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# 🕒 Is it legal to round clock-in and clock-out times in time tracking records?

A common question among **haddock HR** users is whether **automatic rounding** can be applied when recording employee start and end times. The short answer is: **yes, it can, but with conditions**.

### ⚖️ What does the law say?

The **obligation to record working time** is regulated by:

- **Royal Decree-Law 8/2019, of March 8**, on urgent measures for social protection and against labor market insecurity.
- And by **Article 34.9 of the Workers' Statute**, which states that:

  *"The company shall ensure the daily recording of working time, which must include the specific start and end time of each worker's working day"*.

🔍 Although **the regulations do not explicitly prohibit rounding**, they do make clear that the record must reliably and objectively reflect **actual working time**.

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### ✅ When is rounding allowed?

**Rounding time entries** is allowed as long as these conditions are met:

1. **Rounding must not disadvantage the worker**.
  For example, if someone clocks in at 08:58 and it is rounded to 09:00, but a clock-out at 17:02 is also rounded to 17:00, it cannot result in a loss of actual minutes worked.
2. **It must be applied symmetrically and consistently**.
  The system must round both up and down, avoiding systematic bias in favor of the company.
3. **It has to be documented and communicated**.
  Ideally, it should be reflected in the **company agreement, collective bargaining agreement**, or an **internal policy accepted by employees or their legal representatives**.
4. **It must be justifiable during an inspection**.
  Labor inspectors may request evidence of how rounding is applied and whether it respects employee rights.

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### 📌 Best practices with haddock HR

If you use **haddock HR** to manage time entries, we recommend:

- Being transparent with your team about your rounding policy.
- Applying automatic rules in a **clear, symmetrical, and reasonable** way.
- Keeping the real time entry records (without rounding) and having them available in case of an inspection.

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### 🧾 Legal references

- [Royal Decree-Law 8/2019, of March 8 (BOE)](https://www.boe.es/eli/es/rdl/2019/03/08/8)
- [Workers' Statute - Article 34.9 (BOE)](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2015-11430#a34)