Hire Remote Staff in Mexico

Mexico is a practical choice for a small business that wants a team working close to US hours. Mexico City sits on UTC-6 all year, which is one or two hours behind New York depending on the season, so a daily call does not need anyone to work at night. English is the question to test rather than assume: Mexico ranks 103rd of 123 countries in the EF English Proficiency Index 2025, in the very low band. This guide explains the time zones, the main employment rules in the Ley Federal del Trabajo (the Federal Labour Law), and the three ways to hire.

Time zone and overlap with US and UK hours

Mexico City and most of the central and eastern part of the country use Central Standard Time (UTC-6). According to Time and Date, Mexico abolished daylight saving time in most of the country on 30 October 2022, although most municipalities near the northern border follow the US schedule. Baja California, next to California, is on Pacific time. Sonora and several western states use Mountain time (UTC-7), and Quintana Roo in the east uses Eastern time (UTC-5). The Mexico City page shows no clock change there in 2026.

New York is on UTC-5 in winter and UTC-4 in summer (Time and Date), so Mexico City is one hour behind New York in US winter and two hours behind in US summer. The United Kingdom is on UTC+1 until 25 October 2026 and on UTC+0 afterwards (Time and Date), so Mexico City is six or seven hours behind UK time. Check your own dates with the time-zone overlap tool.

The working week is changing

A decree published in the Diario Oficial on 1 May 2026 reduces the maximum ordinary working week in the Ley Federal del Trabajo to 40 hours (decree text). The reduction is phased in from 1 January of each year: 48 hours in 2026, 46 in 2027, 44 in 2028, 42 in 2029 and 40 in 2030. The decree says the reduction must not lower wages or benefits. It also sets weekly overtime limits that rise from 9 hours in 2026 to 12 hours in 2030, and requires employers to keep an electronic record of each worker's start and end times, with the detailed rules taking effect on 1 January 2027. Our explainer on the workweek change and REPSE covers the practical side.

English and language

The EF English Proficiency Index measures adults who took its English test, so it describes a national average and not any individual candidate. A very low national band means you should assess spoken and written English in every interview for customer-facing roles, ask for a short written sample, and be ready to work in Spanish for internal tasks. Do not assume a candidate's English from their city or previous employer.

Roles listed in the salary table

The salary table on this page lists ten roles with monthly and annual ranges, a named source and a year for each row: junior, mid-level and senior software developers, DevOps engineers, UI and UX designers, project managers, customer success managers, QA engineers, data analysts and bilingual customer support. The ranges are market data from salary sites, not what any provider charges. Use the salary benchmark explorer to compare roles and the Remote Hiring Cost Calculator to turn a salary into a full monthly cost. Figures for workforce size, university output and the number of technology employers are not confirmed against an official source, so none appear here.

Three ways to hire

Independent contractor

Mexican professionals can invoice a foreign client, but calling someone a contractor does not decide the legal position. Article 20 of the Ley Federal del Trabajo defines an employment relationship as personal, subordinated work in return for a wage, whatever the contract is called, and Article 21 presumes that a contract and relationship exist between the person who does the work and the person who receives it. In practice, fixed hours, exclusive working, your tools, and day-to-day direction all point toward employment. Read our guides on contractor versus employee and misclassification first, and use a contractor only for defined projects with clear deliverables.

Employer of record

An employer of record employs the person in Mexico and runs payroll for you. Mexico regulates the outsourcing of personnel. The labour ministry (STPS) says Articles 13 and 15 of the Ley Federal del Trabajo require businesses that provide specialised services or works to be registered in the REPSE public register, and that only specialised services outside the client's corporate purpose and main economic activity may be subcontracted (STPS REPSE site). The register is public and can be searched by name, tax number or folio number. Ask any provider how its structure complies with these rules, and ask to see its registration where it applies. A label such as employer of record does not settle the question. Compare the options in our EOR versus contractor guide.

Your own Mexican entity

A local company gives you direct control but adds registration, payroll, accounting and filing work. Formation costs and timelines vary, so get a written estimate from a Mexican lawyer or accountant before deciding, and compare it with an employer of record for the headcount you expect.

