Leave policy in Mexico

Holiday leave in Mexico

Annual vacation time

The Federal Labor Law protects employees in Mexico, and foreign employers must abide by all the regulations set forth in the document.

Employees in Mexico are guaranteed a certain number of vacation days commensurate with their tenure at your company. The chart below illustrates the rate at which employees in Mexico accrue paid vacation time:

*Note: After an employee has completed four years of service and reached 12 days of annual vacation time, their rate of accrual changes to two days of leave per five years of service. This chart stops before an employee reaches their fifth year, but leave times are to extend well beyond this. For example, an employee working for your company for 25 years would be entitled to 20 days of paid vacation each year.

In addition, employees in Mexico are entitled to a vacation bonus wherein their compensation during their vacation time is 25% more than their standard pay rate.

Public holidays in Mexico

Below is the 2024 calendar for the seven bank holidays in Mexico. The holidays marked with an asterisk are not official public holidays, but much of the country observes these days as well.

Mexico 2024 public holiday calendar

Types of leave in Mexico

Employers are required to comply with all local tax and labor regulations when hiring employees in Mexico. This means that no matter where your business is located, employees are protected by Mexican labor laws, and you will be expected to comply with Mexican regulations regarding employee leave time.

Companies that do not comply with local labor regulations can face significant fines and penalties, including back pay for benefits missed and other forms of retroactive compensation. If you've never hired employees in Mexico, consider partnering with a global staffing solution like Skuad.

In addition to the seven public holidays in Mexico, employees are entitled to several other types of leave. Reference the list below for the types of leave you will be expected to provide your employees living in Mexico.

Sick leave in Mexico

Employees in Mexico are entitled to paid time off if they become sick or injured. However, to be eligible for this time, they must provide their employer with a doctor's note from the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) (Mexican Social Security Institute).

Employees are entitled to up to 52 weeks (one full year) of paid leave time so long as it is deemed medically necessary. However, employers can appeal to the IMSS for reimbursement for some of the paid leave time.

To be eligible for this leave, an employee will need to have been employed with your company and contributing to the social security fund for a minimum of four weeks.

Employees are only eligible for their total rate of pay for the initial three days of illness or injury. After this, they are to be compensated at 60% of their typical pay rate.

Additional unpaid sick leave

In addition to the above provisions regarding paid sick leave, there are several instances in which employers in Mexico are required to provide employees with unpaid time off. Examples of these include

• The employee is experiencing a non-work-related injury or illness
• The employee has been arrested or is in police custody
• The employee is performing public service (e.g., jury duty)

Family leave

All full-time employees in Mexico are entitled to family leave. Although employers are not always required to pay the full amount of these benefits, you will need to comply with any time off to which employees are entitled under these leave laws.

Below are the types of family leave employees in Mexico are entitled to

Maternity leave in Mexico

According to the Federal Labor Law, pregnant employees are entitled to paid maternity leave. An employee can take six weeks of maternity leave before giving birth and an additional six weeks of leave after their child is born, for a total of 12 weeks of paid maternity leave. If the employee chooses, they can adjust their maternity leave benefits so that their leave time begins four weeks before giving birth and extends eight weeks after their child is born.

If the mother has a difficult labor or delivery, the child is unwell and must stay in the hospital, or the child is born with a disability, employees are eligible for an additional two weeks of maternity leave or more, depending on the situation.

When extended maternity leave is granted, the employee is only entitled to 50% of their total salary for the extended period, and this period cannot last for more than 60 days.

Many employers are not required to pay maternity leave because employees can use IMSS benefits. However, for employees to be eligible to use these benefits, they will need to have been contributing to the social security fund for a minimum of 30 weeks within the year leading up to the beginning of their leave time.

When an employee does not qualify for social security benefits, their employer will need to compensate them for their maternity leave.

Breastfeeding accommodations

Employees who are breastfeeding after delivering a child must be offered two 30-minute breaks in addition to their typical break allotments to either feed their child or pump.

These employees can work one hour shorter each day in exchange for two breaks throughout the day.

Paternity leave in Mexico

Employees in Mexico are entitled to a minimum of five days of paid paternity leave per child.

Adoption leave in Mexico

Employees in Mexico are entitled to adoption leave. However, this benefit is different for employed mothers and fathers, wherein adoptive mothers are entitled to six weeks of paid maternity leave, and adoptive fathers are entitled to five days of paid paternity leave.

Childcare leave

In the unfortunate event that an employee's child is diagnosed with cancer, the employee is entitled to paid leave time to care for them. To be eligible for this leave, the employee's child must be 16 years old or younger and receiving treatment that requires care from their parent.

Employees are entitled to up to 25 days of paid leave per leave period, but employees can take more than one leave period. The maximum leave allowance for these employees is 364 business days within a three-year window.

Employees are compensated with 60% of their standard pay rate, which is to be covered by IMSS. For employees to draw from the social security fund for this leave, they will need to have contributed to it for a minimum of 30 weeks within the year leading up to their child's diagnosis or 52 weeks prior to taking the leave.

Note: only one parent can use this parental leave in Mexico.

Stay compliant with Skuad

When you hire employees in Mexico, abiding by all local leave laws is required to remain compliant. However, understanding the different tax and labor laws in foreign countries is complicated, and staying up to date with annual changes is equally tricky.

Employers can face significant penalties if they don't comply with all local regulations. If you're interested in hiring employees in Mexico but are unfamiliar with the local laws, partnering with an employer of record ensures your company isn't financially or legally responsible for non-compliance.

Request a demo with Skuad to see how we can help you grow your business and start compliantly hiring in Mexico in minutes.