A proposal by the Citizen’s Movement (MC) would see the legal number of vacation days that employers must give their staff in their first year of labor increase from six to 12.
The initiative, which would modify articles 76 and 78 of the federal Labor Law, would also allow workers with more than one year of service to have an annual paid vacation period of no less than 12 working days. This will increase by two working days, up to 20, for each subsequent year of service.
MC legislators point out that a study published by the OECD in 2021 reveals that of the 38 member countries, Mexico offers the fewest vacations to its workers in their first year.
In Latin America, Brazil and Peru top the list, offering 30 days of paid vacation. Uruguay is next with 20; Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Ecuador 15; Argentina 14 and Paraguay 12.
Contradicting the supposition that Mexico is not a hard-working nation, the OECD data also notes that Mexicans worked on average 2,124 hours in 2021, the most of any nation in the bloc (compared with 1,767 in the United States).
Mexico also has one of the highest rates of workplace stress, according to the World Health Organization, and one of the lowest levels of competitiveness, say some economic studies.