In recent days, it has been announced the initiative presented by the senators of the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico Gabriela Benavides, Alejandra Lagunes, and María Graciela Gaitán, who is proposing to increase the Christmas bonus to a payment equivalent to a minimum of 30 days of salary.
The legislators presented an initiative to amend article 87 of the Federal Labor Law so that it reads as follows:
- “Article 87.- Employees will be entitled to an annual bonus that must be paid before 20 December, equivalent to at least 30 days of salary.”
We must remember that the Christmas bonus is one of the inalienable benefits that every employee in Mexico has and that it must be delivered before 20 December of each year, having at least the amount of 15 days of salary per year worked. Likewise, this labor benefit is considered part of the Base Salary Contribution, the salary by which the employee-employer quotas are to be covered before the Mexican Social Security Institute is determined. Then, an increase in such salaries, like that of vacations, would generate a direct impact on those quotas.
As part of the justification for the reform project, it is established that despite the increases in the minimum wage in recent years, the amount of the Christmas bonus has not been modified since 1975. As of today, the current amount of Christmas bonus is below what is prescribed in labor benefits in countries such as Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Peru, Argentina, and Guatemala.
Pursuant to the legislative process, this initiative must first be debated and voted on in the corresponding opinion commission. Once approved in such Commission, the first, and second readings of the opinion must be presented before the Plenary Session of the Senate and finally, the reform is discussed in Congress, for its subsequent approval, sanction, promulgation, and publication.
The VGA team will give precise follow-up to the proposed initiative to promptly report its progress.
