The TS dictates that the breakfast break and the 15 minutes of courtesy to clock in count as effective work

Warns that a business guide on time registration cannot reduce existing rights

MADRID, 14 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Social Chamber of the Supreme Court has confirmed in a ruling that the breakfast break and the courtesy margin of up to 15 minutes to clock in after the start time of the day must be considered time worked.

The Supreme Court thus upholds the appeals filed by the unions CCOO, UGT and the CaixaBank Employees Union (SECB) against a ruling by the National Court regarding the entity's workforce that has a rigid work schedule.

The ruling of the High Court indicates that effective work time must be considered to be that of the "marking" carried out within 15 minutes after the agreed start time of the day for those who have rigid schedule control and are not employees with the category of boss or similar. .

Furthermore, the ruling dismisses the bank's appeal and maintains the right for breakfast time to be counted as effective work time, also because this is deduced from agreements prior to the implementation of the new workday registration system.

In fact, the ruling recalls that in October 1991 an agreement was reached between the unions and the bank (then La Caixa) on time control in which it was established, for workers with rigid hours, that the "markings" carried out in the 15 minutes before and after the start of the day would be considered effective work, while those that exceeded these 15-minute margins would see the actual effective work hour reflected.

According to said labor agreement, delays by CaixaBank employees with a rigid schedule that exceed the 15-minute margin at the beginning of the day will be deducted from the excess hours at a rate of hour by hour.

The problem between the unions and the bank that led to the presentation of a collective dispute lawsuit before the National Court arises as a result of a guide that CaixaBank prepared at the end of 2019, later versioned, to instruct its staff on how to carry out the record of working hours in development of the provisions of the partial agreement of the collective agreement of the savings banks and financial institutions sector.

In their lawsuit, the unions denounce that said guide improperly modifies working conditions related to the breakfast break, the possibility of starting the day within 15 minutes of the established schedule, and the way of computing the extraordinary hours.

The National Court partially upheld the unions' demand, establishing that the breakfast break should be considered effective working time. However, he pointed out that "markings" carried out within 15 minutes after the start of the day should not be considered work time.

The Supreme Court disagrees with the National Court and alleges that, from the labor agreement signed by the parties in 1991, it follows that "marking" carried out within 15 minutes after the agreed start time must be considered effective work time. of the day for those who have rigid schedule control and are not employees with a boss or similar category, nor employees with a non-boss position and category. "The implementation of a working day registration system is unsuitable for altering this working condition," adds the High Court.

The Supreme Court recalls that in another recent ruling, from 2023, it had recommended that each company have a guide so that employees have the necessary guidelines to know at all times how to activate each of the functions and options in the registration tool. of the day.

In this case, CaixaBank prepared this Guide and the bank understood that since the workday record must be a faithful reflection of reality, it was no longer possible for the minutes after the start time to be considered as actually worked.

However, the Supreme Court has concluded that anyone who arrives at work during the 15 minutes after the start time of the day has the right to have their clocking in considered done punctually, since the workday registration system cannot serve to introduce changes in working conditions or ignore any rights.