Overtime is a common reality in many companies. However, Spanish labor regulations establish an annual limit and clear conditions for its implementation. It has recently been recalled that the Workers' Statute sets a maximum of 80 overtime hours per year for a full-time worker, with a proportional reduction if their working hours are part-time.
This means that, once an employee reaches this calculation of 80 hours per year, they cannot work more until the following year. In other words, if a worker has been working overtime on a sustained basis, they could reach the legal limit around July, and from then on the company could not require (or legally allow) them to work more overtime that year.
The legal limit on overtime hours according to the Statute
According to article 35 of the Workers' Statute, overtime hours are those worked in excess of the working hours agreed upon in the contract. The law establishes a maximum of 80 overtime hours per year for each full-time worker. For employees with less than full-time hours, this limit is reduced proportionally (for example, a part-time worker would have a maximum of 40 overtime hours per year). Once 80 hours have been reached in a year, no more overtime hours can legally be worked until the following year, which is intended to protect the worker's health and avoid excessive working hours.
Exceptions and calculation "tricks": It should be noted that there are overtime hours that are not counted within this limit. The Statute indicates that overtime hours that are compensated with rest in the following four months are not counted for the calculation of the 80 hours. That is, if your company grants equivalent time off shortly after the extra effort, these overtime hours would not consume the annual “credit”. Overtime hours due to force majeure or emergencies (for example, to prevent or repair urgent damage) are also excluded from the calculation. However, the fact that they do not count towards the limit does not mean that they should not be remunerated or compensated like other hours – they must be compensated equally with salary or rest.
Obligation to keep a daily record: In order to properly control these hours, the regulations require that a daily record of each worker's workday be kept, including any overtime hours worked. The company must provide the worker with a summary of the hours at the end of each pay period (usually at the end of the month) along with the pay slip. This requirement seeks transparency and facilitates work inspections. Failure to comply with the time record or exceeding the overtime limits can result in significant penalties for the company, with fines ranging from approximately €626 to €6,250, depending on the severity of the violation.
It should be noted that the legal framework may change in the near future: the Spanish Government has planned to reduce the weekly working day to 37.5 hours, and when this measure comes into force, it is likely that the maximum number of annual overtime hours allowed will be modified downwards to maintain consistency. Therefore, SMEs must be attentive to updates to labor regulations.
How Timenet helps you control overtime (especially for SMEs)
Manually keeping track of each employee’s regular and overtime hours can be complicated, especially for small and medium-sized companies without large HR departments. This is where Timenet, our workday registration system, becomes an essential tool. Timenet offers an easy way to keep a daily record of your workday, including overtime, thus complying with current legislation in a simple way. Below, we will see how Timenet can help your company:
- Automated time registration: Each entry and exit is registered in real time. This guarantees that the entire daily workday of each worker is recorded without manual effort, ensuring precise control of ordinary and overtime hours. The system is adapted to regulations and retains data for at least 4 years, as required by law.
- Calculation of overtime hours and limit alerts: Timenet generates detailed reports of the overtime hours accumulated by each employee. You can check at any time how many overtime hours each person has worked during the year. If you detect that a worker is approaching the limit (for example, around 80 hours per year), proactive measures can be taken: the system makes it easy to identify this situation in advance. This way you can avoid exceeding the legal limit, either by redistributing workloads or giving compensatory breaks.
- Compensatory break management: As we have mentioned, compensating overtime with time off is a recommended and legal practice. With Timenet you can easily plan and register these days free of compensation, so that it is recorded that certain overtime hours have already been compensated within the established period. This not only helps not to exceed the annual limit, but also takes care of the health and motivation of your team.
- Transparency and access to information: Timenet allows you to generate a summary of hours worked (ordinary and overtime) so that each employee receives it with the payroll, thus fulfilling the legal obligation. In addition, the record is available for work inspections or audits at any time. This transparency protects both the company and the workers, avoiding misunderstandings about hours worked and their remuneration.
- Solution designed for SMEs: Timenet is an online, economical and intuitive system that does not require large infrastructures. SMEs can easily implement it and adapt it to their needs. For example, if your company wants to establish a lower internal limit on overtime hours (below the legal maximum, to control costs), with Timenet you can configure reports to monitor these internal limits. It also incorporates additional functionalities (access control, vacation management, etc.), providing added value in working time management.
In short, current regulations limit overtime to 80 hours per year and require strict monitoring through daily registration. Complying with these rules is essential to avoid penalties and to promote healthy working conditions. A time control system like Timenet not only helps you ensure legal compliance in a simple way, but also provides you with tools to efficiently manage working time in your company.