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The Judiciary still doubtful about what time schedules are recorded

| News | Employment Law and Social Security

Alfredo Aspra analyzes the controversies arising from the current Royal Decree Law 8/2019, which regulates the new record of working day in an article published by El Economista

Four months after the coming into force of the now famous working time register, which obliges companies to control the effective working time of their employees, the courts still do not define exactly what is meant by this. The number of cases that the labour market presents now raises doubts as to what should be computed. The courts try to resolve them, but there is still division over the scope of this measure in many cases.

Alfredo Aspra, partner in the Labor area of Andersen Tax & Legal, recalls that "the TSJ of Castilla y León already in 2016 issued judgments that somehow foreshadowed this position that we now find in this recent judgement against the others. The lawyer explains that "even going against the criteria of the Supreme Court, these rulings were supported by a ruling of the National High Court in December 2015 to say that it is the company, and not the worker, who must prove inexistence of overtime.

What’s to be done?

Alfredo Aspra assures that these resolutions respond to very unique situations that, in addition to being governed by their own regulations and responding to very specific cases, would be controversies resolved before the entry into force of Royal Decree Law 8/2019, which is the regulation that regulates the new working day registration. "Therefore, they are not necessarily comparable to other cases whose conventional regime and regulations are different", he adds. In any case, the labour experts recommend that companies implement, in addition to the register of working hours, a series of guidelines with possible specificities or particularities in the working hours of workers. "Due to the fact that the register only asks you to collect the time of arrival and departure, all aspects related to the working day and its development must be made very clear in order to avoid problems with the employees themselves and with the Labour Inspectorate", recommends Alfredo Aspra. The lawyer acknowledges the nervousness of companies about the new demand. However, he stresses that "it is an opportunity to know the organization better and get useful information for decision making.

The new regulations require to reflect the time of entry and exit of the worker in order to know their daily workday. However, the problem lies, then, in quantifying the intermediate breaks.

You can read the full article in El Economista.

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