Employment law basics for employees

The points below come from the Ley Federal del Trabajo. The government PDF used for most articles is an older consolidated text (last reform 12 June 2015); the Chamber of Deputies index shows the law has been reformed many times since, most recently on 14 May 2026. Articles 59 and 66 come from the 2026 decree and Article 76 from a 2022 decree, so confirm every point with a Mexican adviser.

• Contract. Employment is for a fixed project, fixed term, seasonal or open-ended work, and without a clear agreement it is treated as open-ended (Article 35). The written conditions must state the type of relationship, the duties, the place of work, the hours, the pay and the pay day (Article 25), and a missing document does not remove the worker's rights and counts against the employer (Article 26).
• Annual vacation. Workers with more than one year of service get at least twelve working days of paid vacation, rising by two days a year to twenty, and then by two days for every five years from the sixth year (Article 76, 2022 reform). A vacation premium of at least 25 percent of vacation pay is due (Article 80).
• Aguinaldo. A year-end bonus of at least fifteen days of salary, paid before 20 December, with a proportional amount for people who worked less than a year (Article 87). See our 13th-month pay guide.
• Profit sharing. Workers share in company profits at a percentage set under Article 117, with rules in Articles 120 to 127. The current percentage, caps and exemptions change, so ask your adviser whether it applies.

Dismissal and severance

Under Article 48 a dismissed worker may ask a labour tribunal either for reinstatement or for an indemnity of three months of salary. If the employer cannot prove the cause for dismissal, the worker is also owed back pay for up to twelve months, with interest if the case runs longer. Article 49 lets an employer pay an indemnity instead of reinstating in listed cases, such as workers with under a year of service and trusted employees. In those cases Article 50 adds, for an open-ended relationship, twenty days of salary for each year of service on top of the three months. Article 162 also gives permanent employees a seniority premium of twelve days of salary per year of service, and Article 486 caps the salary used in that calculation at twice the minimum wage for the area. Budget for this exposure before offering an employment contract.

Data protection and USMCA

Mexico's private-sector data protection law is now the Ley Federal de Protección de Datos Personales en Posesión de los Particulares, published on 20 March 2025 (Chamber of Deputies). The government's Anticorruption and Good Governance Secretariat says on its website that data protection is now one of its responsibilities. Agree data-handling terms in writing and ask your provider how it meets the law.

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement entered into force on 1 July 2020 and replaced NAFTA. The US Trade Representative summary covers trade rules, intellectual property, digital trade and services. It does not describe employment contracts, so treat Mexican employment law as applying whatever the trade agreement says.

How to budget

Start from the salary table, then add what the law and your provider add: the aguinaldo (at least fifteen days of salary), the vacation premium, social-security and housing contributions through IMSS and INFONAVIT, any profit sharing, and the provider's fee. Contribution rates change, so ask for an itemised quote and enter it into the Remote Hiring Cost Calculator. Because the working week is being reduced in stages, ask whether hourly pay or overtime assumptions in your offer change from 2027.

Compared with other countries

On the EF index, Mexico (103rd, very low) ranks well below Argentina (26th, high), Brazil (75th, low) and Colombia (76th, low). If English matters most, those guides may suit you better. If time-zone fit with US hours matters most, Mexico is a strong candidate. Read the broader guides on nearshoring and offshoring versus nearshoring before you decide.

Practical tips

• Write the working hours, vacation, aguinaldo date and notice terms into the contract, and have a Mexican adviser review a Spanish version.
• Plan for the phased reduction in weekly hours and the electronic time record that starts in 2027.
• Ask any provider for its REPSE registration where it applies, and check it in the public register.
• Test English in the interview, with a live call and a short written task.
• Keep contractor engagements project-based. If you direct the work daily, consider employment instead.
• Put payment dates and currency in writing, and diary 20 December for the aguinaldo.

If you are weighing this country against others, the leave comparator shows the statutory leave entitlements next to each other.

Sources

Sources fetched and read for this page: EF English Proficiency Index 2025; Time and Date, Mexico, Mexico City, New York and United Kingdom; the Ley Federal del Trabajo (government PDF); the Chamber of Deputies index of reforms; the 2026 working-week decree and 2022 vacation decree; the STPS REPSE site; the USTR USMCA page; the data protection law page; and the Good Governance Secretariat site.

References checked on 13 October 2026. Statutory rules change, so confirm each point with a Mexican adviser. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice.