If you employ staff in Mexico, vacation leave is set by the Ley Federal del Trabajo (LFT), not by what your head office is used to in the US or Europe. The numbers also moved in 2023: the Vacaciones Dignas reform more than doubled the day-one minimum and reshaped the seniority schedule. Many international employers are still running the old policy and quietly under-paying their workforce.

This guide breaks down what the LFT actually requires in 2026: the day count by year of service, the prima vacacional premium, eligibility, and the obligations that keep you out of trouble with the Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social (STPS). Facts come from articles 76 to 81 of the Ley Federal del Trabajo and the 2023 reform decree.

Key Takeaways

Employees earn 12 working days of paid vacation after their first year of service, up from the pre-2023 minimum of six.
Entitlement rises by two days each year through year five, capping at 20 days, and then by two more days every additional five years.
A prima vacacional (vacation premium) of at least 25% of normal remuneration is owed on top of regular pay during leave.
Vacation must be granted within six months of completing the year of service that triggered it.
All forms of contract qualify; untaken leave must be paid out on termination.

The Statutory Entitlement: 12 Days, Rising With Service

Under article 76 of the Ley Federal del Trabajo, employees who complete one year of service are entitled to at least 12 working days of paid vacation. After that, the schedule increases on a fixed ladder:

Years of service	Minimum vacation days
1	12
2	14
3	16
4	18
5	20
6 to 10	20
11 to 15	22
16 to 20	24
21 to 25	26

The rule is simple: plus two days every year for the first five years of service, then plus two days every additional five years. There is no statutory ceiling — a long-tenured employee continues to gain days under the same pattern.

This schedule is the floor. Collective bargaining agreements (contratos colectivos) and many employer policies set higher figures, particularly in unionised sectors and at multinationals.

The 2023 Vacaciones Dignas Reform

The pre-2023 schedule started at six days and crept up slowly — a figure that sat near the bottom of the OECD. The Decreto de reforma en materia de vacaciones dignas, published in late 2022 and effective from 1 January 2023, doubled the day-one minimum to 12 days and rebuilt the seniority ladder above.

If your Mexican payroll or HR system still applies the old six-day minimum or the older increments, it is non-compliant. Audit balances back to 1 January 2023 and correct any shortfall — claims for unpaid vacation can be brought during the worker’s employment and for a period after it ends under the LFT statute of limitations.

The Prima Vacacional: 25% on Top of Pay

Article 80 of the LFT requires employers to pay a prima vacacional, or vacation premium, of at least 25% of the salary owed during the vacation period. This is in addition to normal pay, not a substitute for it.

Worked example. An employee on MXN $20,000 a month who takes 12 days of vacation receives:

Regular salary for the 12 days (paid as if working).
A prima vacacional of at least 25% of those 12 days of salary on top.

Many collective agreements push the prima above 25% — common figures include 30%, 50%, and (in some public sector and unionised contracts) 100%. The 25% in the LFT is a floor, not a ceiling.

The prima is taxable but enjoys a partial exemption in the impuesto sobre la renta (ISR) calculation up to a limit tied to the UMA (Unidad de Medida y Actualización). Make sure your payroll engine applies the exemption correctly.

Who Is Eligible

All employees with a subordinate working relationship under the LFT qualify after completing one year of continuous service. This applies regardless of contract type:

Indefinite contracts (por tiempo indeterminado)
Fixed-term contracts (por tiempo determinado)
Project-based contracts (por obra determinada)
Probationary and initial-training contracts

Part-time workers earn the same statutory days; the entitlement is in days, not pro-rated hours. Workers who do not yet have a full year of service have a proportional right when the employment ends — see the termination section below.

Independent contractors operating under a prestación de servicios profesionales arrangement are outside the LFT and do not qualify, but Mexican labour authorities and courts regularly reclassify misclassified contractors as employees with full back-pay exposure. Get the classification right.

Employer Obligations Under the LFT

Mexican law puts a series of positive duties on the employer — granting time, paying it correctly, and proving you did so.

1. Grant the Statutory Minimum

You must allow each employee to take the minimum number of days for their year of service, as listed in the LFT schedule above. A contract clause that gives less is void; the worker keeps the statutory floor regardless of what they signed.

2. Take Leave Within Six Months

Article 81 requires that vacation be granted within the six months following the anniversary of the employee’s start date. You cannot defer the leave year indefinitely or roll it into a vague “use it whenever” balance — the six-month window is statutory.

