RECIT Deadline 2026: 15 Business Days to Register Guatemala Employment Contracts

Summary: You have 15 business days from signature of the individual employment contract to register it with RECIT at MINTRAB. The clock runs from the business day after signature (not the day of), only Monday through Friday count, and national holidays inside the window are skipped. Filing after Day 15 is late filing, an infraction under Art. 272 g) of the Labor Code: 2 to 9 monthly non-agricultural minimum wages, about Q8,005 to Q36,021 at the Circunscripción Económica 1 rate or Q7,634 to Q34,352 at the Circunscripción Económica 2 rate in 2026. If you missed the deadline, register anyway.

What the law says

Two articles determine the deadline. They matter because they are the official sources:

Labor Code (Decree 1441), Article 28 (MINTRAB edition, October 2024):

“En los demás casos, el contrato individual de trabajo debe extenderse por escrito, en tres ejemplares: uno que debe recoger cada parte en el acto de celebrarse y otro que el patrono queda obligado a hacer llegar al Departamento Administrativo de Trabajo, directamente o por medio de la autoridad de trabajo más cercana, dentro de los quince días posteriores a su celebración, modificación o novación.”

In English: the contract is made in writing in three copies, one for each party, and the employer must get the third to the Departamento Administrativo de Trabajo within the fifteen days after it is signed, modified or novated. The article says fifteen days, not fifteen business days.

Ley del Organismo Judicial (Decree 2-89), Article 45 d), as reformed by Decreto Ley 64-90 — general rule for counting legal deadlines:

“Salvo disposición en contrario en el cómputo de los plazos legales se observarán las reglas siguientes:” […] “d) En los plazos que se computen por días no se incluirán los días inhábiles. Son inhábiles los días de feriado que se declaren oficialmente: los domingos y los sábados cuando por adopción de jornada continua de trabajo o de jornada semanal de trabajo no menor de cuarenta (40) horas. se tengan como días de descanso” Correction, 16 October 2026: an earlier version of this page credited the counting rule to Article 45 of the Civil Code and quoted text that is not in that code (Civil Code Article 45 deals with the court-appointed defender of an absent person). The rule that leaves non-business days out of the count is Article 45 of the Ley del Organismo Judicial, quoted above. The same review recomputed every date on this page and corrected five deadlines in the 2026 table that were wrong, three of them later than the real deadline.

Article 28 does not say business days, so the business-day count comes from that general rule. In practice:

• Business day = Monday through Friday, excluding official national holidays.
• The signature day is not counted: the clock starts the next business day.
• Sundays are not business days, and Saturdays are not either where they are rest days under a continuous workday or a workweek of at least 40 hours.
• Holidays inside the window are skipped, so Day 15 always lands on a business day.

Acuerdo Ministerial 324-2019, published in the Diario de Centro América on 13 August 2019, moved contract filing online from 9 September 2019 (Prensa Libre).

How to count 15 business days, step by step

The method is simple if you do it in order:

1. Write down the contract signature date. This is your starting reference (Day 0). It does NOT count toward the 15.
2. Move to the next business day. That is your Day 1. If you signed Friday, Day 1 is the following Monday. If you signed Thursday, Day 1 is Friday (unless Friday is a holiday).
3. Only count Monday through Friday. Skip Saturdays and Sundays.
4. Skip every national holiday that falls within the range (see list below).
5. Day 15 is your hard deadline.

Quick mental shortcut: with no holidays in the window, 15 business days are exactly 3 calendar weeks: sign on a Monday and the deadline is the Monday three weeks later; sign on a Friday and it is the Friday three weeks later. Any holiday inside the window pushes it one business day further.

What does NOT count as a business day

For RECIT purposes, the following days do not count within the 15-day window:

Weekends

• Saturdays: non-business days where they are rest days under a continuous workday or a workweek of at least 40 hours (Ley del Organismo Judicial, Article 45 d). The dates on this page assume that. If you want zero risk, file before the date shown.
• Sundays: NOT business days.

National holidays (asuetos, Labor Code Article 127) in 2026

The dates on this page count the two half days (December 24 and 31) as business days, because the morning is a working morning. If you prefer not to rely on that, treat them as non-business days; the table below shows where that changes the result.

Local holiday

Article 127 of the Labor Code also lists el día de la festividad de la localidad (the day of the local festivity) as a paid holiday. Whether that local day pauses a deadline owed to the Departamento Administrativo de Trabajo is not established, so the dates on this page do not skip it.

Example: you signed today (Monday) — when does the deadline hit?

For a Monday May 4, 2026 signature, AM 252-2026 suspended RECIT deadlines for thirty business days effective 27 April. The May dates in this table do not count toward the deadline. Checked 2 November 2026.

Result: the previously published deadline omitted the suspension. Do not use May 25 as the legal deadline for this case.

What if a holiday falls inside the window

Holidays are not counted (Ley del Organismo Judicial, Article 45 d), so each one pushes the deadline one business day later.

