Employment law in Mexico: six striking facts

Do blue-collar and white-collar workers have to be paid at different intervals? Is it mandatory to pay Mexican employees a share of an employer’s profits? Are employees entitled to paid holiday?

Global employers that operate in Mexico can find out about their legal obligations and more in XpertHR’s guide to employment law in Mexico.

Below, we highlight six interesting facts about employment law in Mexico, including some of its unusual features.

1. Profit sharing

All employees in Mexico are entitled to a share of their employer’s annual profits.

Half of the profits are shared equally among all employees in proportion to days worked, with the remaining half being shared according to pay earned.

2. Payment of wages

White-collar employees must be paid fortnightly and blue-collar employees must be paid weekly.

Mexican employees are entitled to a Christmas bonus, worth a minimum of 15 days’ pay, to be paid by 20 December each year.

3. Holiday

After one year’s service with their employer, staff are entitled to just six working days of paid annual leave, increasing by amounts of two days as service accrues.

Employees are entitled to a holiday bonus from their employer, equal to at least 25% of their normal pay for the period of leave.

In addition to seven public holidays, every six years employees are entitled to a paid day off on 1 December for the inauguration of a new president.

4. Probationary periods

Where the employment contract is to last for more than 180 days or for an indefinite period, the employer may put in place a probationary period of up to 30 days.

This period can be extended by up to 180 days for managerial, technical or professional positions.

5. Foreign nationals

Foreign nationals working in Mexico require a resident card or visa, resulting from a job offer. Mexican employers need to ensure that at least 90% of a company’s employees – excluding managers – are Mexican nationals.

All technical and professional employees must be Mexican nationals, unless there are no Mexican nationals qualified in a particular field. In these circumstances, foreign nationals may be employed on a temporary basis in order to train Mexican nationals.

6. Internal work rules

Under Mexican employment law, employers are obliged to set up a joint employer-employee work committee with a set of internal work rules.

The rules must deal with a number of matters including the day and place of payment of wages, prevention of work accidents and the time employees arrive and leave work.