Vacation days in Mexico in 2026: the full table, the 12-day rule and what you are paid
Mexico’s 2023 reform raised paid leave from the very first year. Check your days, see the table to 35 years and learn how leave is paid, scheduled and settled when you leave.
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Paid vacation in Mexico is governed by article 76 of the Federal Labour Law, rewritten by the reform known as vacaciones dignas, published in the Official Gazette on 27 December 2022 and in force since 1 January 2023. An employee who completes one year of service is entitled to 12 working days of paid vacation, rising by two days each year to 20 days in year five. From year six the entitlement grows by two days for every five years, reaching 32 days after 35 years. The same decree amended article 78, so at least 12 of those days must be taken as one continuous block, with the rest spread as the employee wishes. On top of normal pay, article 80 adds a vacation premium (prima vacacional) of at least 25 %, tax-free up to 15 UMA. Leave earned but not taken is paid out in the final settlement when the job ends.
Paid vacation days
12
Vacation pay plus premium: MX$7,500
| Vacation pay | MX$6,000 |
|---|---|
| Vacation premium (25%) | MX$1,500 |
| Minimum consecutive days (art. 78) | 12 |
| Next year | 14 |
Mexican vacation entitlement by completed years, 1 to 35
| Completed years | Working days | Weeks (5-day week) | Gross premium on MX$40,000 | Net premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | 2.4 | MX$4,000 | MX$3,473 |
| 2 | 14 | 2.8 | MX$4,667 | MX$3,983 |
| 3 | 16 | 3.2 | MX$5,333 | MX$4,493 |
| 4 | 18 | 3.6 | MX$6,000 | MX$5,003 |
| 5 | 20 | 4 | MX$6,667 | MX$5,513 |
| 6 to 10 | 22 | 4.4 | MX$7,333 | MX$6,022 |
| 11 to 15 | 24 | 4.8 | MX$8,000 | MX$6,532 |
| 16 to 20 | 26 | 5.2 | MX$8,667 | MX$7,042 |
| 21 to 25 | 28 | 5.6 | MX$9,333 | MX$7,552 |
| 26 to 30 | 30 | 6 | MX$10,000 | MX$8,062 |
| 31 to 35 | 32 | 6.4 | MX$10,667 | MX$8,572 |
The table is generated from the article 76 rule, year by year, and grouped where the entitlement does not change. The weeks column converts days into calendar weeks for a Monday-to-Friday job, since Mexican leave is counted in working days (días laborables). The last two columns show the premium for someone on MX$40,000 a month, a common figure for skilled hires and expatriates on local contracts. In year one that premium is MX$4,000 gross and MX$3,473 after ISR.
What the 2023 reform means for newcomers
If you are moving to Mexico now, the reform is simply the law you start under. There is no reduced first-year scale to worry about: after twelve months you get 12 days, and 14 after two. The decree only rewrote articles 76 and 78. It did not change the vacation premium, the way daily pay is calculated or the rule that leave is earned per year of service.
Many foreign employees compare Mexican leave with what they had at home. The difference is less about the number of days than about the structure: entitlement is earned by anniversary, not by calendar year, and it climbs slowly after year five. Senior hires frequently negotiate a contractual allowance above the statutory one. That is entirely legal, and the statutory floor and premium still apply underneath.
The continuous 12-day block
Article 78 now requires that at least 12 days of the year’s entitlement be enjoyed in one continuous stretch. With weekends in the middle, that is close to two and a half calendar weeks off for an office job. Anything beyond 12 days, for example the 8 extra days of someone in year five, can be split into long weekends or single days as the employee prefers.
Dates are agreed with the employer, which can plan around operations. What it cannot do is break up the 12-day block against your wishes or count days you actually worked as vacation taken. If you travel home once a year, that long block is your legal right, so it is worth planning it early with your manager.
How vacation is paid
Vacation is fully paid: your salary continues as if you were working. On top, article 80 adds the prima vacacional, at least 25 % of the pay for those days. The premium is tax-free up to 15 times the daily UMA, MX$1,759.65 in 2026. The UMA is the indexed unit Mexico uses for tax caps instead of the minimum wage. The vacation pay itself is taxed like your normal salary. The vacation premium calculator breaks down the tax on the premium, both withholding methods included.
Payslips in Mexico are digital invoices called CFDI. The premium appears there as its own line, separate from salary. If you cannot find it after your vacation, ask payroll when it is paid: the law sets the minimum percentage, and the calendar is a matter of company policy.
Leaving the job: unused and pro-rated days
Earned vacation is never forfeited when employment ends. It is paid in cash, with its premium, in the finiquito, the settlement owed to every departing employee whether they resign or are dismissed. It has two parts: full periods you never took, and the share of the current service year counted from your last anniversary, using the days of the year you are in.
Pro-rated vacation if you leave
Pro-rated days
7.89
| Days for the current service year | 16 |
| Minimum vacation premium on those days | 1.97 days of pay |
An assignment that ends after 240 days, before the first anniversary, still gives 12 × 240 ÷ 365 = 7.89 days, and the minimum premium on them is 1.97 days of pay. If the employer ends the contract without just cause, those amounts are paid on top of the severance worked out by the severance pay calculator.
Common mistakes
Counting by calendar year is the classic one: leave is earned on your work anniversary, from your Mexican start date. The second is confusing completed years with the current year. When you complete three years you take the days for year three, while the pro-rated days you accumulate from then on already belong to year four. The third is translating Mexican days into calendar days. Twelve days of leave are twelve working days, so a full Monday-to-Friday week uses five, not seven.
A fourth mistake concerns pay comparisons. When you weigh a Mexican offer against one at home, add the vacation premium and the aguinaldo, the statutory Christmas bonus explained in the aguinaldo calculator, to the monthly figure. Both are owed by law and change the real annual package more than the number of days does.