Mexico’s Senate Approves Granting More Vacations to Employees

After several months of discussion and uncertainty, on November 3, 2022, Mexico’s Senate of the Republic approved a bill that would modify articles 76 and 78 of Mexico’s Federal Labor Law (FLL) to entitle employees to more paid vacation days.

Mexico is currently one of the countries in the world with the fewest number of paid vacation days for employees, yet Mexican employees work more hours on average than other workers in the Western Hemisphere—an average of 2,255 hours yearly. Since 2018, with the implementation of Mexico’s Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare’s (STPS) Official Standard 035, “Psychosocial Risk Factors at Work—Identification, Analysis and Prevention” (NOM-035-STPS-2018), the Mexican government has been making advancements to create more balance between work and life and prevent future consequences for employees, such as burnout syndrome and work-related illnesses.

If enacted as approved by the Senate, the measure would allow employees to accrue vacation leave as follows:

Current Leave Accrual		Proposed Leave Accrual
Years Worked	Vacation leave employees are entitled to	Years Worked	Vacation leave employees are entitled to
1	6 days	1	12 days
2	8 days	2	14 days
3	10 days	3	16 days
4	12 days	4	18 days
5 to 9	14 days	5	20 days
10 to 14	16 days	6 to 10	22 days
15 to 19	18 days	11 to 15	24 days
20 to 24	20 days	16 to 20	26 days
25 to 29	22 days	21 to 25	28 days
30 to 34	24 days	26 to 30	30 days
		31 to 35	32 days

Even though the Senate has approved the bill, it still needs to be reviewed and approved by Mexico’s Congress of the Union and eventually by the executive branch before being published, at which point it would become enforceable. Therefore, changes to the bill can still be made, and an effective date cannot yet be defined. However, the bill is moving quickly and the government appears to be willing to make the new vacation leave regime enforceable by 2023.

Approval of the reform would come with several consequences, including economic impact to employers when paying vacation premiums, modification of leave policies, and company retention plans. Additional consequences would include a cultural shift that may help prevent work burnout, increase productivity, and promote more dignified labor conditions for employees in Mexico.

The Mexico City office of Ogletree Deakins will continue to monitor and report on developments with respect the Reform to the Federal Labor Law regarding vacations and will post updates on the firm’s Cross-Border and Leaves of Absence blogs as additional information becomes available. Important information for employers is also available via the firm’s webinar and podcast programs.