Employee Leave Policies in Mexico – All you Need to Know

Leaves are a basic requirement of employees at time intervals. There are family and personal commitments that employees need to follow even when he is the most dedicated employee in your organization. As Mexico is one of the leading countries for qualified and skilled professionals, employers must be aware of the leave policies in Mexico.

In this blog, we will discuss leave policies in Mexico so that you can understand the leave scenario. Additionally, we will inform you of the leave modifications, which are effective from January 1, 2024.

Before starting the detailed discussions, have a look at the list of 2024 public holidays. Here it is:

The public holidays of Mexico in 2024

Note: Election day ( June 2) and the inauguration of the new President ( December 12) will be paid public holidays this year.

Now you have a public holiday leaves calendar, and you have a glimpse of holidays, which helps you to plan organizational strategy and meeting dates accordingly.

In Mexico, multiple leave categories for employees include:

• Sick leave
• Family leave/ annual vacation
• Maternity leave
• Paternity leave
• Adoption leave
• Childcare leave

An employee can avail of the above-listed leaves and holidays. Let’s look at the leave benefits in detail.

Leaves and holidays – benefit details for Mexican employees

Leave policies in Mexico are flexible. Senior employees in Mexico get more leave benefits than their junior counterparts. And if the employees stay with one organization for a long time, they are entitled to receive many advantages.

Let’s see the leaves and benefits in Mexico below:

Sick leave

Sick leave is for employees who have been suffering from illness. It may be prolonged or short leave, based on the types of the diseases and duration of the treatment.

Leave duration: 1 day to 52 weeks

Temporarily disability duration: Generally 52 weeks, but it can be extended by an additional 52 weeks.

Permanent partial disability and permanent complete disability under which the employee gets fully paid and the payment will be made through IMSS (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social)

Annual vacation/ annual paid leave

According to leave policies in Mexico, the annual vacation duration typically depends on the employee’s professional years with the organization. Here is the breakout:

• Employees are entitled to 6 vacation days if they are employed for one year.
• Additionally, they will get two days for each subsequent year, adding to their employment duration, which could go up to 12 days.
• Once the employment duration is five years, employees are entitled to get 14 workdays, which is fully paid.
• During the vacation, employers must pay the employees a vacation premium of 25% of their salary.

Maternity leave

Pregnant employees are entitled to maternity leave.

Duration of leaves: 6 weeks – prior to childbirth
6 weeks – after childbirth

The leaves can be extended before and after childbirth up to 2 weeks, based on the situation.

Payment in extended leaves case: During the extended maternity leaves, the employees are entitled to get 50% of their total salary.

Breastfeeding breaks: A new mother has to provide a 30-minute break to feed her newborn baby. They are eligible to get two such breaks and can sum up their one hour less working hours.

Paternity leave

In Mexico, father employees get less leaves than mother employees.

Duration: New fathers can get a minimum of 5 days paid leave after childbirth.

Adoption leave

Mexican employees are entitled to adoption leave. Adoption leave policy is different for mother and father.

Mother: Mother employees are entitled to get six weeks of paid maternity leave.

Father: Male employees in Mexico are entitled to get five paid adoptive father leave as per the leave policies in Mexico.

Childcare leave

Childcare leave is approved with specific conditions for employees in Mexico. Such as:

• If the employee’s child is diagnosed with deadly diseases like Cancer, then the employee is eligible to get childcare leave.
• Further, the child’s age must be 16 years or younger, and the treatment needs parental care.

Duration of leaves: Up to 25 days of paid leave/ leave period. Employees can take more than one leave period. The maximum leave period is 364 days within a 3-year window.

Benefits: Employees are entitled to get 60% of their standard pay rate, which IMSS will cover. Even the employees can withdraw their security funds to utilize the money for treatment. However, they need to contribute a minimum of 30 weeks within the year leading to their kid’s diagnosis or 52 weeks prior to taking the leave.

Remember, only one parent is eligible to get childcare leave in Mexico.

Also Read: Top 7 Reasons to Hire Employees in Mexico: Benefits and Tips

Miscellaneous leave

There are jury duty leave, voting leave, and military leave in the Mexican job market. But according to the leave policies in Mexico, the approval depends on the employer’s leave policy, which they must mention in their employment contract.

The above-stated leave policies in Mexico followed the old structure. In 2023, the Federal Labor Law made changes in their leave policies. Below is the overview.

Modified leave policies in Mexico in 2024

Mexican Federal Labor Law modifications kept unchanged leave policies in Mexico, which are effective from 2023. Here’s a breakdown of the current leave policy in Mexico, effective January 1, last year:

Vacation leave

• Increase minimum duration: Employees with at least one year of service are entitled to 12 paid vacation days per year. It is an increase from the previous minimum of 6 days.
• Additional days: Each subsequent year of service earns employees 2 additional paid vacation days, up to a maximum of 20 days. After 6 years, additional days are granted every 5 years (22 days after 7 years, 24 days after 12 years, etc.).
• Continuous: Employees must enjoy at least 6 days of vacation continuously, and employers cannot compensate for the remaining days with money.
  Vacation bonus: Employees receive a premium of 25% of their wages during their vacation period.

From 2023 onwards, leave policies in Mexico got modified, and the same will continue in 2024 as well which encourages the employees to be more productive.

Information source: https://www.roedl.com/insights/mexico-labour-reform-2023-mandatory-minimum-vacation

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Conclusion

The leave policies in Mexico are governed by the Federal Labor Law of the country, which maintains the interest of both the employees and the employers. There are multiple leaves available for specific professional years’ duration. Employees can avail of the leaves other than the public holidays, which is for all.