These days the news about the first step of the Senate to move from 6 to 12 days of vacation in the Labor Reform has been on everyone's lips.
Although it has yet to pass to the Plenary and then to the Chamber of Deputies, the vote was unanimous in the Labor Committee and the increase in paid vacation days is seen as a good thing.
On the other hand, the reduction of the working day to 7 hours (from the current 8) and 6 hours (from the current 7) for the night shift was also proposed.
The question is: Do workers really need that much time off?
And the answer would be: Of course!
We will now give context to this statement.
Mexico, one of the countries that works the most and rests the least
As we know, in Mexico, by law, we are entitled to 6 days of paid vacation per year, with a progressive increase of two days annually until we reach 20 days.
Currently, Mexico is the country in the Americas, after the United States, that grants the least amount of paid rest to its workers, while countries such as Brazil, Peru and Colombia exceed these days by far:
- Brazil, Panama, Peru, Cuba, and Nicaragua: 30 days
- Uruguay: 20 days
- Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Venezuela and Guatemala: 15 days
To mention a few.
Mexico has an obsolete paid vacation reform, which has been in force for 50 years without any change.
What about hours worked?
In Mexico, a worker works an average of more than 2,124 hours per year, according to data from the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development).
That is 33% more than in Brazil, a country with an economy of similar size to ours.
As another example, in Chile, a worker works 1,825 hours per year.
And although it is much less than in Mexico, its productivity is 63% higher.
Why are vacations important for workers?
According to data from the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), 75% of Mexicans suffer from fatigue and the development of occupational stress-related ailments. 75% of Mexicans suffer from fatigue and the development of ailments due to work-related stress, surpassing countries such as China and the United States.This is higher than in countries such as China and the United States.
It has been proven that vacations, in addition to giving workers the possibility of recovering their work-life balance and generating conditions for workers to spend more time with their loved ones, make them more productive and even improve their mental health.
For this reason, and as we have already seen, international best practices recommend shorter working days and more vacation time throughout the year.
Stress can cause a significant deterioration of people's physical and mental health, which is why planned rest improves mental, emotional and physical health.
Specifically, there are several points that are improved by taking a vacation:
- Reduce stress
- Increase creativity and concentration
- Combat symptoms of depression
- Revitalize the brain
- Improve the quality of sleep and the immune system
- Improve mood
This increase in vacation days and decrease in hours worked is in addition to other measures that are being taken in labor matters in favor of workers, such as the NOM-35 which addresses labor burnout, and the increase in the minimum wage.
We would like to know your opinion, do you think these reforms to the law will help both workers and your company?
Finally, we invite you not to miss any update of our magazine-blog to keep up to date with the world of payroll.
See you next time!
[...] we discussed the increase in the number of paid vacation days, their importance and even made calculations on how much it would cost your payroll from this [...].
[...] What do you think of this reform? Will workers be more productive with these changes? [...]
[...] change is very good for the productivity of our workers, and although we are still below many countries, even in Latin America, this increase is a great step forward to ensure their physical and mental health.