Costalegre Jalisco Mexico

The law requires that the following items be paid whether or not the worker is registered with the IMSS.

Aguinaldo (Christmas Bonus)

The aguinaldo must be paid on or before the 20th of December – many employers pay it on the payday which precedes that date. The aguinaldo must be paid in cash; gifts, Christmas baskets, and other presents do not fulfill the statutory requirement.

The aguinaldo must equal 15 days of salary. To calculate the amount for a part-time employee, divide the number of days worked during the year past by 365. Multiply that figure by 15 x the daily salary to determine the amount of the aguinaldo.

Examples:

If you have an employee who works one day a week for $50 pesos:
52/365 x 15 x 50 = $106.85 pesos

If the worker is paid by the week and has worked a full year, use a multiplier of 2.14 to make the math easier. If the worker is paid $500 pesos per week, then it is
$500 x 2 .14 = $1070 pesos

If the weekly worker has not worked a full year, divide the number of weeks worked by 52.14 X 15 X the daily salary (weekly salary divided by 7) to determine the amount of the aguinaldo.

Vacación (Vacation)

The vacación must be paid in cash, either before the vacation or before the end of the year if no vacation has been taken.

The vacación pay must equal 6 days of salary plus and additional 25% of the six-day amount. To calculate the amount, divide the number of days worked during the year past by 365. Multiply that figure by 7.5 to determine the amount of the vacación pay due. As you can see this is exactly 1/2 of the aguinaldo.

Examples:

If you have an employee who works one day a week for $50 pesos:
52/365 x 7.5 x 50 = $53.42 pesos = vacación

If the worker is paid $500 pesos per week:
$500 x 1.07 = $535 pesos = vacación

Note: The 6-day minimum vacation is only for the first year worked. The basis increases by 2 days each year through the 4th year. The 5th year it increases 3 days to 15 days. Thereafter, the time increases by 3 days each 5th year.

Year 1 -- 6 days
Year 2 -- 6 + 2 = 8 days
Year 3 -- 8 + 2 = 10 days
Year 4 -- 10 + 2 = 12 days
Year 5 -- 12 + 3 = 15 days
Year 10 -- 15 + 3 = 18 days
Year 15 -- 18 + 3 = 21 days
etc

Holidays:

If your worker works on any of the Mexican legal holidays, you must pay double time plus the regular pay; i.e., triple time. If the worker is paid for the holiday, but doesn't work, you cannot deduct the day from the "days worked" in the preceding computations for aguinaldo or vacación.

If your worker works on any Sunday, you must pay an additional 25% of the daily wage. For weekly workers, you divide the salary by 7, then add 25% to the daily amount for the Sunday pay. This assumes that you have given the employee some other day off during the week. If the employee worked the full 7 days that week you owe overtime pay also. That gets much more complicated. Talk with your accountant.

The Mexican legal holidays are:

Jan 1, New Year's Day
1st Monday in Feb, Constitution Day
3rd Monday in March, Benito Juarez's Birthday
May 1, Labor Day
Sep 16, Independence Day
3rd Monday in Nov, Revolution Day
Dec 25, Christmas

Great info!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can you/will you post on La Manzanilla board??
Would be interesting to see how many people actually do this.

I bet not many know ... and not many that would want to pay

I did post it on the other board

Aqhinaldo vacation and severance pay is mandated by the government. Not paying can get a person into serious trouble. It is best to keep records and when a employee is paid these things in particular it is best to get a signature on a paper that indicates that it has been paid. This will be a release for any claims the employees may have.

I know of a couple that decided after a 8 years in Mexico to return to the states. They had the same maid and gardener all the while they were here. They never paid aquinaldo or vacation pay. One day they told the employees (a husband and wife) they were leaving in a week or so and for them to not return as they were not needed anymore (fired them in effect).

Later the same day a lawyer contacted them and presented a bill, for the items mentioned above, in the employees behalf. This bill was payable on demand and they wanted their money now plus interest. The people said no way and the police were called. I think they had prearranged it as the police were there in a couple of minutes. Pay or jail, no problem as far as police were concerned. The couple got a lawyer immediately, stayed out of jail, but the court fight was on (passports and visas were confiscated and they were told not to leave the country. This all happened in less than a day as the court can move fast if they want.

Their lawyer worked things out but in the end it cost them over $40,00 USD and they left a month late. Not exactly a happy ending to their life in Mexico.

Your choice to pay or not. Ignorance is not a valid excuse either.

cya,
shoe

How does this apply to contractors? If they bid a job and are paid in that manner rather than an hourly/daily rate. Are we obligated to pay them if they work for us longer than 30 days, for example a home construction project.

I am assuming the vacation pay is paid after a year's service and annually thereafter?

It would be nice to know about appropriate tipping & amounts around the holidays. We muddled through this year and I am absolutely sure we got it wrong. The kids got out of class so early into the season I didn't realize until after the fact we probably should have tipped the teachers or perhaps given gifts? We did manage to tip the lavandaria ($100), gas guy ($100) who has gone above and beyond helping me out with my various appliance connections, garbage men ($200 for the 3 guys) & water guy ($50). We also tipped the mistro ($200) that was working on a 2 week project in our house. (We want him to come back!!!)

I am sure I am not the only one confused about this.

KWH

(Really do NOT want to get this wrong)