On September 27, 2022, the senators that make up the Labor and Social Welfare Commission unanimously approved the Opinion to amend Articles 76 and 78 of the Federal Labor Law, presented by the United Commissions of Labor and Social Welfare and Legislative Studies, regarding vacations. Before its official approval, this opinion must be subject to review by the Chamber of Deputies.
The Opinion takes up the initiatives proposed by senators of different parliamentary groups. Although some initiatives contemplated vacation schemes with a greater number of days, and some even proposed a reduction of the working day, the approved Opinion only extends the right to paid vacations, to be as follows:
| YEARS WORKED | NUMBER OF DAYS OFF (PTO) |
| 1 | 12 |
| 2 | 14 |
| 3 | 16 |
| 4 | 18 |
| 5 | 20 |
| 6 a 10 | 22 |
| 11 a 15 | 24 |
| 16 a 20 | 26 |
The reform establishes that workers must continuously enjoy at least 12 days of vacation. This reform is justified on the basis of our country's lag in terms of holidays, since, when compared to other countries with a similar level of development to ours, Mexico is one of the countries with the lowest level of vacation periods around the world. For example, in Brazil and Panama, the legal standard is 30 days of vacation as of the first year, while the average in the region is almost 15 days.
The proposed Opinion points out that the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that in Mexico 75% of the workforce suffers from work-related stress, which puts us in a global first place, above the world's leading economies, such as China (73%) or the United States (59%). In this regard, it should be noted that specialists in the field have pointed out that short holiday periods have an impact on workers' stress levels, as well as being related to other ailments, such as chronic exhaustion (burnout).
Although everything seems to indicate that this reform will be approved in the short term, there is no certain date for it to be published in the Official Gazette, given the current legislative process. Employers' chambers have requested that the implementation of the reform be gradual so as not to harm small and medium-sized enterprises and to allow them to make the necessary projections and adjustments to comply with the new standard.
This change will have an operational and economic impact in companies, and will ultimately benefit them by increased employee satisfaction.
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