Mexico — Statutory Benefits & Leave

The Ley Federal del Trabajo (LFT, Federal Labour Law) is the governing statute for employment relationships in Mexico. Article 1 provides that the LFT "is of general observance in all the Republic and governs the labour relationships comprehended in Article 123, Section A, of the Constitution." The LFT implements the constitutional mandate in Article 123(A) of the Mexican Constitution, which guarantees minimum labour protections for private-sector workers throughout Mexico.

Who is covered. The LFT applies to all labour relationships falling under Article 123(A), meaning employees in private-sector enterprises and most workers not expressly reserved to the separate regime for government employees under Article 123(B). Article 2 establishes that labour norms "tend to achieve balance between the factors of production and social justice, as well as to promote dignified or decent work in all labour relationships." The law distinguishes between individual and collective relationships; Título Tercero (Title Three) sets out Condiciones de Trabajo (Working Conditions), which specify the minimum statutory benefits every employer must provide: maximum working hours (jornada), rest days (días de descanso), paid annual vacation (vacaciones), vacation premium (prima vacacional), minimum wage (salario mínimo), the mandatory year-end bonus (aguinaldo), and profit-sharing (participación de utilidades).

Minimum wage. Article 90 mandates that minimum wages (salarios mínimos) are the lowest compensation an employee may lawfully receive for a day's work. The Comisión Nacional de los Salarios Mínimos (CONASAMI, National Minimum Wage Commission) fixes minimum-wage rates annually under Article 94. For 2026, CONASAMI's Resolution published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 9 December 2025 set the general minimum wage at MXN $315.04 per day (approximately MXN $9,582 per month) for most of Mexico, and MXN $440.87 per day (approximately MXN $13,410 per month) for the Zona Libre de la Frontera Norte (Northern Border Free Zone), which comprises 43 municipalities along the U.S. border in Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas, effective 1 January 2026.

Annual vacation. Article 76 requires that workers with more than one year of service receive a paid annual vacation period "that in no case may be less than twelve working days," increasing by two working days (up to a cap of twenty days) for each subsequent year of service. After the sixth year, vacation increases by two days for each five additional years of service. Article 80 mandates a vacation premium (prima vacacional) of not less than 25 percent of the wages corresponding to the vacation period.

Aguinaldo. Article 87 provides that all workers "shall have the right to an annual aguinaldo that shall be paid before the twentieth of December, equivalent to fifteen days of salary, at least." Workers who have not completed a year of service receive the aguinaldo on a pro rata basis for the time worked. The aguinaldo is a mandatory year-end bonus deeply rooted in Mexican labour practice; employers may grant more than fifteen days but may not reduce it below that statutory floor.

Enforcement. The Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social (STPS, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare) is the federal labour authority. Article 1004 of the LFT authorizes the STPS to impose fines ranging from 50 to 5,000 times the Unidad de Medida y Actualización (UMA, a statutory inflation-adjusted unit) for violations of the LFT, including failure to pay the minimum wage or failure to grant statutory vacation or aguinaldo. Since the 2019 labour-justice reform, individual labour disputes are first submitted to mandatory conciliation before a Centro de Conciliación (Conciliation Center), and if unresolved proceed to a labour tribunal (Tribunal Laboral) under the judicial branch; the older Juntas de Conciliación y Arbitraje were phased out.

The LFT thus establishes a comprehensive floor of statutory benefits and leave that every employer in Mexico—whether a local enterprise or a multinational hiring its first employee in-country—must observe. Collective bargaining agreements may improve upon these minima but may not reduce them; any clause in a contract purporting to waive statutory minimums is void under Article 5.

