Politics · Other · 1 hr ago
Mexico’s electronic work-hour tracking requirement takes effect in January 2027
From January 1, 2027, Mexican employers must record workers’ hours electronically under a change to the Federal Labor Law.
The required records must show when each worker starts and finishes work, and employers must provide them to authorities if asked.
The Labor Ministry’s detailed rules, including the scope of the requirement and possible exceptions, were still pending in early November 2026.
The ministry has said micro and small businesses may get flexible, phased deadlines, but employers must still create records from the start of the obligation.
They cannot later recreate missing records with the same evidentiary value.
Employers must keep attendance records for the last year and for a year after a worker leaves, and labor disputes can require them to prove how long that person worked.
That means records from January 2027 could be examined in an inspection or dispute later that year.
Mexico’s electronic work-hour recording requirement is set to take effect on January 1, 2027.
Employers must electronically record each worker’s start and end times and provide the information to authorities when requested.
The requirement was established in a May 2026 reform to Mexico’s Federal Labor Law.
Supplementary rules on the obligation’s scope and exceptions had not yet appeared in the Official Gazette as of early November 2026.
Employers will need to keep records as they are generated because missed records cannot later be recreated with the same validity.
- Who
- Employers in Mexico must record each worker’s workday start and end times.
- What
- An electronic work-hour recording requirement takes effect. Employers must provide the information to authorities when requested.
- When
- January 1, 2027.
- Where
- Mexico.
- Why
- The requirement was established in a 2026 reform to the Federal Labor Law.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
A reform published in the Official Gazette established the electronic work-hour recording requirement in the Federal Labor Law.
Supplementary rules on the obligation had not yet appeared in the Official Gazette.
The general provisions on recording work hours are due to take effect.
An inspection or dispute could involve work-hour records from January 2027.
- Effective date
- January 1, 2027
- Law
- Federal Labor Law, Article 132, section XXXIV
- Required records
- Each worker’s start and end times
- Legal publication date
- May 1, 2026
- Retention period
- Keep records for the last year and for one year after the employment relationship ends
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What people are saying
What you do not record from January, you will no longer be able to replace. A sheet filled in from memory at the end of the fortnight is the first thing an inspector will question. The evidence that counts is the evidence generated that same day.