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The four questions · 4 of 4

What are the rules for workers in Mexico?

Mexico's Federal Labor Law sets a minimum wage by zone, a 48-hour week now falling to 40 by 2030, a year-end bonus, paid vacation and profit sharing, and it bans fining a worker. Since 2021, staff can't be supplied through a third party.

The short answer

The Federal Labor Law, in force since 1 May 1970 and reformed since, most recently in 2019 for labor justice and in 2021 for subcontracting (Wikipedia, Ley Federal del Trabajo), governs every private employer. A foreign company is bound by it from its first hire, whether it hires directly or through a shelter.

Pay

From 1 Jan 2026 the minimum wage is 315.04 pesos a day in most of the country, up 13%, and 440.87 pesos in the northern border free zone, up 5% (CONASAMI). Factory pay sits above the minimum; one shelter operator puts the average manufacturing wage at USD 4.30 to 4.80 an hour and the employer's load on top at 35% to 40% (American Industries Group, 6 Apr 2026).

Daily minimum wage, general zone, in pesos

In force from 1 Jan of each year

Daily minimum wage, general zone, in pesos102.682019123.222020141.72021172.872022207.442023248.932024278.82025315.042026
Source: CONASAMI resolutions in the Diario Oficial (2026 rates published 9 Dec 2025), tabled by IDC Online, 9 Dec 2025

Hours

A constitutional reform published on 3 Mar 2026 cuts the maximum working week from 48 hours to 40, without cutting pay: 48 in 2026, 46 in 2027, 44 in 2028, 42 in 2029 and 40 in 2030, with at least one day of rest for every six worked (Holland & Knight, 5 Mar 2026).

What every worker is owed

A year-end bonus of at least 15 days' pay, paid before 20 Dec; 12 days of paid vacation after the first year, rising with service, plus a vacation premium of at least 25%; a share of the company's profit, set at 10% of taxable income; and contributions to social security (IMSS) and to the workers' housing fund (5% of pay), on top of a state payroll tax that varies by state (Ley Federal del Trabajo, Articles 76, 80, 87, 117 and 136).

No fines

Article 107 of the law is short: fining a worker is prohibited, whatever the cause. Docking pay for lateness or mistakes is a fine. Discipline goes through the internal work rules, by written warning or, at most, a suspension of up to eight days (Article 423).

Subcontracting

Since the reform of 23 Apr 2021, a company can't have its staff supplied by a third party. It may contract specialized services or works that are not part of its corporate purpose or main activity, and only from a provider registered with the labor ministry's REPSE registry (Ius Laboris, 19 May 2021; Haynes Boone, 28 May 2021). Payments to a provider without valid registration can't be deducted, and the tax authority sent letters on it in 2025 (KPMG México, Sep 2025). Under a shelter, the operator is the employer and carries these registrations.

Where the book goes deeper

Cover of Making It in Mexico, Book 3 of The Economics of Mexico, by J Rutan Flores
The Economics of Mexico

Making It in Mexico

Chapter 15: Your People: The Dignity System
Chapter 14: The People Who Serve the Plant

Chapter 15 sets out what the law requires, what a worker really costs in three markets, how unions work since the 2019 reform, what the 40-hour week does to the arithmetic, and the system the author used on his own sites. Chapter 14 covers the people and firms who serve the plant.

See the book

Your own numbers

These are market figures, and some are an operator's own estimates. What your plant will cost, and when it can ship, depends on your product, your route and your place.

Every engagement starts in writing. Write to info@rutanamex.com; we sign an NDA before you share anything, and we do not charge to look at your paperwork. The fee for the work is quoted in writing before it begins.

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Sources

Every source was read on 11 Nov 2026. A figure is as of the date its source gives.