Not recording work hours in Spain carries a fine, and the amount depends on the severity the Labour Inspectorate finds when it writes up the case. Here are the figures in force today, a different reading that circulates online, a reform figure that is not law yet, and how often a real inspection ends in a sanction.
The fines under LISOS
Spain’s Law on Infractions and Sanctions in the Social Order (LISOS, Royal Legislative Decree 5/2000, article 7.5) sets three tiers based on the severity the Labour Inspectorate finds: a minor infraction from €70, a serious infraction up to €7,500, and a very serious infraction up to €225,018 per work center, not per employee at that center. Source: controlhorario.com, “Multas y sanciones por no fichar” (checked 6 September 2026).
A different reading: a record that cannot be verified
Another source names a range of €751 to €7,500 per company for a case where a time record exists but the Labour Inspectorate cannot verify it. This figure does not match the LISOS scale above because it starts from a different case entirely: not the absence of a record, but a record that exists yet cannot be checked. Source: grupocastilla.es, “Nueva ley de control horario” (checked 6 September 2026).
The €10,000 figure: not law yet
A 2026 reform draft, not approved as of this review, would set fines up to €10,000 per affected employee, not per work center, and it still has no confirmed date to take effect. This is a draft figure, not a fine in force today, and it should not be mixed with the LISOS figures already in law. Source: teamsystem.es, “Control horario 2026” (checked 6 September 2026).
How often an inspection ends in a sanction
A fine is not a rare outcome once the Inspectorate shows up. In the Basque Country, the Labour Inspectorate carried out 1,490 actions on work hours in 2025, and found some irregularity in more than 60% of them, with 417 infractions and 401 formal requests for the company to fix its record. Source: Última Hora, “Más del 60% de las actuaciones de Inspección de Trabajo sobre jornada laboral en 2025 detectaron irregularidades”, 16 February 2026. This is a regional figure, not a national one, but it gives a sense of how often a time-record inspection ends with some irregularity on file rather than a clean pass.
Another consequence: who has to prove the overtime
The fine is not the only cost of not recording work hours. Spain’s Supreme Court, in ruling 372/2026 of 15 April 2026, clarified that a missing daily record does not automatically shift the burden of proof in an overtime dispute: when the schedule is fixed and known, the employee must first show some sign that they worked beyond it, and only then does the burden shift to the company to prove the actual hours worked. Source: Economist & Jurist, “El Supremo aclara cuándo la falta de registro horario invierte la carga de la prueba”, 15 April 2026. In practice, a company with no reliable record reaches that dispute in a weaker position even though the burden of proof does not shift automatically, because it has nothing on file to counter what the employee brings forward as a sign of the extra hours.
How to avoid the fine
The way to avoid any of these fines, whichever scale ends up applying to a given case, is the same: keep a daily clock-in and clock-out record that is reliable, complete, and available to the Inspectorate the moment it asks for it. See what the law requires today in mandatory time tracking in Spain.
Frequently asked questions
Is the €225,018 fine per company or per employee?
Under the LISOS scale, a very serious infraction is calculated per work center, not per employee. The €10,000 figure from the 2026 draft, by contrast, is proposed per affected employee, and it is still not law.
Does a record that exists but is poorly kept get the same fine as no record at all?
Not necessarily. The €751 to €7,500 figure applies to a record that exists but that the Inspectorate cannot verify, a different case from having no record at all, which can be classed as a serious or a very serious infraction under the LISOS scale depending on the circumstances.
Sources
- controlhorario.com, “Multas y sanciones por no fichar” (checked 6 September 2026)
- grupocastilla.es, “Nueva ley de control horario” (checked 6 September 2026)
- teamsystem.es, “Control horario 2026” (checked 6 September 2026)
- Última Hora, “Más del 60% de las actuaciones de Inspección de Trabajo sobre jornada laboral en 2025 detectaron irregularidades”, 16 February 2026
- Economist & Jurist, “El Supremo aclara cuándo la falta de registro horario invierte la carga de la prueba”, 15 April 2026