On 15 September Spain's official gazette published Royal Decree 723/2026, of 9 September, which develops the employer's duty to inform workers in writing about the essential elements of their employment relationship. It enters into force on 5 October 2026. Most of the text updates a 1998 rule; but one point of its Article 3 introduces something that did not exist in Spanish law with this reach: the duty to inform every worker, in writing, about the algorithmic or automated decision-making systems used in their employment relationship.
What the rule actually says
Article 3(2)(k) requires information about:
k) La existencia de sistemas algorítmicos o automatizados de toma de decisiones. Lo anterior incluirá las pautas, criterios y reglas de funcionamiento de los citados sistemas cuando se empleen para la toma de decisiones relativas a la determinación, la fijación, variación o modificación de condiciones de trabajo, tales como la duración y distribución de la jornada, la asignación de tareas, la determinación de los salarios, de la progresión profesional, del lugar de trabajo o de la extinción del contrato.
Unofficial rendering: the existence of algorithmic or automated decision-making systems. This shall include the guidelines, criteria and operating rules of those systems where they are used to take decisions on the determination, setting, variation or modification of working conditions, such as the duration and distribution of working time, the allocation of tasks, the determination of pay, career progression, the workplace or the termination of the contract.
There are two layers in that point. The first is to report that those algorithmic or automated decision-making systems exist, and it carries no condition. The second, more demanding, applies where the system decides or helps decide on working conditions: then the guidelines, criteria and operating rules must be explained too. The rule lists examples — working time, tasks, pay, career progression, workplace, termination — introduced by «tales como», «such as»: they illustrate what counts as a working condition, they are not a closed list.
And a detail the text makes clear by omission: Article 3(3) allows several points of 3(2) to be discharged by referring to the law or to the collective agreement. Point (k) is not among them. Information about algorithmic systems must be explicit and specific to each company.
Who it applies to, and from when
- To every Spanish company, for employment relationships lasting more than four weeks (Article 2(2)). Public-sector staff, with the particularities of their own legislation (Article 2(6)).
- To new hires, before the employment relationship begins (Article 7(1)).
- To any change — a new system, a change in its rules, its withdrawal — in writing and at the latest on the day the change takes effect (Articles 5(1) and 7(3)).
- To workers already employed, on their request: the company has thirty working days to provide it (sole transitional provision).
The information may be on paper or in electronic form, provided it is accessible, can be stored and printed, and the company keeps proof of its transmission or receipt (Article 6(2)). For workers with a disability or with borderline intellectual functioning, the company must ensure it is accessible and understandable (Article 6(3)).
The Spanish Public Employment Service will publish a model information document within twenty days of publication (first additional provision). Its absence does not suspend the obligation.
Why this is not «the AI Act»
It is easy to confuse the two, and the confusion is expensive. Three differences:
It does not require the system to be artificial intelligence. The rule says «algorithmic or automated decision-making systems». A rules-based shift planner, a task router or a formula that computes variable pay all fall within it, with or without an AI model behind them. An assistant that drafts emails, by contrast, decides about nobody: it falls outside.
It does not distinguish by risk level. The European AI Regulation only requires workers and their representatives to be informed where the system is high-risk (Articles 26(7) and 26(11)). Article 26 applies from 2 December 2027 for the high-risk systems in Annex III and from 2 August 2028 for those in Annex I; it does not reach products in Annex I, Section B. RD 723/2026 applies to any system that decides on working conditions, from 5 October 2026.
It is individual. The rule that already existed in Spain — Article 64.4(d) of the Workers' Statute, in force since 2021 — gives the legal representation of the workforce the right to be informed of the parameters, rules and instructions on which the algorithms or artificial intelligence systems that affect employment decisions are based. The decree adds the individual channel: each person, in writing.
The decree's own preamble cites Article 2(11) of the European Regulation, which allows Member States to maintain rules more favourable to workers as regards the use of AI by employers. That is exactly what it does.
How to prepare before 5 October
- Take inventory of which systems in your company take, or help take, decisions about workers. Not only HR ones: logistics, planning, customer service and operations often hold the most relevant.
- Mark, for each one, what it decides on. If what it decides is a working condition — working time, tasks, pay, progression, workplace, termination, or any other — the rules layer applies.
- Describe its rules in plain language: which variables it uses, on what criteria it decides and what consequences it has for the person. The company writes this; no vendor will do it for you.
- Prepare the document so it can be added to the contractual information of new hires and handed over when something changes.
- Keep the proof of each delivery. The rule does not ask for a signed acknowledgement, but it does ask that the company be able to demonstrate transmission or receipt.
If you have a works council or staff delegates, the collective information under Article 64.4(d) of the Workers' Statute runs in parallel and comes before putting the system into use.
What Alethexis does with this
In the visibility module, every system in the inventory can be declared with its employment scope: whether it decides or supports decisions about workers, on which conditions, and under what rules. From there the controls engine activates for your account the obligations of RD 723/2026 and of Article 64.4(d) of the Workers' Statute, separate from those of the European Regulation and with their own dates, and the legal framework shows the provisions with their literal text. The proof of delivery is linked to the corresponding control. Everything stays documented and traceable, which is what an inspection or an audit is going to ask for.
Two honest caveats. The reading of what «decision-making» means — only fully automated decisions, or also those that support a person — we will adjust when the Spanish Public Employment Service publishes its model; in the meantime we work with the more prudent reading, which includes both. And the decree does not itself set penalties: the obligation is enforceable by the Labour Inspectorate under the general regime of employment infringements, whose detail is worth checking with your advisers.
Content with regard to Article 3(2)(k), Article 3(3), Articles 5, 6 and 7, the sole transitional provision and the first additional provision of Royal Decree 723/2026, to Article 64.4(d) of the Workers' Statute and to Article 26 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689.
This article is for information purposes and does not constitute legal advice.