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Need help calculating vacation pay, please


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Between myself and my hubby (and our multiple advanced degrees) we still can't calculate vacation pay for our household help, and when to pay it.

As employers in the US we calculated thus: after one full year of work, the employee is entitled to X weeks' vacation TIME and PAY "sometime" during that second year.  The "sometime" is always scheduled in advance.... It could be with several months' notice, or even a full years' notice.  Basically, you work a year, you get a years' vacation with whatever (average) weekly salary you were paid the preceding year.  If you work 40 hours and make $500 a week, you get a weeks' time off and $500.  If you are a part-time employee making $10/hour and you work12 hours a week, you get a week off, and a check for $120-. Easy.

We are having a difficult time wrapping our heads around  how it works in Mexico--please help!

1) After a full year of working for us I asked both the gardener and maid if they had been thinking about when they want to take their vacation (in this second year). Both were vague and said they would get back to me. It has been several months now and still no answer from either. I am thinking maybe they don't want to take a vacation, would prefer to work and just receive their vacation pay. Which brings me to--

2) A neighbor said what she did was close up her house every Christmas week (she left the country) and that was, by default, a mandatory paid vacation for her staff. She said this way she avoided paying them double if they had chosen to not take a vacation, ie, worked in lieu of a vacation. Can this be done? Meaning, can I close up my house and call it their vacation, too? I know in the US many businesses close at certain times, and all workers must take that time as their paid vacation.

3) Calculating the pay: after one year it is 6 days. Is that 6 days of pay? Meaning, if I pay my gardener 200 pesos a day, and he works only Tuesday and Thursday-- 2 days a week--I have to pay him 3 weeks' salary, which is a total of 6 workdays? So,1200 pesos? But that seems an awful lot.  And my maid, who works 3 days a week, 200 pesos a day so 600 pesos a week....1800 pesos vacation pay after one year?  

4) On top of that I have been told that we have to pay a 25% bonus whatever the vacation pay is.  Which would mean my gardener, who has worked for me for only one year,  2x a week, 4 hours @ 50 pesos/ hour each workday (200 pesos Tues and 200 pesos Thurs) calculates 200 x 6 workdays = 1200 pesos PLUS 25% bonus, for a total vacation pay of 1500 pesos?  

5) Consequently, if the gardener works for me for 4 years, at the start of year 5  I would pay him for 14 days of work, meaning 2800 pesos, plus the 25% bonus of 700 pesos, for a total of 3500 pesos, and he gets that plus2 weeks off?   That is far in excess of his 400 peso weekly salary.

Geez, these Mexican labor laws are very generous!

 

 

 

 

 

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When looking for answers to legal questions, that could have consequences if you follow bad advice, it is always preferable to seek advice from an attorney, not from members of a chat board. 

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You were told these things by someone you spoke with or you looked up Mexican law?  I`ve never heard of anyone who pays "vacation pay" to houseworkers or gardeners. 

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YES vacation pay is due annually along with year end bonus . Both are based on years worked. I don't have the charts here now but BOTH are due and not paying opens you to labor court judgement.

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To do any calculations for Aguinaldo or vacation pay, you must first divide whatever you pay them per week by 7. That number is the base that you multiply by. eg. If you pay your gardener or maid 350 pesos per week, then 350 divided by 7 is 50 pesos. Aguinaldo would be 50 times 15 equals 750 pesos. Vacation pay of 6 days would be 6 times 50 equals 300 pesos (plus 25% of that if giving at the same time as the Aguinaldo). This is the Labour Law which should be dealt with separately from anything else that you wish to give them. It is also the way in which the Finiquito is calculated... except there are other things to be dealt with in a Finiquito and you would be well advised to have a lawyer do any Finiquito.

Most employees would rather have the vacation pay with the Aguinaldo because it's at Christmas time when they have extra expenses.

And, yes, always have an employee sign for ANY money they receive and what that money is for... even their weekly wage.

 

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The base 6 days referred to in the calculations is the weekly pay times 1.07 or 1/2 of the aguinaldo. 

For year 2 and up you use this calculation for the first 6 days. Any additional days are computed as the weekly pay divided by 7 (6 if you're generous) times the number of days due over 6. For example year 2 is 8 days so you use the base calculation for 6 and the second one for the remaining 2.

This was one of the ways Rolly explained it. 

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" Close enough" is not what you should be paying. Use the calculation Ferret provided, and what is on the Rollybrook site is a pretty clear formula to me, not at all confusing.

Whether or not your gardener or maid are planning to take a vacation or not is not relevant and not something you should be asking them. Vacation pay is mandated no matter what their vacation plans may or may not be.

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I'm new here and haven't paid a maid yet but I think this is how it works.

The pay is based on the DAILY PAY RATE. Your maid's daily rate is 85.71 Pesos:

(200 + 200 + 200) ÷ 7 Days

= 85.71 Daily Rate ×

15 Required Bonus

= 1285.65 Pesos

(Your maid's Christmas bonus)

 

 

 

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Mr./Mrs. Pappysmarket,

Please allow me to clarify.

1) "Legal advice":
What I wrote does not qualify as legal advice. It was a calculation simply based on the formula of the Mexican holiday pay under the Mexican Labor Law. Once we know how much and how often the maid works during the week, we will find the answer. That is a hard fact and we can only come to one answer. This is not legal advice. The accountant advice from another post was great!

2) "On a chat board":
"It seems some of us have forgotten that this board strives to be an informative, useful, and interesting place for prospective newcomers, newcomers, and old-timers to share information and get their questions answered. It is not here for the purpose of expressing one's personal rancor towards another poster." -From Moderator 2, posted April 27, 2010

3) "Given by a newbie":
I am indeed very new on the webboard the last 3 - 4 days and signed up in order to mail something for someone back to Amazon.

Does it matter to you that much that the person is a newbie or has been there for 10 years if the person is willing to put in the time, read the law, follow the formula, and get the answer?

4) "Recipe for disaster?????"
Hardly! I have read this board for 5 years and taken lots of notes on a variety of topics. I do not appreciate the way you responded to a new member of the community.

I hope all of the members here continue to allow me to read the countless informative posts! This is my last post on this webboard. Please save your time and energy and take a long breath before you respond to me or anyone else on any matter. It is good for your health and good for everyone who reads it. Mr. Rolly Brook was a still a kind, loving, and helpful man until he passed away 3 years ago.

Respectfully,

Lily

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1 hour ago, Lily H said:

this board strives to be an informative,

The operative word is "strives". Nobody, hopefully not at least, posts anything blatantly false. The problem lies with expats trying to interpret Mexican law, rules, regulations, etc. They see something in print somewhere and assume it is true and worse, that nothing has subsequently made it null and void. That's where an attorney can be of big help. Rolly had an interesting blog but if he were still alive, I'm sure he would tell you not to rely on his or any advice 3 years old.  Keep posting restaurant reviews, recipes, business hours, directions, notices of cultural events, bad cops, etc., etc. but maybe don't tell other expats how to follow a law. You might just not be correct.

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