My Company Reached 10 Employees: How to Start the Electronic Salary Book (2026 Transition Guide)

Summary: You reached 10 permanent workers and the Electronic Salary Book obligation activated the same day (Labor Code Art. 102). You do not owe back-payrolls for the months when you had fewer than 10 — though note the second paragraph of Art. 102 already required planillas on the IGSS models from 3 workers up. You have ~30 days to start the cycle: authorize the book (3-5 business days, free) and upload the first payroll. The RERIT also activates (Internal Labor Regulation — the threshold is in Art. 58, not Art. 57, which only defines it) — many companies forget this. Verify your IGSS employer registration is current (IGSS registration is mandatory from the first worker, Acuerdo 1529).

When does the obligation activate?

Article 102 of the Codigo de Trabajo (Decreto 1441) is direct: “Todo patrono que ocupe permanentemente a diez o mas trabajadores, debe llevar un libro de salarios autorizado y sellado por el Departamento Administrativo del Ministerio de Trabajo y Prevision Social el que esta obligado a suministrar modelos y normas para su debida impresion.” — every employer permanently occupying ten or more workers must keep a salary book authorized and sealed by the Administrative Department of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, which is obliged to supply the models and rules for printing it. (The article names the Administrative Department; the authorization is issued today through the electronic portal operated under the General Directorate of Labor.)

And the paragraph almost nobody quotes. Article 102 has a second paragraph: “Todo patrono que ocupe permanentemente a tres o mas trabajadores, sin llegar al limite de diez, debe llevar planillas de conformidad con los modelos que adopte el Instituto Guatemalteco de Seguridad Social.” — every employer permanently occupying three or more workers, without reaching ten, must keep planillas following the models adopted by IGSS. So the ten-worker line is not the line between recordkeeping and no recordkeeping. It is the line between IGSS-model planillas and an authorized, sealed salary book.

Exact trigger point: the day you sign the contract for worker number 10 (provided they are permanent). There is no grace period. No annual average threshold. No tolerance ceiling. The moment your permanent payroll touches 10, you are inside the trigger.

But there is good news:

• You do not owe back-payrolls. Compliance is not retroactive. What happened in your company when you had 9 (or 5, or 2) workers is not documented in the book. The first payroll you upload is the month in which you already had your 10 workers.
• The reasonable start window is ~30 days. The authorization procedure takes 3 to 5 business days and you need time to organize data. Starting within the first month after the triggering event is practically accepted by inspectors. Beyond that, you enter risk territory.

What happens if I am several months late?

Article 272 of the Codigo de Trabajo, as reformed by Decreto 7-2017, sanctions the breach — but as one fine measured in monthly minimum wages, not a per-day, per-worker amount. No literal of Article 272 names the salary book, so which range applies is a classification the inspector writes into the acta de infraccion. The catch-all in literal g) covers any preceptive provision of the Code not listed in the earlier literals and runs 2 to 9 monthly minimum wages for employers — roughly Q8,005 to Q36,021 at the 2026 non-agricultural minimum of Q4,002.28 in Economic Zone 1 (Acuerdo Gubernativo 256-2025).

A six-month delay does not multiply that figure. What it does is push the amount toward the top of the range: Article 271 tells the Departmental Delegate to weigh the economic circumstances of the sanctioned party, their record, the harm caused, the exposure to danger and the number of workers affected. Two rules run in your favour: recidivism adds 50% and disappears entirely once a year has passed since the earlier fine was made effective, and correcting the fault and stating it at the moment of payment exonerates 50% of the fine, inside the 5-day payment window. Full breakdown: the salary-book fine explained.

Additionally, without the book up to date you cannot process the Electronic Labor Solvency — and Article 272 itself bars a company with pending sanctions and uncorrected breaches from tax or tariff benefits, tenders and quotations, and contracting with the State.

What counts as a permanent worker

This is the most important question in this entire guide. It is not about how many bodies are on your payroll — it is about how many qualify as permanent under the Labor Code.