Employers commonly map this as: anniversary on 1 March 2026, vacation must be enjoyed by 1 September 2026 at the latest. Plan the schedule and put dates on a calendar, otherwise the entitlement crystallises into a payable balance.

3. Pay Normal Remuneration Plus the 25% Premium

Pay the regular salary for vacation days and the prima vacacional on top. Withholding either, or trying to convert vacation into cash without the worker actually taking time off, breaches the LFT. The right to actually rest is the point of the reform.

4. Document the Vacation

Issue a written constancia de vacaciones — a vacation certificate signed by the worker — showing the dates taken and the corresponding payment. STPS inspectors regularly ask for these during audits, and they are the cleanest defence to a claim that leave was never granted.

5. Pay Out on Termination

When the employment relationship ends — whether by resignation, dismissal, or mutual agreement — you must include in the finiquito a proportional payout for vacation accrued but not taken in the current incomplete year, plus the corresponding prima vacacional. There is no forfeiture for unused leave.

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How Vacation Leave Increases Over a Career

The LFT formula creates a predictable curve. After the first five years, the worker has 20 days. From there, every additional five-year block adds two days:

After 5 years: 20 days
After 10 years: 22 days
After 15 years: 24 days
After 20 years: 26 days
After 25 years: 28 days

That is the statutory minimum — collective agreements and tenured-employee policies often run ahead of it. Track the anniversary date precisely. The worker is entitled to the higher day count from the day the new tenure threshold is met, not from the start of the calendar year.

Common Pitfalls

International employers and even Mexican SMEs trip over the same handful of issues. Avoid these:

Running the pre-2023 schedule. The minimum is now 12 days from year one, not six. If your policy still says six, you are out of compliance and accruing back-pay risk.
Skipping the prima vacacional. The 25% premium is statutory and on top of pay. Forgetting it is the single most common LFT vacation breach.
Letting leave roll past six months. Article 81 sets a hard six-month window after the anniversary. Don’t let balances pile up indefinitely.
Treating contractors as exempt. If the relationship looks like employment, the LFT applies — and a misclassification claim brings full back-pay for vacation, prima, aguinaldo, and severance.
Using a calendar leave year. Vacation in Mexico accrues against the anniversary date, not 1 January. Calendar-year HR systems imported from elsewhere will get the maths wrong.
Forgetting the finiquito payout. Untaken vacation and the prima vacacional are both due on termination, including for resignations.

For a wider international comparison, our guide to annual leave entitlement in France covers the very different congés payés model, our annual leave entitlement in Germany post explains the Bundesurlaubsgesetz minimum, and our Spain and Italy annual leave guide sets out the southern European picture for cross-border teams.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many days of vacation per year in Mexico?

The minimum is 12 working days after one year of service, rising by two days each year up to 20 days at five years. From there, the entitlement increases by two days for every additional five years of service.

What is the prima vacacional in Mexico?

The prima vacacional is a vacation premium of at least 25% of the salary owed during the vacation period, paid on top of normal salary. It is required by article 80 of the Ley Federal del Trabajo.

When did the Mexican vacation reform take effect?

The Vacaciones Dignas reform took effect on 1 January 2023, raising the day-one minimum from six days to 12 and rebuilding the seniority schedule.

How long does an employee have to take their vacation?

Under article 81 of the LFT, vacation must be granted within six months of the anniversary of the employee’s start date.

Are part-time employees entitled to the same vacation days?

Yes. The LFT entitlement is expressed in days, not hours. Part-time employees earn the same statutory minimum once they complete one year of service.

What happens to unused vacation on termination?

Untaken vacation must be paid out in the finiquito on a proportional basis, together with the corresponding prima vacacional. This applies regardless of who ended the employment relationship.

How Leave Balance Helps With Mexican Compliance

Tracking anniversary-based accruals, applying the post-2023 day count, calculating the 25% prima vacacional, and enforcing the six-month take-by window is exactly the kind of admin that Mexican SMEs and international employers want off their plate.

Leave Balance handles it for you:

Country-specific accrual rules for Mexico, applying the Vacaciones Dignas schedule from year one.
Anniversary-based leave years so balances don’t drift into a calendar-year mismatch.
Automatic prima vacacional tracking alongside vacation balances.
Multi-country support for teams that span Mexico, the US, and the rest of the Americas — all on one flat $10/month plan with unlimited employees.