Mexico Recruiting & Hiring
Mexico’s strong employment laws define a clear relationship between employees and employers. Staying well-versed on regulations regarding recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and outsourcing is essential for compliance.
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Mexico’s strong employment laws define a clear relationship between employees and employers. Staying well-versed on regulations regarding recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and outsourcing is essential for compliance.
Recruiting in Mexico
Many of the common ways you would recruit employees in other countries aren’t available for staffing a business in Mexico. For example, LinkedIn is not popular in the country, and most companies use Facebook to recruit professionals. We recommend using a strong social media campaign to source candidates.
In Mexico, classified ads in popular newspapers often won’t reach your target audience, and job seekers do not typically call major companies to ask about openings. As a result, the burden is on you to network and grow your contact list.
As mentioned above, you should have a level of fluency in Spanish or hire an interpreter. Since the country has a growing tourism industry, you may want to find employees who speak multiple languages. Make sure you can effectively communicate with employees so that you can form successful relationships.
Legal & Background Checks
During your Mexican company’s staffing and recruiting processes, you may want to run a background check on promising candidates. While the country does not have any restriction on requesting a criminal record certificate under the law, the Data Privacy Law outlines how you can treat personal data to guarantee an employee’s privacy.
Your employees should have a reasonable expectation of privacy during all data processing. Plus, the Data Privacy Law considers criminal data confidential and sensitive information. You must have consent from the data owner or the employee to obtain such information. If you do a background check on a potential employee, make sure you give them a privacy notice.
Laws Against Discrimination in Mexico
Some countries have restrictions on interview questions that you can ask a candidate. However, Mexico has almost no limitations on interviews from a legal standpoint. You can ask candidates anything you need to ensure a successful hire. That said, we recommend following your company’s policies and internal guidelines on personal questions and screening processes.
How to Hire Employees in Mexico
You have two options for hiring Mexican employees — hire your workers yourself or work with a hiring outsourcing firm.
- If you decide to hire yourself, you will spend a significant amount of time searching for the right talent. This process may even mean traveling to Mexico to meet candidates in person.
- You can also work with a Mexico hiring outsourcing company such as a recruiting expert or a global PEO. As a Global PEO, Globalization Partners can help you find the talent you need to grow your business. We hire employees on your behalf, so you don’t need to spend months setting up a subsidiary before officially hiring.
Mexico Employment Laws
You are legally required to put together a strong employment contract in the local language, which should spell out compensation, benefits, and other termination requirements.
Office hours in Mexico typically run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. but can extend until 7 p.m. or later. There are three types of shifts for employees in Mexico:
- Day shift: eight working hours, between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.
- Night shift: seven working hours, between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
- Mixed working day: seven and a half hours of work, between day and night hours.
Employees are entitled to overtime pay at 100% of their normal rate and 200% for any overtime greater than nine hours. Mexico’s employment compliance limits work time to 11 hours per day and 49 hours per week. Businesses must give employees one day of rest for every six days worked.
Obligatory employee benefits include a minimum of six vacation days after one year of employment, seven annual paid public holidays, and a yearly bonus.
Onboarding in Mexico
Once you hire employees in Mexico, you’ll need to onboard them smoothly. An employment contract will help spell out your company’s code of conduct and can even include aspects of the company culture.
In Mexico, relationships and trust are more important than experience or ability. Punctuality is not a concern, and many employees will want to chat before diving into business. Keep these cultural factors in mind when onboarding your workers.
If you create your own subsidiary in Mexico, the onboarding process will take months. You cannot officially hire an employee until you spend the time, money, and effort on creating the subsidiary. During that time, you could lose prospective talent looking for jobs elsewhere. Working with a global PEO such as Globalization Partners mitigates these issues. We hire employees on your behalf in mere days.
Benefits of Hiring Outsourcing in Mexico
Working with a global PEO is an easy way to stay compliant, hire employees quickly, and save your company time and money. You will not need to travel to Mexico as often, if at all, and you can wait to establish a subsidiary and avoid costly fines.
Work With Globalization Partners To Expand Globally
The team at Globalization Partners is well-equipped to help you hire employees in Mexico. We can find the best talent, hire them on your behalf, and act as the Employer of Record so that you don’t need to worry about Mexico employment compliance. Contact us today to learn more about our comprehensive solution and proprietary technology.