Do count toward the threshold:

• Workers with indefinite-term contracts (the most common modality)
• Workers with fixed-term contracts (long projects, long substitutions, renewable annual contracts)
• Part-time workers with a stable schedule (half-time Monday through Friday, for example)
• Workers on day, night, or mixed shifts — the shift type does not change their permanent status

Do not count toward the threshold:

• Contractors and professional services providers (fee-based, own invoice). No employment relationship — no employer IGSS, no fixed schedule, no subordination.
• Casual workers or work-specific hires (Article 27 Labor Code). For example, installing a roof or painting the warehouse.
• Short-season agricultural workers — coffee picking, sugar zafra, seasonal harvests under 90 days.
• Interns/practicum students without a formal employment relationship (university interns under agreement, for example).
• External accountants who bill you on professional fees.

Watch for this trap: calling someone “casual” who actually works every month under subordination and a fixed schedule does not make them casual. MINTRAB and labor judges look at the reality of the relationship, not the contract name. If your “casual” has been collecting every payday for 4 months, they are permanent in practice — and if that person takes you to 10, you are already obligated.

Your first month with 10+ employees (30-day plan)

Week 1: Inventory and data

• Official list of the 10+ workers with: full name, CUI/DPI, position, hire date, base monthly salary, shift, and contract type.
• Verify the company RTU is current (if more than 6 months without update, refresh it in SAT Virtual Agency — free, 24-48 hours).
• Verify IGSS employer registration. If you are not yet registered as an employer with IGSS, that obligation was already overdue — IGSS registration is mandatory from the first worker (IGSS Board Acuerdo 1529, in force since 17 January 2023). See IGSS Employer Registration.
• Confirm each worker has individual IGSS affiliation (individual IGSS number).

Week 2: Book authorization

• Create user account at librosalarios.mintrabajo.gob.gt with company NIT and an active email.
• Request initial book authorization in the “Solicitud de Autorizacion de Libro de Salarios” menu. Confirm tax data (the system pulls from RTU automatically) and submit.
• Wait 3-5 business days. You receive a PDF with electronic seal and QR code by email.

Week 3: Prepare payroll and RERIT

• Download the official Excel/CSV template from the MINTRAB portal.
• Load data for the 10 workers into the template — one row per person, with all required columns (position, base salary, hours, Q250 incentive bonus, IGSS 4.83% deduction, ISR if applicable).
• Start drafting the Internal Labor Regulation (RERIT) — see next section. Triggered by the same threshold.

Week 4: Upload the first payroll

• Upload the first month’s payroll to the portal. The system validates against minimum wage, RENAP, and IGSS records.
• If it passes validation, it is registered with electronic seal.
• Schedule recurring monthly upload. No regulation fixes a calendar day for it — common practice is to load the previous month’s payroll within the first 15 days of the following month. See monthly filing deadlines.
• Advance the RERIT so it can go to the General Labour Inspectorate for approval.

RERIT also activates at 10 (important)

Many companies learn about their salary book obligation when they reach 10 workers, but ignore that the same threshold activates another obligation: the Internal Labor Regulation (RERIT).

The threshold is in Article 58, not Article 57 — a distinction worth keeping straight, because summaries routinely splice the two. Article 57 only defines the instrument: “Reglamento interior de trabajo es el conjunto de normas elaborado por el patrono de acuerdo con las leyes, reglamentos, pactos colectivos y contratos vigentes que lo afecten…” Article 58 carries the obligation: “Todo patrono que ocupe en su empresa permanentemente diez o mas trabajadores, queda obligado a elaborar y poner en vigor su respectivo reglamento interior de trabajo.” And Article 59 sets the procedure: it must be approved beforehand by the General Labour Inspectorate, made known to workers 15 days before it takes effect, printed in easily legible characters, and kept posted in at least two of the most visible places at the workplace — or handed to every worker as a printed booklet. The same rules apply to any amendment or repeal.

What the RERIT is:

• A written document that governs internal working conditions of the company: schedules, breaks, vacations, prohibitions, internal sanctions, payday and payment method, safety rules.
• Drafted once (with amendments when conditions change).
• Registered with the MINTRAB Directorate General of Labor.
• Once registered, must be posted visibly in the workplace.

Difference with the salary book:

Fine for not having a RERIT in force: Article 58 is a preceptive provision that no literal of Article 272 names individually, so it falls in the same place the salary book does — the catch-all in literal g), 2 to 9 monthly minimum wages for employers. Same statutory frame, separate infraction: one breach does not absorb the other.

If you reached 10 workers, plan both procedures in parallel. They share a threshold, share an entity (MINTRAB), but are separate processes.

Subcontractors, casual workers, seasonal — do they count?

