Employer of Record (EOR) in Mexico

Hire in Mexico in days, with no entity and no exposure to getting Ley Federal del Trabajo (LFT) compliance wrong. We place you with the right vetted EOR partner, at pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side for the life of the relationship.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners
  • Operational in days

What an Employer of Record does for you in Mexico

An Employer of Record is a company that legally employs your Mexican staff on your behalf. You choose the person and direct their work day to day. The EOR is the legal employer on paper, which is what lets you build a team in Mexico without forming your own company.

In practice the EOR partner takes on everything that needs a Mexican legal entity and local expertise: a compliant employment contract under the LFT, monthly payroll with ISR (Impuesto Sobre la Renta) withholding, IMSS (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social) and INFONAVIT (Instituto del Fondo Nacional de la Vivienda para los Trabajadores) registration and remittance, and all statutory filings to the Servicio de Administración Tributaria (SAT), statutory benefits and leave, and compliant onboarding and lawful exits under the LFT’s closed list of dismissal grounds. You get a working team in days. The EOR carries the legal and compliance weight; you carry the commercial relationship. The only question worth spending time on is which partner is genuinely strong in Mexico, and that is the question we answer for you.

01

Legal employer, on paper

A compliant Mexican employment contract under the LFT, with all statutory terms correct from day one.

02

Compliant from day one

Monthly payroll, ISR withholding, IMSS and INFONAVIT contributions, employer registration and remittance, and all statutory filings to the SAT.

03

No entity required

Statutory benefits — aguinaldo (Christmas bonus, minimum 15 days’ salary), prima vacacional (vacation premium, minimum 25% of vacation pay), and PTU (Participación de los Trabajadores en las Utilidades, mandatory profit-sharing) — administered correctly, plus lawful termination under the LFT. Mexico has no general statutory notice period: dismissal is either for justified cause on a closed list of grounds, or unjustified, which triggers the statutory severance formula. You get a working team in days; the EOR carries the legal weight.

How it works: four steps to a compliant hire

From first call to a compliant Mexican hire at work, usually in days.

01 — Scope & quote

We map the role, salary, and start date, and come back with a clear all-in monthly cost. No guesswork, no hidden extras.

02 — Compliant contract

Your employment contract is drafted to Mexican standards by the partner, and we sanity-check the terms and pricing before you sign. Compliant from day one.

03 — Onboard in days

A correct Mexican contract is issued under the LFT, with all statutory terms from day one. Your hire can start in days.

04 — Payroll & compliance run

ISR, IMSS, and INFONAVIT calculated and withheld, payslips issued, statutory filings made to the SAT and IMSS. You direct the work; the compliance just runs.

What EOR in Mexico costs

Two parts: the statutory cost of employing someone, and the EOR partner fee. In Mexico the statutory employer cost runs through IMSS and INFONAVIT, two separate contribution systems, while ISR withholding runs monthly through the payroll itself — registration, remittance, and filing work that in practice the EOR partner absorbs on your behalf. We make both transparent before you commit, so there are no surprises.

Employer social security

IMSS contributions (health, maternity, disability, life, occupational-risk, and retirement branches) plus INFONAVIT, a separate 5% housing-fund contribution. Combined employer cost: roughly 27 to 31%+ of the salario base de cotización (SBC), varying by occupational risk class. Predictable and fully costed before you commit.

Minimum wage (2026)

MXN 315.04 per day (~MXN 9,582/month) in the general zone for 2026, or MXN 440.87 per day (~MXN 13,410/month) in the Zona Libre de la Frontera Norte (ZLFN), the northern border free zone. Two statutory zones, not one national rate.

Income tax (employee)

Progressive ISR across 11 brackets, 1.92% to 35%. First bracket ceiling MXN 844.59/month, 0% below it. Withheld monthly at source from the employee’s pay, reconciled annually. Borne by the employee, not added to your cost.

EOR partner fee

A transparent per-employee monthly fee. We benchmark across our vetted network, typically 15 to 25% below going direct, and renegotiate for you at renewal.

Why run it through Bradford Jacobs

We know which EOR partners are genuinely strong in Mexico, by sector and by complexity. We place you with the right one, at pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side for the life of the relationship.

Independent, not a single provider

We are independent: we assess what you actually need, place you with the right vetted partner, secure pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side to escalate or renegotiate. You get advice, not a product pitch.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners only
  • On your side at renewal

Pricing that prices in the real exposure

Mexico’s largest cost surprise is not the monthly IMSS and INFONAVIT contribution rate — it is termination. Unjustified dismissal triggers three months’ salary, 20 days’ salary per year of service, and prima de antigüedad (seniority premium), and there is no general notice period to soften a wrong assumption. We model that exposure into the plan up front, benchmark EOR partner fees across our network, and renegotiate on your behalf at renewal. Most companies do not know how much room there is to negotiate, or how exposed a bad exit can leave them. We do.

