The Mexican Senate approved a reform to the Federal Labor Law (LFT) to prohibit the use of the labor bureau—databases that record workers’ labor conflicts—as a tool to condition hiring or dismissal.
The initiative is pending a vote in the Chamber of Deputies and it cannot be debated before September 1, when Congress resumes activities after the legislative recess.
The opinion, approved on March 24, 2026, bears the formal name of “Decree that reforms and adds various articles of the Federal Labor Law, regarding the improper use of personal data in contracting processes.”
The labor bureau is a unofficial database which collects information on workers’ history of labor disputes. Their records come from the Labor Conciliation Centers and the Labor Courts, where any legal process initiated by an employee is recorded, regardless of whether they won or lost the case.
Various companies have used these lists to filter candidates during selection processes. A worker who has ever sued an employer—even if he or she was right—can become scarred in the system and face obstacles in getting a job.
The official document of the initiative, available at Legislative Information System (SIL) of the Ministry of the Interior, points out that this practice violates the Federal Law on Protection of Personal Data Held by Private Partiessince the records are shared without the explicit consent of the worker.
If the initiative becomes law, no employer will be able to create, use or disseminate lists or records of workers that imply discrimination or exclusion in access to employment. The reform establishes that this conduct will be considered an unfair and discriminatory practice, subject to sanctions.
The rule would also prevent any personal data collection system—monitoring platforms, algorithmic performance records or employment history databases—from being used as an argument for make adverse decisions against an employeeeither fire him or block his hiring.
Article 133 of the LFT already prohibits employers from “crossing out, marking or indexing” workers to prevent them from getting a job. The reform seeks to update this framework in light of the advance of digital surveillance tools.
The senator Manuel Rafael Huerta Ladrón de Guevara (Morena) presented the opinion from the podium and stated that the initiative seeks to “eliminate mechanisms of discrimination in the labor market” and that the labor bureau constitutes a discriminatory and exclusionary practice.
The senator Saúl Monreal Ávila (Morena) argued that work cannot be conditioned by “black lists” and that the labor bureau “excludes and silences.” He pointed out that under no circumstances may records that use or disseminate personal data of workers be used to limit or condition their access to employment.
The initiative was referred to the Chamber of Deputies after its approval in the Senate, but Congress went into recess before it could be voted on in the plenary session of San Lázaro. The Permanent Commission, active until August 31, does not have the power to rule on bills.
The debate can only be resumed from September 1, 2026, when the next ordinary period begins. If approved without modifications, the reform would come into force the day after its publication in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF).
The full text of the opinion is available in the Legislative Information System of the Ministry of the Interior.
