Spain's Estatuto de los Trabajadores sets the ordinary working year at 1,826 hours. That number is not flexible. It translates to 40 hours per week on average, and it sits at the centre of every compliant employment contract in the country.

Daily and weekly limits

The standard daily cap is 9 hours. Workers under 18 have a stricter limit: 8 hours per day, including any training time. Between the end of one shift and the start of the next, employees must have at least 12 consecutive hours of rest. The weekly rest period is a minimum of 1.5 days, uninterrupted.

Overtime rules

Overtime is voluntary unless a collective agreement states otherwise. The annual cap is 80 hours. Each hour of overtime must be compensated at a rate at least 25% above the standard hourly rate, or replaced with equivalent paid time off - the specific figure comes from the applicable collective agreement. Workers under 18 cannot perform overtime. Part-time workers follow a separate regime under the complementary hours system.

Sunday and public holiday work

Spain does not prohibit Sunday or public holiday work across all sectors. The rules come from sector-level collective agreements. If your collective agreement grants a Sunday premium or a compensatory rest day, that obligation is binding regardless of whether the employment contract mentions it.

The digital time record - mandatory since April 2019

Every employer in Spain must keep a daily digital record of each employee's actual start and end times. The obligation applies regardless of company size, contract type, or sector. There are no exemptions for small businesses.

The record must capture the real hours worked, not just the scheduled hours. It must be kept for 4 years and made available to workers, their legal representatives, and the Labour Inspectorate on request.

By 2026, the digital record is established practice. Inspectors from the ITSS (Inspección de Trabajo y Seguridad Social) treat missing or inadequate records as a serious infraction. Fines range from €626 for minor violations to €6,250 for serious ones. Repeat violations or deliberate falsification can push penalties higher.

Common compliance gaps

Three problems appear in ITSS inspections more than others. First, records that show scheduled hours rather than actual hours - the law requires the real start and end time, not the rota. Second, records kept in spreadsheets that employees cannot access or verify. Third, records that exist but are not retained for the full 4-year period.

2026 context

The digital record requirement is no longer new. Employers who adopted a manual workaround in 2019 and never upgraded face increasing inspection risk. The ITSS has expanded its enforcement capacity, and digital record audits now form part of standard workplace inspections rather than targeted campaigns.

Rezano gives Spanish employers a compliant time record out of the box - employee clock-ins, clock-outs, and shift history stored in a format that satisfies the 4-year retention requirement and exports directly for ITSS requests.