Senate Votes Unanimously to Double Vacation Minimum
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Senate Votes Unanimously to Double Vacation Minimum

Photo by:   Nataliya Vaitkevich
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Cinthya Alaniz Salazar By Cinthya Alaniz Salazar | Journalist & Industry Analyst - Fri, 11/04/2022 - 15:09

Seeking to establish more favorable labor rights for Mexico’s laborers, Mexico’s Senate voted unanimously to amend the Federal Labor Law to double the annual minimum paid vacation days for laborers. The motion is a significant gesture endorsing greater work-life balance that could help organizations curb work-related stress, burnout and turnover. 

"This initiative reached a great consensus among all political expressions because the vacation period provided for in our labor legislation is one of the lowest in the world. Increasing the vacation days to which each worker is entitled is an act of social justice, in addition to a significant stimulus for domestic consumption that will result in the well-being of workers, as well as in productivity and competitiveness for companies," underlined national union leaders. 

Prior to this legislative amendment, with a mandatory minimum of six paid vacation days per year, Mexico was among the countries with the fewest vacation days globally, according to the World Policy Analysis Center. This contrasts with the recommended minimum of 18 days after a worker's first year of service recommended by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Effectively, under the previous framework it would take an average Mexican worker 45 years of service at the same company to attain the same number of vacation days as afforded to workers in Brazil and Panama after their first year. 

The high turnover rates common to Mexican companies indicates that the majority of workers are intrinsically locked in a framework that makes them vulnerable to longer working hours and fatigue. This is evidenced by an OECD study that found that Mexican laborers work the longest working hours in the world: 2,255 hours annually for an average of about 43 hours a week. Unsurprisingly, these working conditions have contributed to one of the worst global rates of work induced fatigue, estimated to afflict about 75 percent of Mexico’s working population, according to Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS). 

Its compounding impact on quality of life, mental well-being, loss of economic productivity and increased vulnerability to addiction capitulate public discussions on the matter. Stalled progress on the legislative proposal moved labor unions across the country to draft a letter to the president of the Senate, Alejandro Armenta Mier to express their support for the proposed amendment. Public pressure successfully put the issue back on the agenda and was resoundingly supported across party lines to ultimately pass with 89 votes. 

With their collective approval the motion to amend articles 76 and 78 of the Federal labor law passed, conferring Mexican laborers twice the annual minimum of paid vacation days after their first year of employment. Thereafter, laborers will be extended two additional days for every year with their employer until they reach 20 paid vacation days upon their fifth year. Followingly, laborers will receive two more vacation days for every five-year cycle until they reach 32 paid vacation days. This benefit is set to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2023 and will retroactively apply to existing individual or collective contracts. 

 

Photo by:   Nataliya Vaitkevich

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