Payment Obligations for Mexico Employers: The 2017 Daily Minimum Wage and UMA

On December 19, 2016, it was issued in the Official Gazette of the Federation that the daily minimum wage for 2017 in Mexico will be Mex$80.04.

Moreover, on December 31, 2016, the Law to Determine the Value of the Unit of Measure and Update (UMA Law) went into effect. The UMA Law’s objective is to state the calculation method that the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) has to apply in order to determine the new value of the Unit of Measure and Update (UMA) every year in Mexico.

The UMA will state the reference to be utilized on payment obligations required by federal laws in Mexico. The UMA is issued in a daily, monthly, and annual value by the INEGI within the first 10 days of January of each year, and the stated value is effective on the first of February of the same year.

Therefore, all obligations required by federal law (such as deductibility, benefit integration, fines, payments, contributions, and governmental dues) will generally be directly related to the UMA, not the daily minimum wage.

However, it is important to consider that in regard to the payment of labor obligations and benefits (e.g., those contained in the Federal Labor Law, collective and individual agreements) the daily minimum wage should be utilized, not the UMA.

The INEGI has set the UMA for 2017 at Mex$75.49 daily; Mex$2,294.90 monthly; and Mex$27,538.80 annually.