---
title: "Time clock for cleaning companies: working-time record without devices · Sicheca"
description: "How to keep the electronic working-time record in a cleaning company: shifts, overtime, fines and the simplest way to record."
url: https://sicheca.com/en/blog/reloj-checador-para-empresas-de-limpieza
lang: en
alternate_es: https://sicheca.com/blog/reloj-checador-para-empresas-de-limpieza.md
---
By industry · 4 min read

# Time clock for cleaning companies: working-time record without devices

Short answer

A cleaning company can meet the electronic working-time record requirement from each person's phone, with location confirmed only at the moment of recording. The law requires recording each person's start and end time; it does not require a wall-mounted time clock.

## How work happens at a cleaning company

A cleaning company has cleaners, supervisors and window cleaners, with staff assigned to the buildings of different clients, in several shifts. That creates three challenges for measuring working time:

- Staff work at the client's facilities.
- A supervisor visits several sites.
- Contracts open and close sites.

## What the law requires of cleaning companies

Since the 2026 reform, the Federal Labor Law requires recording electronically the start and end time of each worker's workday (article 132, section XXXIV). Failing to do so is fined 250 to 5,000 UMA. The STPS will define who it applies to and what exceptions there will be. The details are in [the reform guide](https://sicheca.com/en/reforma-laboral-2027).

**Night shifts.** A night shift lasts 7 hours at most, one less than a day shift. It helps if the record separates night hours from day hours.

**Staff turnover.** Each new person must clock in from their first day. With an app, registering them takes minutes.

**Multiple locations.** Each place needs its own clock-in point. With a QR code, that is one printed sheet per location.

**Work outside the premises.** The time a person is at the company's disposal is working time, even if they are not at your facilities.

## How to record working time at a cleaning company

1. Register your team and their shifts.
2. Each person clocks in from their phone where their shift begins.
3. The location is captured only when clocking in; there is no tracking during the day.
4. You see in one place who has already started, who is missing and where they clocked in.

**Example.** Each of the client's buildings is a location. The supervisor sees from their phone who has arrived at each site.

## Types of shift

| Shift | Schedule | Daily maximum |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Day | Between 6:00 am and 8:00 pm | 8 hours |
| Night | Between 8:00 pm and 6:00 am | 7 hours |
| Mixed | Both day and night, with less than 3 and a half night hours | 7 and a half hours |

Articles 60 and 61 of the LFT.

## Common mistakes at a cleaning company

- Keeping attendance from memory or in a notebook.
- Recording the clock-in and forgetting the clock-out.
- Not separating night hours, which have a lower daily maximum.
- Leaving new people without a record during their first days.
- Using a different control at each location.
- Asking staff who work offsite to stop by the office just to clock in.

## What to check every day and every week

**Every day.**

- Who did not record their clock-in or clock-out.
- Shifts that went over their daily maximum.
- Records made in unexpected places.
- Departures later than planned.

**Every week.**

- Each person's overtime against the weekly cap.
- Days when someone came close to 12 hours.
- Rest days that were actually taken.

## How much an overtime hour costs: example in pesos

Suppose a daily wage of $330 on a day shift. The ordinary hourly rate is $41.25. One overtime hour at double time costs $82.50 and one at triple time, $123.75. If a person works 9 overtime hours in a week in 2027, that is $742.50 extra.

It is an example to show the calculation, not a reference wage for the sector.

## What changes every year, from 2026 to 2030

| Year | Maximum working hours | Double-time overtime | Triple-time overtime |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026 | 48 h | 9 h | 4 h |
| 2027 | 46 h | 9 h | 4 h |
| 2028 | 44 h | 10 h | 4 h |
| 2029 | 42 h | 11 h | 4 h |
| 2030 | 40 h | 12 h | 4 h |

Decree published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on May 1, 2026, second and fourth transitory provisions, and article 68 of the LFT. Each change applies from January 1.

## Related terms

**[What is NOM-035](https://sicheca.com/en/blog/nom-035).** NOM-035 is the STPS standard that requires identifying and preventing psychosocial risk factors at work, such as excessive workloads and long workdays.

**[What is the contribution base salary (SBC)](https://sicheca.com/en/blog/salario-base-de-cotizacion-sbc).** The contribution base salary is the salary used to calculate IMSS contributions and INFONAVIT contributions.

**[Overtime: what it is](https://sicheca.com/en/blog/tiempo-extraordinario).** Overtime is the hours worked above the ordinary workday.

## Frequently asked questions

### Does a cleaning company need to buy a time clock?

No. The law requires an electronic record of working time, not a device. An app on a phone complies.

### What options are there for recording working time?

An app on each person's phone, a shared tablet or a clock connected to a system. All three comply if they generate an electronic record per person, with a start and an end time.

### How are shifts that cross midnight recorded?

Clock-in and clock-out are saved with their actual date and time, and the hours are added up even if the day changes.

### How long does it take to register someone new?

Minutes. They can clock in from their first day.

### Does salary go down if fewer hours are worked?

No. The reform prohibits lowering wages and benefits because of the reduction in working hours.

## Legal basis and sources

- Electronic working-time record: article 132, section XXXIV, of the LFT and fifth transitory provision of the decree.
- Overtime: articles 66 and 68 of the LFT and fourth transitory provision of the decree.
- Working hours: articles 58 to 64 of the LFT and second transitory provision of the decree.
- [Decree amending the Federal Labor Law on the reduction of the working week](https://sidof.segob.gob.mx/notas/docFuente/5786537). Official Gazette of the Federation, May 1, 2026.
- [Federal Labor Law, current text](https://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/LFT.pdf). Chamber of Deputies.

**How we write this content.** The Sicheca team writes it from the official text of the law. When something is not yet defined by the authority, we say so. It is general information and does not replace the advice of a lawyer or an accountant.

## Keep reading

[ By industry **Attendance control for private security companies: how to comply with the law**](https://sicheca.com/en/blog/control-de-asistencia-para-seguridad-privada) [ By industry **Electronic working-time record for gardening and landscaping companies**](https://sicheca.com/en/blog/registro-de-jornada-para-jardineria-y-paisajismo) [ By industry **Time clock for specialized services companies (REPSE): working-time record without devices**](https://sicheca.com/en/blog/reloj-checador-para-servicios-especializados-repse) [ Law and fines **Is a time clock mandatory in Mexico?**](https://sicheca.com/en/blog/es-obligatorio-el-reloj-checador)

[See all articles](https://sicheca.com/en/blog/)

Who publishes this blog

Sicheca is a digital time clock for recording working time from your phone. We write these guides from the official text of the law, so any business can understand what applies to it. If you want to try it, there is a waitlist.

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