Employ in Mexico with ease.

Remote makes employment in Mexico easy. With our localized contracts, easy invoice management, and best-in-class compliance, you can grow your global team with confidence.

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Facts & Stats

Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States (Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is a country in the southern portion of North America. It has the world's 15th-largest economy by nominal GDP and the 11th-largest by PPP, with the United States being its largest economic partner. The large economy, area, population and politics make Mexico a regional power and a middle power, and is often identified as an emerging power.

  • Capital city

    Mexico City

  • Currency

    Mexican peso
    ($, MXN)

  • Languages spoken

    Spanish

  • Population size

    128,649,565 (2020 est.)

  • Ease of doing business

    Easy

  • Cost of living index

    $$ (100 of 139 nations)

  • Payroll frequency

    Semi-monthly

  • VAT - standard rate

    16%

  • GDP - real growth rate

    1.994% (2018 est.)

Grow your team in Mexico with Remote

Looking to employ workers in Mexico? Companies hiring in Mexico must either own a legal entity in the country or work with a global employment solutions provider, usually one that provides employer of record services.

Remote can employ your team in Mexico on your behalf through our local legal entity in the country and handle payroll, benefits, taxes, and compliance for your Mexico team. You can also pay contractors now in Mexico with Remote.

Risks of misclassification

Mexico, like many other countries, treats self-employed individuals or contractors and full-time workers differently and there are risks associated with misclassification.

If you're worried about whether to hire contractors or employees in Mexico or anywhere else around the world, Remote can help. Our Solutions Consulting team are experts in preventing misclassification risks. Download our Contractor Compliance Checklist for a solid overview, then talk to our team about your specific situation.

Employing in Mexico

Mexican employment law and employment rights are contained under the Constitution of the United Mexican States (Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos) as well as Federal Labour Law. The employment rights provided in these can apply to anyone providing subordinated services. Employment rights in Mexico are also inalienable, meaning that they apply to everyone deemed to carry out suborindated work in Mexico, regardless of the jurisdiction chosen in employment agreements.

Federal Labour Law and Mexican labour courts are very employee-protective and favours the employee. As such, Mexican employment law provides strong labor conditions and protections for employees, so employing people will generally be an important investment and commitment.

Temporary agencies are popular options for more flexible workforce arrangements. For these and many other reasons, the following are only guidelines in the broadest sense, and professional legal services are recommended when employing in Mexico.

Minimum Wage

There are two types of minimum wages: a general minimum wage that applies to everyone regardless of age, industry and experience and a "professional" minimum wage that apply to certain employees depending on their profession, craft or activity.

For the general minimum wage, there are two categories:

  • MXN 312.41 (US $17.38 per day) for workers in Mexico's Free Zone northern border municipalities that experience higher costs of living due to their proximity to the US
  • MXN 207.44 (US $11.54 per day) for the rest of the country

Payroll Cycle

For customers of Remote, all employee payments will be made in semi-monthly installments by the 15th and 30th of each month.

Onboarding Time

We can help you get a new employee started in Mexico fast. The minimum onboarding time we need is only 2 working days.

Our team ensures your employees are onboarded and paid as quickly as possible while keeping your business compliant with all local employment legislation. The minimum onboarding time begins after the employee submits all required information onto the Remote platform. The onboarding timeline is also dependent upon registration with local authorities.

For all non-nationals of the country of employment, the Right to Work assessment (if applicable) will add three extra days to the total time to onboard. There may be extra time required if we need to follow-up on the right to work assessment.

Please note, payroll cut-off dates can impact the actual first day of employment. Remote has a payroll cut-off date of the 10th of the month unless otherwise specified.

Disclaimer: Remote is committed to the highest standard of compliance to protect our customers. Mexico has unique employment laws, some of which include rules regarding the ratio between citizens and foreign nationals a company may employ in the country. To protect our customers, Remote may periodically pause the hiring of foreign nationals in Mexico and add any pending hires to a waitlist. The timeline for onboarding foreign national employees on this waitlist will depend on a number of factors, including offboardings, terminations, and new Remote hires of Mexican nationals.Remote is always able to onboard Mexican nationals who meet standard employment requirements. This disclaimer only applies to the onboarding of foreign nationals living and working in Mexico, including those with permanent resident status.