Source: Ley Federal del Trabajo, Cámara de Diputados Source: Resolución CONASAMI 2026, Diario Oficial de la Federación, 9 December 2025 Source: Orden Jurídico Nacional – Ley Federal del Trabajo

Suspension of salary obligation during non-work-related illness. Article 42, fraction II, of the Ley Federal del Trabajo establishes that temporary incapacity (incapacidad temporal) caused by an accident or illness that does not constitute a work-related risk (riesgo de trabajo) is a cause for suspension of the obligations to provide services and to pay salary, without responsibility for either the worker or the employer. This suspension runs from the date the employer has knowledge of the incapacity until the period fixed by the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) ends, but may not exceed the term fixed in the Ley del Seguro Social (LSS) for treatment of non-work-related illness (Article 43, fraction I).

The critical three-day gap. For employers, the key practical consequence is that the LFT does not mandate employer-paid sick leave during non-work-related illness. Instead, the LSS assigns that obligation to IMSS through a cash subsidy (subsidio en dinero)—but with a three-day waiting period. Article 96 of the LSS provides that in the case of a non-work-related illness (enfermedad no profesional), the insured employee has the right to a cash subsidy when the illness incapacitates the worker for work. The subsidy is paid starting on the fourth day of the incapacity, while it lasts, and for up to fifty-two weeks. If at the end of that period the insured worker is still incapacitated, the Institute may, upon examination, extend the subsidy payment for up to twenty-six additional weeks.

Amount and eligibility. Article 98 of the LSS sets the subsidy at 60 percent of the daily wage on which the worker has been paying contributions (salario diario que estuviere cotizando). To qualify for the subsidy, Article 97 requires that the insured worker have contributed for at least four weekly contributions immediately before the illness (cuatro cotizaciones semanales inmediatamente anteriores a la enfermedad). The subsidy is paid for periods not exceeding seven days at a time (Article 98).

The first three days: neither employer nor IMSS pays. Because Article 42 suspends the employer's salary obligation sin responsabilidad (without liability) and the IMSS subsidy begins only on the fourth day, the first three days of a non-work-related illness are unpaid unless the employer voluntarily grants paid sick leave as a superior contractual benefit. Collective bargaining agreements and individual contracts often provide for paid sick days (días de enfermedad pagados) to cover this gap, but no statutory floor mandates it under the LFT or the LSS. In practice, multinational employers setting up payroll in Mexico for the first time often overlook this three-day unpaid window, leading to employee-relations friction when workers discover they receive no pay during the initial illness period.

Work-related illness or injury (riesgo de trabajo): distinct rules. If the incapacity arises from a work-related risk—an occupational accident (accidente de trabajo, Article 474 LFT) or an occupational disease (enfermedad de trabajo, Article 475 LFT)—the worker receives 100 percent of salary from the first day of incapacity, paid by IMSS under the Seguro de Riesgos de Trabajo (work-risk insurance; LSS Article 58, fraction I, and Article 491 LFT). The three-day gap applies only to non-work-related illness and injury.

Maximum duration and transition to disability. The fifty-two-week (plus up to twenty-six additional weeks) maximum incapacity period under Article 96 operates as a bridge. If the worker remains incapacitated after exhausting that period, IMSS evaluates whether the worker qualifies for permanent disability (invalidez) under the Seguro de Invalidez y Vida (LSS Title IV), which carries different contribution and benefit rules. Article 43, fraction I, of the LFT cross-references the LSS treatment period as the outer limit of the salary-suspension period.

Employer operational consequence. Employers should instruct payroll teams that when an employee presents an IMSS certificate of temporary incapacity (certificado de incapacidad temporal) for a non-work-related illness, salary stops on day one (Article 42), IMSS pays nothing for the first three days, and IMSS pays 60 percent of salary starting day four (Article 96). Unless the employment contract or a collective agreement grants paid sick leave, the employee bears the economic cost of the first three days. Because this is often unexpected, many employers in Mexico—especially those with foreign parent companies accustomed to statutory paid-sick-leave regimes—choose to grant a contractual sick-leave bank to avoid employee dissatisfaction and retain talent.

