Is a working-time record mandatory in a bar or restaurant in Spain?

Yes. Since 12 May 2019, every bar, café or restaurant with employees has to record each day what time each worker starts and finishes their working day, and keep those records for four years. Today you can do it on paper or digitally: mandatory digital clocking-in is still a Government draft and had not been published in the BOE (Spain's official gazette) as of the date of this guide (16 October 2026).

This guide explains what the law requires today, what fine it provides for, where the royal decree on digital clocking-in stands, and how to organise it day to day. It does not replace a consultation with your accountant or with the Labour Inspectorate.

What the law says today

The obligation is in article 34.9 of the Estatuto de los Trabajadores (Spanish Workers' Statute), here in our translation from the Spanish:

"The company shall guarantee the daily working-time record, which must include the specific start and finish time of each worker's working day".

In practice, that means:

• Every day and every person. A shift rota or the working hours in the contract is not enough: you must record the actual start time and finish time.
• Kept for four years. The records must be available to the workers, their legal representatives and the Labour Inspectorate during that time.
• How it is organised is decided by the collective agreement or the company. The same article says it is organised as follows: "Through collective bargaining or a company agreement or, failing that, a decision by the employer after consulting the legal representatives". Check first what your hospitality collective agreement says.
• Paper or digital, depending on what your collective agreement or your company agrees. The Ministry of Labour's guide accepts "any system or means, on paper or electronic", with one condition: the information must be reliable and must not be changeable afterwards.

Two cases that are common in hospitality

Part-time contracts. Article 12.4.c of the Estatuto asks for something more: the working day is recorded day by day, totalled every month, and a copy of the summary of hours is given to the worker together with the payslip. If this is not done, the law presumes the contract is full-time, unless the company proves otherwise.

Overtime. Under article 35.5, each worker's hours are recorded day by day, totalled over the period in which the payroll is paid, and a copy of the summary is given to the worker.

The key dates

Digital clocking-in: what the draft says and what has not happened yet

The draft that the Ministry of Labour submitted to public hearing says that all companies will keep the daily record "by digital means" (art. 2.1) and that the rule will come into force "twenty days after its publication in the Boletín Oficial del Estado".

That is what the text proposes. What matters for your venue today is that it has not been published in the BOE: until it is published, digital clocking-in is not mandatory and the paper record is still valid. The final text may also differ from the draft.

If you are thinking of changing the way you clock in, it makes sense to do it calmly now rather than against the clock when the rule comes out. We compare how other tools handle it in Weko vs Haddock and Weko vs Qamarero.

What fine the law provides for

The Ley sobre Infracciones y Sanciones en el Orden Social (LISOS) includes among serious infringements "the breach of the rules and legal or agreed limits on working time, (…) working-time record" (art. 7.5). The fines for serious infringements are in its art. 40.1.b:

Those are the limits set by the law. The specific degree and amount are decided by the Labour Inspectorate according to the case.

How to keep it without the hassle

What works in a bar or restaurant:

• Clock in on arrival and out on leaving, every shift. If there is a split shift, both parts are recorded.
• A fixed place to clock in, for example a tablet on the bar counter or each worker's phone, so it does not depend on remembering at the end of the week.
• Check the hours every week against those in the contract, especially on part-time contracts.
• Keep a copy of each month somewhere you can find it for four years.

How Weko handles it

In Weko, each employee has their own code and their own link to clock in. They open it on their phone or on a tablet placed on the bar counter and press a big button to clock in or out. When clocking in they can add a photo, if you want. On that same screen they see the hours they have done that week against those in their contract, with a warning if they go over.

From the clocking-in screen you can download each employee's clock-ins as a CSV file, which opens in any spreadsheet, to keep it or send it to your accountant.

It is a help to keep the record up to date and in order. Making sure it reflects the real working day and is kept for four years remains the company's responsibility.

This guide is for information only and is not legal advice.