Spanish employment lawyer Juanma Lorente considers it lawful under certain conditions for employees to remain at work for 15 to 30 minutes longer without that time counting as overtime. What matters is not mere presence, but what the contract, collective agreement and workplace rules stipulate about working hours. Spanish media reported his assessment on 12 August 2026, including 20minutos.
Lorente argues that short extensions may not count as overtime if they merely make up time previously designated as a break or non-working interruption. Documentation is key: without accurate time records, it is difficult to prove a claim. For example, clocking out and then carrying on with tasks weakens an employee’s position, because the recorded hours serve as the main reference. Whether payment or time off in lieu is due therefore depends on the applicable collective agreements and workplace agreements; there are no blanket answers. The Inspección de Trabajo also focuses on formal recording and the specific agreed standard working hours in its inspections.
The figures underscore the practical importance of the issue. According to the survey by Encuesta de Población Activa around 5.98 million hours of overtime were worked each week in Spain in the first quarter of 2026. According to analysis by Instituto Nacional de Estadística and EFE about 3.38 million of those hours were paid, while around 2.5 million went unpaid – just over 40 per cent. The overall total was almost unchanged from the same quarter a year earlier. The persistent gap between paid and unpaid overtime has recently prompted reports by major media outlets such as El País and intensified union calls for stricter enforcement.
For employees, this means they should keep complete records of their working hours and know the rules that apply in their sector if they are to enforce claims for overtime. Clear, transparently documented procedures give employers greater certainty in planning, but they risk being required to pay retrospectively for sustained unpaid overtime. Lorente’s advice highlights the distinction between simply being present and actually working – and with it the intersection of collective bargaining, workplace practice and oversight.
Editor: Daniel Mayer (Article created with AI assistance).