Source: Ley Federal del Trabajo, Cámara de Diputados Source: Ley del Seguro Social, Cámara de Diputados

Twelve weeks of protected leave. Article 170, fraction II, of the Ley Federal del Trabajo establishes that mothers who are workers (madres trabajadoras) shall enjoy a rest period (descanso) of six weeks prior to and six weeks following the date of childbirth. This twelve-week maternity leave is a constitutional guarantee rooted in Article 123(A), fraction V, of the Mexican Constitution, which mandates that during the rest period the worker shall receive her full salary (salario íntegro) and retain her employment and all rights acquired by virtue of the employment relationship. The LFT rest period protects the worker's job; the companion cash subsidy under the Ley del Seguro Social (LSS) shifts the salary obligation from the employer to IMSS.

Flexible distribution: transferring pre-partum weeks to post-partum. At the express request of the worker (a solicitud expresa de la trabajadora), with prior written authorization from the physician of the social-security institution (typically IMSS) or, where applicable, the health-service provider designated by the employer, and taking into account the opinion of the employer and the nature of the work performed, up to four of the six weeks of rest prior to childbirth may be transferred to the post-partum period (Article 170, fraction II, LFT). This flexibility—introduced by the 2012 labour reform and harmonized in the LSS by decree published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 24 March 2023—allows a worker to continue working until two weeks before the due date and take ten weeks of leave after the birth. The transfer requires medical certification; when a private physician issues the authorization, the certificate must contain the physician's name, professional cédula number, the date, and the worker's medical status (Article 102 Bis, LSS).

Extended post-partum leave for disability or hospitalization. Article 170, fraction II, further provides that if the child is born with any type of disability or requires hospital medical attention, the post-partum rest period may extend up to eight weeks after childbirth, upon presentation of the corresponding medical certificate. When combined with the maximum four-week transfer from the pre-partum period, this can yield a total of twelve weeks post-partum (four transferred + eight extended), though the aggregate twelve-week entitlement remains the statutory floor in ordinary circumstances.

IMSS cash subsidy at 100 percent of salary. Article 101 of the LSS grants the insured worker (asegurada) a cash subsidy (subsidio en dinero) during pregnancy and the postpartum period (puerperio) equal to one hundred percent of the last daily salary of contribution (último salario diario de cotización), which she will receive for forty-two days prior to childbirth and forty-two days following it (eighty-four days total, or twelve weeks). IMSS pays this subsidy directly to the worker—not to the employer—thereby relieving the employer of the salary obligation during the maternity-leave period. Article 101, third paragraph (added by the 24 March 2023 reform), specifies that the subsidy shall be paid by IMSS through the issuance of a single certificate of incapacity for eighty-four days (certificado único de incapacidad por ochenta y cuatro días), delivered in a single installment from the start of the maternity leave. This administrative change eliminated the former practice of issuing multiple weekly certificates and simplified payment for both workers and employers.

Adjusting the subsidy period when weeks are transferred. Article 102 Bis, LSS (also added by the 2023 reform), provides that when the insured worker exercises her right to transfer pre-partum weeks under Article 170, fraction II, LFT, IMSS must adjust the subsidy payment period to reflect the new distribution—up to twenty-eight days before the due date and up to fifty-six days after childbirth when the maximum four weeks are transferred. The eighty-four-day total subsidy period remains unchanged; only its division between pre-partum and post-partum shifts. In cases where the date fixed by IMSS physicians does not coincide exactly with the actual date of birth, IMSS must still cover the full forty-two days of post-partum subsidy (or fifty-six days if weeks were transferred) regardless of any overage in the pre-partum period (Article 102 Bis, second paragraph). Days that exceeded the pre-partum estimate are paid as a continuation of ordinary illness incapacity, not maternity.

