The Court of Justice of the European Union (hereinafter CJEU) issued a ruling on December 19, 2024, stating that employers must implement a system allowing domestic employees to record their daily working hours. The European court emphasized that the legal interpretation and administrative practice that exempted domestic employers from the obligation to track working hours contradicted the Working Time Directive.
Context and background
The case reached the CJEU following a preliminary ruling request by the High Court of Justice of the Basque Country, concerning a domestic worker claiming recognition for unpaid overtime and unused vacation days. The legal proceedings questioned whether the exclusion of working hours recording for this sector violated European labor rights and worker protection regulations.
Case details
The CJEU Judgment C-521/2023 establishes that the exemption from working hours registration for domestic employees places them in a position that makes it difficult to prove the time worked. This violates Articles 3, 5, and 6 of the Directive 2003/88/EC. According to the court, the lack of a recording system prevents effective enforcement of working time limitations and minimum daily and weekly rest periods.
Additionally, the ruling refers to Article 31.2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which guarantees all workers fair and just working conditions. The CJEU highlights that without a time-tracking system, ensuring worker health and safety becomes “extremely difficult, if not practically impossible.” The court also noted that, to fully enforce the Directive, EU member states have discretion to establish specific criteria to ensure compliance with rest periods and weekly working time limits. Thus, Spain retains the ability to define its own time registration system as long as it considers the specificities of each sector.
Furthermore, the judgment underlines a potential case of indirect gender discrimination stemming from the lack of working hours control. The CJEU pointed out that the domestic employment sector is predominantly female, with 95% of workers being women, which could put them at a comparative disadvantage compared to sectors where time-tracking is already mandatory.
Implications of the ruling
The CJEU’s decision requires Spain to take action to ensure that domestic employers implement a working hours recording system. Since CJEU rulings are binding, the Spanish Royal Decree 1620/2011, which regulates employment relationships in the domestic service sector, must be amended to align with EU law.
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