The key question is always: is there an employment relationship (schedule + subordination + fixed compensation) or is it independent professional service? If there is an employment relationship and the person has been there several months, they are permanent.

Splitting strategy into multiple companies (legal vs risky)

An idea that circulates among small business owners: split the company into two or three separate legal entities, each with fewer than 10 workers, to avoid the book and RERIT obligations.

What is formally legal:

• Incorporate several companies (S.A., Limited) with their own NITs at SAT.
• Have workers in each company under separate payrolls.
• On paper, none reaches 10.

The real problem:

Both MINTRAB on the labor side and SAT and IGSS apply the doctrine of “unidad economica patronal” (single employer economic unit) or “piercing the corporate veil.” If inspectors detect that:

• The companies share offices, management, clients, and suppliers.
• Workers rotate between them or serve all of them interchangeably.
• Bank accounts and administration are unified.
• The split responds solely to evading labor or tax obligations.

…they can reclassify all the companies as a single employer and apply retroactive fines for book and RERIT not kept, plus IGSS and SAT adjustments.

Financial risk: a reclassification can total tens or hundreds of thousands of quetzales in fines, plus reputational impact (loss of Labor Solvency, blocked public contracts, easier labor lawsuits for workers).

When having multiple companies is legitimate:

• When they are truly distinct operations (different sector, different market, different management) that would exist even if you complied with the book.
• When the separation responds to limited liability, successions, partnerships with different shareholders — not labor evasion.

Neutral recommendation: consult a labor lawyer and an accountant before going this route. The economics of complying with the book (free + an accountant’s time) are usually less than the reclassification risk. We do not recommend splitting for evasive purposes.

Preparatory documents

Before starting the procedure, have ready:

• Current SAT RTU (less than 6 months old)
• Company NIT and active email
• IGSS employer number (from employer registration)
• List of the 10+ workers with CUI/DPI, position, hire date, base salary, shift
• Individual IGSS affiliation numbers for each worker
• Official MINTRAB Excel/CSV template (downloadable from the portal)
• Defined pay calendar (biweekly or monthly)
• Preliminary internal policy (schedules, breaks, vacations) to start drafting the RERIT

Self-assessment: how many permanent workers do I really have?

Before assuming you reached 10, do this realistic count. Tick each person on your current payroll:

• Workers with indefinite contracts and active payroll — all count.
• Fixed-term workers with a stable schedule — count.
• Part-time workers with a recurring schedule (every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, for example) — count.
• You (legal representative) and your spouse if they work in the company — count if they receive regular salary and are on payroll.
• Casual workers with more than 90 continuous days doing the same job — count (reality beats contract name).
• Subcontracted workers from an outsourcing company — do NOT count for you; their employer is their company.
• Accountants, lawyers, external professionals on fees — do NOT count.
• Unpaid university interns under agreement — do NOT count.
• Commission salespeople without schedule or subordination — do NOT count.
• Seasonal agricultural workers (<90 days) — do NOT count toward the threshold, but go into payroll while active.

If your total of the points that DO count reaches 10 or more: you are already obligated. Apply the 30-day plan.

If you are at 9 with plans to hire the 10th soon: prepare the file now. That way, the day you sign the 10th contract, you can start the procedure the same day.

If you are at 8 or fewer: you can do it voluntarily if you want the system running. Not required, but it saves you the rush when you grow.

Related procedures

• Electronic Salary Book MINTRAB (main page) — full procedure details in steady-state operation
• MINTRAB Guatemala Hub — all Ministry of Labor procedures
• IGSS Employer Registration — mandatory from the first worker (Acuerdo 1529), prerequisite procedure
• RECIT — Electronic Registry of Employment Contracts — individual contracts before the book
• MINTRAB Electronic Labor Solvency — requires the book up to date
• Labor Benefits Calculation — the book is the basis of the calculation
• SAT RTU — Unified Tax Registry — must be current before the book
• SAT Guatemala Hub — VAT, ISR, and payroll withholding filings

Official links

• Electronic Salary Book — Online Portal
• MINTRAB — Main Site
• Directorate General of Labor
• Codigo de Trabajo, Decreto 1441 (Art. 27, 57-59, 102, 271, 272)
• Ministerial Agreement 124-2019 (Salary Book Regulation)
• Excel templates and downloadable forms
• IGSS — Main Site (employer registration)