This is how Yolanda Díaz will implement the new work schedule.

The approval of the 37.5-hour work week may be at risk, but the implementation of a new electronic work record with direct access by the Labor Inspectorate is assured. This is the message being conveyed by the Ministry of Labor. They acknowledge that the reduction in working hours is facing difficulties due to opposition from Junts (Junts), which has already forced its passage through Parliament to be delayed until after the summer. However, they insist that one of the elements it incorporates, this new system for monitoring workers' hours, will be implemented no matter what.

It can be seen as a warning or as a pressure measure, but the truth is that Vice President and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, is determined to implement it. From a technical perspective, there is room for it. Because just as approving the bill that includes the 37.5-hour limit, time recording, and the right to digital disconnection requires navigating the choppy waters that the Parliament has become in this term, where many bills fail to reach port, for time recording, the parliamentary journey can be avoided and the bridge that a Council of Ministers decision entails.

This is Yolanda Díaz's Plan B, already known, and which, just in case it were needed, she recalled last week when she stated that "if they decide to vote against the reduction in working hours, I'll do what I have to do: a royal decree with regulatory status. I'll sign the regulation." She was referring to the time recording process, which, this way, would not need to go through the Congress of Deputies.

"Seats will be made personally and directly without the company conditioning their content."

The truth is that, although the new, more effective online monitoring of working hours has taken a backseat to the 37.5-hour schedule, it is one of the points the Ministry has consistently emphasized. Reducing working hours is pointless if the necessary measures aren't in place to ensure compliance with the new schedule, is one of the most repeated statements by the Ministry of Labor, and in this regard, they believe the current system, implemented by Minister Magdalena Valeria in May 2019, has proven ineffective.

Their argument is based, for example, on the number of unpaid overtime hours, four out of ten in the second quarter of this year, according to data from the Labor Force Survey (EPA).

If the measure is implemented, it will mean that all companies will be required to establish a digital timekeeping system, freely accessible by the Labor Inspectorate. The bill stipulates that companies will keep a daily record of working hours, conducted digitally, and specifies that workers "will make entries personally and directly, immediately at the start and end of each shift, so that the company cannot influence their content." Any interruptions to the working day that affect the overall workload will also be recorded.

Work's Plan B involves approving the registration in the Council of Ministers if the reduction in working hours declines.

Another element that is required is that access to the registry will be facilitated for workers, their legal representatives, and the Labor Inspectorate at the workplace at any time. It adds that "the registry must be remotely accessible to the Labor Inspectorate and to the workers' representatives." These records must be retained by the company for four years. Furthermore, the company's obligations include ensuring that it is responsible for certifying compliance with all of these prerequisites.

Everything is outlined in the text, although it leaves limited room for collective bargaining, through which the organizational and operational framework for recording working hours can be established, while respecting the basic principles indicated.

A list of requirements that companies must comply with, or face fines ranging from a minimum of €1,000 to a maximum of €10,000 per employee. This tightening comes in two forms: higher amounts applied to each employee found to be in violation, rather than to the entire company, as has been the case until now. This would apply to failure to keep records or falsification of recorded data.

Companies must facilitate registration, access and storage for four years.

The draft bill toughens penalties for non-compliance with both registration and working hours, night work, overtime, supplementary hours, breaks, vacations, permits, and working hours in general. Specifically, fines range from €1,000 to €2,000 for the minimum fine, from €2,001 to €5,000 for the medium fine, and from €5,001 to €10,000 for the maximum fine.

The text aims to control the proliferation of illegal overtime. As we mentioned, 40% of this overtime remains unpaid. In the second quarter of the year, a total of seven million hours of overtime were worked per week, of which 2.8 million went unpaid, according to the latest EPA (Spanish Labor Force Survey).