Competitive benefits package in Mexico

At Remote, we’re obsessed with helping you craft the best possible employee experience for your team. We are leading the way in practicing “fair equity,” which means making sure employees everywhere have access to both the required and supplemental benefits they need to thrive (and that will allow you to attract the best local talent).

Our benefits packages in Mexico are tailored to fulfill the local needs of your employees. Typically, our packages contain some or all of the following benefits:

  • Health Insurance
  • Dental Insurance
  • Vision Insurance
  • Mental Health Support
  • Pension or 401(K)
  • Life and Disability Insurance

Calculate the cost to hire an employee
in Mexico

Taxes in Mexico

Learn how employment taxes and statutory fees affect your payroll and your employees’ paychecks in Mexico.

  • Employer

    • 20.40% - Maternity & Illness (fixed quota)

    • 5% - Housing Fund

    • 3.15% - Seniority Insurance

    • 3% - State Payroll Tax maximum (depends on employee state and gross salary)

    • 2% - Retirement

    • 1.75% - Disability & Life Insurance

    • 1.10% - Maternity & Illness (extra quota)

    • 1.05% - Maternity & Illness - retired medical expenses quota

    • 1% - Daycare Insurance

    • 0.7% - Maternity & Illness - cash benefits quota

    • 0.54355% - Labor risk insurance

  • Employee

    • 1.13% - Seniority Insurance

    • 0.63% - Disability & Life Insurance

    • 0.40% - Maternity & Illness (extra quota)

    • 0.38% - Maternity & Illness - retired medical expenses quota

    • 0.25% - Maternity & Illness - Cash benefits quota

    • 1.92% - up to 6,942.35

    • 6.40% - 6,942.36 - 58,922.27

    • 10.88% - 58,922.28 - 103,550.51

    • 16.00% - 103,550.51 - 120,372.95

    • 17.92% - 120,372.96 - 144,119.39

    • 21.36% - 144,119,40 - 290,667.83

    • 23.52% - 290,667.84 - 458,132.39

    • 30.00% - 458,132.40 - 874,650.11

    • 32.00% - 874,650.12 - 1,166,200.07

    • 34.00% - 1,166,200.08 - 3,498,600.11

    • 35.00% - 3,498,600.12 and above

Types of leave

Statutory leave

Federal Labor Law in Mexico provides for a minimum vacation period that all employers must grant to their employees. The amount of minimum vacation days are dependent on the employee's lenght of service, as described below:

  • One year of service: 12 days
  • Two years of service: 14 days
  • Three years of service: 16 days
  • Four years of service: 18 days
  • Five years of service: 20 days
  • After the sixth year of service the annual leave will be increased by 2 days every 5 years of service.

Pregnancy and maternity leave

Under the Federal Labor Law and the Social Security Law, pregnant employees can take up to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave of absence. 6 weeks can be taken before the birth and 6 weeks after, but on the request of the mother and authorisation by the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) up to 4 weeks of the 6 weeks can be moved to after the birth. Mothers are also entitled to additional rest breaks in the six months after the birth (the nursing period).

Paternal leave

Employees have an entitlement to five working days of paid paternity leave of absence in the case of birth or adoption of a child.

Other leave

  • Adoption: women are entitled to six weeks of paid maternity leave of absence after the date of adoption. Father are entitled to five days following the adoption of the child.

Employment termination

Termination process

Federal Labor Law provides a distinction between dismissal (Spanish: despido) and termination (Spanish: terminación). Dismissal can be justified by reasons related to the employee's conduct, while termination can be for economic reasons, employee's incapacity, force majeur, death of the employee or termination of the work. The two articles of Federal Labor Law of relevance are art. 47 on dismissal and art. 52 on termination.

Notice period

Employers and employees have no obligation to notify the other party in advance of a dismissal or resignation and notice obligations for employees are not recognized or enforceable under Mexican law. Notice obligations for employers can be enforced if they have been agreed to, but it is uncommon for Mexican employers to do so.

Probation periods

If the employment contract is for more than 180 days or for an indefinite period of time, the employer may put in place a probationary period of up to 30 days. It is possible to extend the probationary period by up to 180 days for managerial, technical or professional positions

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