Tulum Municipal Payroll Purge Removes Over 100 ‘Ghost Workers’

Tulum, Quintana Roo — A municipal payroll audit in Tulum has resulted in the removal of over 100 suspected “ghost workers” — employees who either failed to report for duty or lacked proper assignments in their designated departments.

Only five individuals have been reinstated after proving they actually worked for the municipality, though in different areas than originally recorded.

The Tulum City Council conducted administrative and physical reviews of the payroll, including direct inspections of general directorates and operational areas, along with cross-referencing biweekly attendance lists against personnel registries.

Inspections Reveal Widespread Irregularities

During these verifications, authorities discovered multiple irregularities, including records of workers who never appeared at their workplaces and cases where department heads were unaware these individuals were listed on their staff rosters.

Heidi Rojo Rubio, Tulum’s Human Resources Director, stated the removals did not constitute unjustified dismissals but rather a purge resulting from failure to perform duties and inconsistencies detected in the payroll.

Rojo Rubio explained that after exhausting due process, the City Council only reinstated five people. In these specific cases, workers demonstrated they did work for the institution, though they performed tasks in areas different from those originally registered.

The official declined to provide specific data or an official breakdown of the exact number of ghost workers detected.

Despite this lack of transparency, information gathered during the review process confirms the removal of just over 100 registrations, with authorities canceling these positions after finding no evidence of work performance.

Rojo Rubio detailed that approximately five percent of those removed have approached the Human Resources Department to complete severance paperwork.

In cases where effective service provision was verified, authorities activated a process that includes validation of corresponding areas, review by the Municipal Comptroller’s Office, and subsequent payment management through the Expenditures Department.

Purge Saves Millions in Public Funds

The audit detected salaries outside authorized pay scales and salary assignments that didn’t correspond to performed functions, leading to adjustments to regularize the payroll and ensure responsible management of public resources.

According to official data, these actions reduced payroll expenses by up to nine million pesos per pay period. This savings allowed the City Council to close the last quarter of 2025 with a roster of 1,711 workers, with the administration now operating under the Chapter 1000 budget for fiscal year 2026 under this new labor efficiency scheme.