Mexican workers can have more vacation days thanks to a reform that is under discussion in the Congress of the Union and this is good news, according to a report by the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (Imco), because companies will see improvements in job performance.
“The proposal to increase the vacation period could contribute to a better balance between work and personal life by giving more free time and rest to Mexican workers, who could see improvements in their work performance,” Imco said.
The plan is that Mexican workers have twice as many vacation days for each year worked, bringing these benefits closer to those of countries like Turkey, Chile or Colombia.
“Mexico is the OECD country where more hours are worked per year and in turn it is the least productive country,” Imco said in a report.
Mexican workers work 2,128 hours a year, which represents 24% more than the average of the nations that belong to the OECD and this does not show repercussions on the country’s GDP.
Until last June, real estate services, mining and corporate activities, the hours worked represented less than 1% of the total at the national level and the value of production per hour worked was between 5 and 19 times greater than the national total.
“Speaking of productivity is important because the reform, if approved by Congress, will increase the costs associated with formal employment, on the one hand because vacation premiums will have to increase and, on the other, because companies will have to reorganize their operations to replace the staff that is on break”, emphasizes the Imco.
The institute suggested meeting the needs of companies to remain or transition to formality, as well as alternatives to increase productivity. In addition, work must be done so that the costs of this reform are not high or counterproductive to the point of encouraging informality.
Other institutions, such as CETYS Universidad Campus Mexicali, stressed that it is “economically dangerous” for companies, and consequently could generate unemployment.
“For this reason, an intermediate position is better where the State also contributes economically and sources of employment remain,” said Felipe Miguel Carrasco Fernández, professor of the Master’s in Business and Administration at CETYS Graduate School of Business.
Which workers would benefit from the reform?
The Imco highlights that these benefits would not reach the entire labor market, only for those who do it formally.
Until August, the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) had registered 21.2 million workers, with which they have these benefits of paid vacations and social security. Nearly 60% of workers work informally, so they would not see a change in their working conditions.
