⚡ DIRECT ACCESS TO MINTRAB
Ministry of Labor & Social Welfare — Guatemala
Which one to use?- MINTRAB Portal — institutional, programs, news, labor laws
- Labor Clearance — electronic clearance for bidding, loans, notarial documents (Q30)
- RECIT — register individual employment contracts (free, mandatory)
- Complaints 1511 — labor abuse, non-payment, unfair dismissal (free line)
📞 Tel: 2422-2501/02/03 (PBX) · 📞 Hotline: 1511 · 📍 Torre Empresarial, 7a Avenida 3-33 Zona 9, Guatemala City · 🆔 Verified: September 2026
MINTRAB (Ministerio de Trabajo y Previsión Social) regulates the employment relationship in Guatemala — from registering each individual contract and workplace safety obligations, to handling labor abuse complaints. For companies, MINTRAB compliance is the second compliance block (after SAT and before IGSS).
Looking for “RERIT”? We have a dedicated, full guide: RERIT — Registro Electrónico de Reglamentos Interiores de Trabajo (Electronic Registry of Internal Work Rules). It covers who must file (ten or more permanent workers, Labor Code article 58), which documents you upload, the 30-business-day constancia transitoria, the inactivity archiving clocks, and what it costs to modify the rulebook. Do not confuse it with RECIT — the Electronic Registry of Individual Employment Contracts: one registers the company rulebook, the other every contract. If you are unsure which applies, see the RECIT vs RERIT comparison.
Quick rule: Are you an employer? → Register every contract in RECIT, keep the Salary Book current, register your RIT if you have 10+ employees, and report accidents immediately. Are you a worker being abused? → Call 1511 (free) or file at denuncias.mintrabajo.gob.gt.
MINTRAB sub-portals
Most-searched MINTRAB trámites
For employers (B2B)
For workers (B2C)
Active MINTRAB programs
Before complying with MINTRAB obligations — employer checklist
Diaspora — employers and workers in the USA
If you’re a Guatemalan business owner living in the USA with a company in Guatemala
- You can fulfill 100% of MINTRAB obligations online from the USA — all portals (RECIT, RERIT, Solvencias, Salary Book) are web-based.
- If you need a Labor Clearance (Q30) for a Guatemala transaction — get it online, print it, and authenticate it at the Guatemala Consulate in the USA if needed.
- For Foreign Worker Permits (PEX): if you want to hire a non-Guatemalan employee for your Guatemala company, the trámite goes through MINTRAB — not consulate. See: PEX MINTRAB.
- If your company is under Decree 29-89 (maquila/free trade zone) — the Annual Employer Report is mandatory in January-February. Failure means loss of fiscal exemptions.
If you’re a Guatemalan working in the USA
- The MINTRAB Temporary Work Abroad program facilitates H-2A (agricultural) and H-2B (non-agricultural) visas — official process vs. coyote (safer, cheaper).
- Labor benefits calculation: if you worked in Guatemala before migrating and your employer owes you benefits — you have the right to claim them. The MINTRAB calculator tells you how much.
Workplace Health & Safety (SSO) — what your company must have
Under Government Agreement 229-2014 and the Labor Code (Art. 197), every employer must:
Common MINTRAB fines (reference)
Article 272 of the Labor Code, replaced in full by Decreto 7-2017, expresses every employer fine in monthly minimum wages for non-agricultural activities — never in fixed quetzales, never per day. The quetzal figures below are the conversion at the 2026 non-agricultural minimum of Q4,002.28 (Economic Zone 1; Acuerdo Gubernativo 256-2025):
Failure to enrol workers in IGSS is not sanctioned by Article 272: IGSS has its own regime (Decreto 295 and its regulations) and collects back contributions with surcharges. If wages or benefits are also unpaid, the IGT can open its own inspection record under literal a).
Two rules almost no summary includes: correcting the breach and saying so when you pay exonerates 50% of the fine, after verification (Art. 272 as reformed); and recidivism requires a 50% increment, not a doubling, and lapses once a year has passed between payment of the earlier fine and the new offence (Art. 271 as reformed). The General Labor Inspection (IGT) conducts periodic inspections and can act on complaints (1511 hotline).
More Guatemala state resources