Miss work, not breakfast

Being 15 minutes late to work is now excused in Spain, emphasising the national value of having quality breakfast. 

As confirmed by the Social Chamber in a ruling dated March 2, the time of breakfast and registration upon arrival to work should be considered time worked, even if the employees haven´t started their activity, for they require the time to settle into their positions.

The new legalisation by the Supreme Court of Spain, allowing late work arrivals, has been implemented and applied in March, April and May; it is now permitted to also come to work and then be excused for a breakfast break.

The Supreme Court communicated that in these cases, arriving up to 15 minutes late is still considered to be on time and must be counted as working time, as does having breakfast at work. However, time spent drinking coffee is not included in working hours.

This decision was reached after an appeal by labour unions, who questioned the previous working system.  Employees and employers are now exploring the new allowances to reach the best possible working conditions.