Job protection and reinstatement. Article 170, fraction VII, LFT provides that during the maternity-leave periods—whether pre-partum or post-partum, and whether or not weeks have been transferred—the worker shall continue to accrue seniority (antigüedad) and enjoy all rights derived from her employment contract and from the collective bargaining agreement, if any. The employer may not terminate the employment relationship during the leave period on grounds related to pregnancy or maternity; doing so triggers the presumption of discriminatory dismissal under Article 133, fraction I, LFT (prohibition against refusing to hire or terminating workers on grounds of pregnancy) and Article 994, which imposes fines of 250 to 5,000 times the Unidad de Medida y Actualización (UMA) for violating the prohibition. Article 995 imposes fines of 180 to 365 times the UMA for violations of norms governing the work of women, including failure to grant maternity leave. Because Mexican law does not provide a statutory reinstatement right in most private-sector dismissals (the employer may choose to pay the constitutional indemnity under Article 50 LFT in lieu of reinstatement), a worker dismissed during maternity leave typically pursues a discriminatory-dismissal claim before a labour tribunal, seeking both back pay and the constitutional severance package plus any damages for violation of her fundamental rights.

IMSS eligibility: thirty weeks of contributions in the twelve months before certification. To qualify for the maternity cash subsidy, Article 94, fraction II, LSS requires that the insured worker have at least thirty weekly contributions (treinta cotizaciones semanales) in the twelve months prior to the date IMSS certifies the pregnancy (anteriores a la fecha en que debiera comenzar el pago del subsidio). This thirty-week threshold is significantly longer than the four-week minimum for ordinary illness subsidy (Article 97, LSS) and reflects the predictable, non-sudden nature of pregnancy. An employer onboarding a worker who is already pregnant must ensure IMSS registration occurs promptly; if certification happens before the worker accumulates thirty weeks of contributions, she will not qualify for the subsidy, though the LFT leave entitlement and job protection remain in force. In that scenario the employer must continue paying salary during the twelve-week leave (Article 170, fraction II, cross-referenced to the constitutional Article 123(A)(V) mandate to pay salario íntegro), as the LSS suspension-of-salary rule in Article 42, fraction II, LFT applies only when the social-security institution actually pays the subsidy.

Medical-care entitlement. Beyond the cash subsidy, Article 94, fraction I, LSS guarantees obstetric assistance (asistencia obstétrica) from the day IMSS certifies the pregnancy, including prenatal care, delivery, and post-partum follow-up. Article 94, fraction III, provides a six-month supply of in-kind assistance for lactation (ayuda en especie) and, under fraction IV, a canastilla (layette basket) at the child's birth. These in-kind benefits are separate from the cash subsidy and do not depend on the thirty-week contribution threshold; they are available once the worker is registered with IMSS and the pregnancy is certified.

Employer operational consequence. A multinational standing up payroll in Mexico for the first time should instruct its payroll and HR teams that when a female employee notifies the company of pregnancy and presents an IMSS medical certificate, the employer must:

1. Register the leave dates with IMSS (or confirm that the worker has done so through IMSS's online portal) and obtain the single eighty-four-day incapacity certificate;
2. Suspend salary payments for the leave period, as IMSS will pay the subsidy directly to the worker at 100 percent of her contribution salary (the employer's payroll obligation ceases for those eighty-four days);
3. Continue social-security contributions during the leave on the basis of the last salary of contribution, as the leave period does not break the employment relationship (Article 170, fraction VII, LFT; contributions are calculated under Article 27 and following of the LSS);
4. Respect the job-protection rule: the worker returns to the same position (or an equivalent position if organizational restructuring occurred) at the end of the twelve weeks, and termination during or immediately after maternity leave triggers heightened scrutiny for discriminatory motive.

Because the IMSS subsidy is paid at the último salario diario de cotización—which is capped at twenty-five times the UMA for most contribution purposes (Article 28, LSS)—a worker whose actual salary exceeds that cap will experience a reduction in cash income during maternity leave unless the employer voluntarily tops up the difference. Many collective bargaining agreements and multinational employment policies in Mexico provide for such a top-up to maintain the worker's net income at 100 percent of her regular pay, but the LFT and LSS do not mandate it; the statutory floor is 100 percent of the salario diario de cotización, not 100 percent of total compensation.

Source: Ley Federal del Trabajo, Cámara de Diputados Source: Ley del Seguro Social, Cámara de Diputados Source: Decreto de Reforma a la LSS (24-03-2023), Diario Oficial de la Federación