Example: signature on Friday April 10, 2026 (after Holy Week).

• Day 1: Monday April 13
• Day 5: Friday April 17
• Day 10: Friday April 24
• Thursday April 30: deadline suspended (AM 252-2026)
• Friday May 1 (Labor Day) is skipped
• Monday May 4: deadline suspended (AM 252-2026)

Result: this case requires applying the AM 252-2026 suspension; the previously stated deadline was incorrect.

What if you go past Day 15 (late filing)

Filing after Day 15 is late filing, an infraction under Article 272 letter g) of the Labor Code (text in force, MINTRAB edition). Literal g) covers the breach of any preceptive provision of the Code, or of another labor law, not covered by literals a) to f):

“g) Por haberse determinado la violación a cualquier disposición preceptiva de este Código no prevista por los incisos anteriores, u otra ley o disposición de trabajo y previsión social, da lugar a la imposición de una multa entre dos (2) y nueve (9) salarios mínimos mensuales, si se trata de empleadores” […] “vigentes en ambos casos para las actividades no agrícolas.”

• Fine from 2 to 9 monthly non-agricultural minimum wages.
• In 2026 (Acuerdo Gubernativo 256-2025, as reported by Prensa Libre on 22 December 2025): about Q8,005 to Q36,021 at the Circunscripción Económica 1 rate (department of Guatemala, Q4,002.28 a month), or Q7,634 to Q34,352 at the Circunscripción Económica 2 rate (rest of the country, Q3,816.90 a month).
• Once the resolution imposing the fine is notified, the employer has 5 days to pay at MINTRAB, unless it files a recurso de revocatoria (Art. 272).
• If, when paying, the employer states that it corrected the breach, MINTRAB exonerates 50% of the fine after verifying the correction (Art. 272).
• Within the 2-9 range, the Inspección General de Trabajo’s departmental delegate sets the fine according to the employer’s economic circumstances, record and personal conditions, the harm caused, the exposure to danger and the number of workers affected; a repeat offence within a year adds 50% (Art. 271 a).

How an inspection runs (Art. 271 bis): when an inspector finds a possible infraction, the inspector draws up an acta de prevención, informs the employer and recommends measures within a reasonable deadline, then checks compliance when it expires. If the employer complies, the file is archived; if not, the inspector draws up an acta de infracción that starts the sanction file.

Labor lawsuits: Article 30 of the Labor Code says the lack of the written contract is always attributed to the employer, and if the employer does not produce it when the labor authorities ask for it, the terms of work stated by the worker are presumed true unless proven otherwise.

If you missed the 15 days: register the contract anyway.

How to file a late RECIT registration

If you already missed the deadline, register today:

1. Log into recit.mintrabajo.gob.gt with your account (or create one with the company NIT).
2. Upload the signed contract.
3. Contract data — use the original signature date. Never alter the contract date.
4. Save the certificate you receive. It is your documentary evidence if a labor inspection visits later.

Prensa Libre (2019) reported that the electronic process takes about three days from filing to resolution and registration.

Practical tip: assign someone in HR to upload each contract on the same day it is signed. Do not wait until Day 14. Anything can go wrong (power outage, business trip, system down) and push you out of compliance.

Visual calculator (worked 2026 examples)

Quick reference of RECIT deadlines for 8 common signature scenarios in 2026. Day 0 = signature date (not counted); Day 15 = the final filing deadline.

How to read the table: signature on Friday March 13, 2026 → Day 1 is Monday March 16 → in between, Holy Thursday and Good Friday fall as national holidays → Day 15 lands on Tuesday April 7, 2026. Filing on Wednesday April 8 is late.

If your exact signature date is not in the table, use the step-by-step method: count Monday through Friday starting the day after signature, skip every national holiday, and stop on business Day 15.

Related procedures

• RECIT MINTRAB — complete registration guide — the main filing tutorial with step-by-step
• MINTRAB Hub Guatemala — all Labor Ministry procedures
• Electronic Labor Compliance Certificate
• Electronic Wage Book MINTRAB — Article 102 requires a salary book for employers with 10 or more permanent workers
• Work Permit for Foreigners
• Severance and Final-Pay Calculation — for end-of-contract liquidation
• IGSS Employer Registration
• Guatemala Holiday Calendar 2026 — dates for your deadline math

Official links

• RECIT — online portal
• MINTRAB — main website
• Labor Code Decree 1441, MINTRAB edition (Art. 28, 30, 127, 271, 271 bis and 272)
• Ley del Organismo Judicial Decree 2-89 (Art. 45 — deadline counting), Contraloría copy
• Prensa Libre, 13 August 2019 — Acuerdo Ministerial 324-2019 moves contract filing online
• Prensa Libre, 22 December 2025 — 2026 minimum wages (Acuerdo Gubernativo 256-2025)
• Diario de Centro América (official gazette)