least 3 years in order to receive these rebates.

iii. Measures to support the extension of the activity period for employees with permanent seasonal employment contracts in  tourism, trading and restaurant sectors linked to touristic activity: it is stated a rebate of 50%  in the Social Security contributions carried out by the company between the months of work activity (between February and/or March and November). These rebates will be implemented as from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019.

iv. Increase in the minimum amounts on total permanent disability benefit: the minimum amount of permanent disability benefit due to non-working illness has been increased for individuals under the age of 60 years old. This amount will vary from EUR 6,991.60 if the recipient has a dependant spouse, otherwise, it will amount to EUR 6,930. This measure is applicable as from 1 January 2019.

As a consequence thereof, we recommend analysing thoroughly the specific circumstances of the company in order to comply with the obligation to record on working time, and with the new legal obligations in relation to equal pay and equality schemes implemented in Royal Decree-law 6/2019, as stated in the last Newsletter.

We are at your disposal for any questions or queries that you may have in relation to the RD-law8/2019.