  • Severance risk modelled
  • Network benchmarking
  • Renegotiated for you

Straight to the top when it matters

When something needs resolving, and in global employment it sometimes does, you come to us. We escalate directly, past the helpdesk, to people who can actually move it.

  • Direct escalation
  • No support queues
  • Named account contact

Two decades across markets

Two decades placing and managing EOR arrangements across global markets, with the local knowledge of the LFT, the IMSS/INFONAVIT contribution split, and Mexico’s outsourcing-reform rules requiring a REPSE (Registro de Prestadoras de Servicios Especializados u Obras Especializadas)-registered provider that keeps you compliant.

  • EOR specialists
  • LFT & IMSS
  • Risk removed

Built for conversion to your own entity

Most companies use EOR for 12 to 24 months, then move to their own Mexican S.A. de C.V. (or S. de R.L. de C.V.). We plan that crossover and manage the transition when the economics justify it.

  • EOR to entity path
  • Transition managed
  • Crossover planning

Why an EOR is the fastest compliant way into Mexico

Two things slow foreign employers down in Mexico: the time to incorporate, and the risk of getting the LFT’s termination and severance rules wrong. An EOR removes both.

Working time, leave & contracts

Compliance handled under one federal Labour Law. Mexican employment law requires mandatory IMSS and INFONAVIT contributions, and dismissal that is only lawful for justified cause on a closed list of statutory grounds. There is no general notice period: an unjustified dismissal instead triggers the statutory severance formula — three months’ salary, 20 days’ salary per year of service, and prima de antigüedad. An EOR carries all of it correctly from day one, so a wrong assumption never becomes a liability.

Operational in days, not weeks

Incorporating in Mexico realistically takes eight to twelve weeks — a notarial deed, Registro Público de Comercio (RPC) filing, SAT registration, and IMSS employer registration, before you can legally hire anyone. An EOR removes that wait entirely: a compliant LFT contract is issued and your hire starts in days. You prove the market first, then incorporate later only if the headcount justifies it. This is the real value of EOR in Mexico: speed into a market with a genuinely distinctive termination-cost structure, with the compliance carried by an expert.

Everything your Mexican EOR covers

One transparent monthly fee per employee covers all of this. No hidden extras.

Compliant Mexican contract

A compliant Mexican employment contract under the LFT, issued and maintained for you.

Payroll, IMSS & INFONAVIT

Monthly payroll run, with ISR withholding and IMSS and INFONAVIT contributions calculated, withheld, and remitted correctly each month.

Statutory benefits

All statutory benefits administered: aguinaldo, prima vacacional, PTU profit-sharing, and paid vacation rising under the 2023 vacaciones dignas reform, plus lawful termination under the LFT — including the statutory severance formula on an unjustified dismissal, since Mexico has no general notice period. Employee social security runs roughly 2.4 to 2.9% of SBC, IMSS only (INFONAVIT is employer-funded), deducted from salary, not billed to you.

Compliance & support

Ongoing HR compliance and a single point of contact, for the life of the engagement.

Your questions answered

Straight answers on how Employer of Record works in Mexico.

Is my hire employed by Bradford Jacobs or by me?

Legally, your hire is employed by the Mexican EOR partner we place you with, which is what keeps you compliant without an entity. Day to day they work for you: you set the work, the goals, the relationship. You get the team; the partner carries the legal employer obligations.

Usually within days once the role and salary are agreed, with a compliant LFT contract from day one. Compare that to the eight to twelve weeks a Mexican incorporation can realistically take, during which you cannot legally employ anyone.

Not a single fixed number: roughly 27 to 31%+ of the SBC through IMSS and INFONAVIT combined, varying by occupational risk class, plus the exposure a severance event can create if an exit goes wrong. Add the transparent EOR partner fee and you have your realistic all-in cost.

Yes, when done properly. The EOR is a real Mexican legal employer meeting all LFT, IMSS, INFONAVIT, and SAT obligations. Mexico’s 2021 outsourcing reform bans personnel-supply subcontracting of a client’s core business activity, so a properly structured EOR relationship depends on a genuinely REPSE-registered partner, not just a label. The risk is using an under-resourced or unregistered partner, which is exactly why we place you with vetted, REPSE-registered partners and stay on your side.

The compliant LFT contract, monthly payroll (ISR withholding and IMSS/INFONAVIT contributions), statutory benefits (aguinaldo, prima vacacional, PTU) and leave administration, and ongoing HR compliance. We give you one all-in monthly figure up front, with no hidden extras.

Yes, and most companies do once the headcount and permanence justify it. We manage the transition from EOR to your own S.A. de C.V. or S. de R.L. de C.V., and can support the incorporation itself. Most use EOR for 12 to 24 months first.

Ready to hire in Mexico?

Tell us the role and we will come back with a compliant, all-in monthly cost and the right partner, usually within a day. No entity, no lock-in, no pitch, just the fastest compliant way to get your person working in Mexico.

Tax and labour data verified July 2026 (SAT, IMSS, CONASAMI). Figures change; we confirm the current position when we scope your hire.