Senate seeks to triple paid vacations for Mexican workers: from 6 to 18 days a year

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Mexico is the country in the Americas where workers have fewer paid vacation days, according to a World Policy Analysis report. 

The Senate seeks to triple the number of paid vacation days for Mexicans, that is, from 6 days, as currently established by law, to 18.

In an interview, the president of the Labor and Social Welfare Commission of the Upper House, Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, commented that there are several proposals to increase vacation days, but the main one is the one recommended by the International Labor Organization (ILO).

“There are proposals from 6 to 12 days, but resuming the discussions, the analysis, because the proposal is that we go to what is recommended by international organizations, such as the ILO, which recommends 18 days. That’s what we’re doing. It will be necessary to reform article 76 of the Federal Labor Law, but that is the intention, it was approved unanimously by the Labor and Social Welfare Commission”, said the senator.

“We have seen that historically Mexico has the longest hours of work in productive activities, (but) this has not been reflected in greater development or higher productivity. When we talk about labor rights, human rights and the right to rest, this section comes in, because we want to contribute to productivity and efficiency, but also do justice to workers based on a longer rest period,” said the brunette.

The senator mentioned that so far only the case of formal jobs has been seen, but they also know that temporary employees should benefit.

“We have to specify the times of the days, the working conditions and determine that there must be a minimum number of rest days for temporary workers, we must include that,” he commented.

The brunette added that these modifications to the Federal Labor Law are expected to be discussed until the next ordinary period that begins in September.

Senator Patricia Mercado, a member of the Commission that will dictate the reforms, commented that one of the proposals for temporary workers is to grant them 6 days of vacation every 6 months.

“These workers may work 6, 7, or 8 months, so we see the possibility that 6 days will be given the first 6 months and the other 6 days when the year is completed the following semester and thus we can favor this type of workers who do not complete the year, never have vacations and are always working”, explained the senator.

Mexico is the country in the Americas where workers have fewer paid vacation days, according to the report “Is paid annual leave available to workers?”, by the World Policy Analysis Center.

The 2021 document mentions that in Mexico workers are given six days off per year, an amount similar to Nigeria, Thailand, the Philippines, and China. Meanwhile, in Canada, Honduras, Costa Rica, Jamaica, and the Bahamas they give their workers almost twice as much vacation time.

In contrast, Cuba, Peru, Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama give their workers 30 days off. It is the same amount granted by European countries, such as Austria, France, and Spain.

In addition, Mexico is the country where people work the longest. On average, Mexicans work 2,124 hours a year, while the average among the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is 1,687 hours worked a year, according to a study by this organization dating from 2020.

Source: forbes.com.mx

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