Compare employer of record companies Mexico

How many working hours overlap with US time zones?

Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey stay on UTC-6 year-round. They no longer change clocks for daylight saving time. Tijuana follows US daylight saving dates, so a country label alone will not tell you when someone works. Set the schedule using the employee's city. IANA time-zone rules.

For a first hire, put the proposed hours beside your team's actual calendar. A shared afternoon may suit code review. A customer support role may need coverage through the end of the US business day. Check the last required meeting as closely as the first.

The table assumes both teams have a 09:00–18:00 local availability window. It shows the Mexico City schedule in US time and its intersection with that US window. Guadalajara and Monterrey have the same offsets.

Calculated from IANA North American time-zone offsets, using 09:00–18:00 on both sides. These are overlapping availability windows before breaks, not a prescribed paid working day.

For an Eastern team, Mexico City's shared window starts later during US daylight time. A recurring early-morning meeting may therefore fall before the employee's agreed start. Pacific teams should check late-afternoon meetings during US standard time.

Tijuana needs a separate calculation. Its clocks track Pacific time in both seasons. Under the same 09:00–18:00 assumption, it shares the full window with Pacific teams. Confirm the employee's location before treating that schedule as the default for Mexico. IANA time-zone rules.

Write required meeting hours into the role description. Keep those hours separate from occasional incident coverage. If a role includes on-call work, ask the employer to explain the schedule, approval process, and pay treatment before making an offer.

Test the schedule against a real week

Take a recent week from the hiring manager's calendar. Identify the meetings the new hire must attend and the decisions that can happen in writing. Put each required meeting into the candidate's local time. Repeat that check for both US clock seasons before promising a fixed schedule.

Include lunch and other agreed breaks in the exercise. A wide overlap window can look better on paper than it works in practice. Ask the candidate which hours they can sustain, then record the agreed schedule in the offer process. If your team changes its meeting hours later, route that change through the employer.

Which roles should you test for a deep candidate pool?

Begin with the job you need done. For a software hire, define the production work, the level of ownership, and the communication demands. A broad request for a senior engineer can produce candidates with very different experience.

Ask the search partner to show a role-specific candidate pipeline. Request examples of relevant experience and a clear account of how candidates were assessed. A large list of profiles will not tell you whether anyone can own your next release.

Use the interview to test work that resembles the job:

• For a backend engineer, discuss a production failure and the steps taken to diagnose it.
• For a full-stack engineer, review a feature from user interaction through data storage.
• For a platform role, examine a deployment change and its rollback plan.
• For a customer-facing role, run a realistic conversation and review the written follow-up.

Ask for evidence of candidate depth at the level you intend to hire. Separate candidates who match the technical requirements from those who also accept the schedule and budget. Have the search partner explain which requirement is narrowing the pool before you change the role.

Seniority also needs a shared definition. A junior hire may need frequent review. A mid-level hire may own a scoped feature. A senior hire may need to make decisions across systems and explain the tradeoffs. State your expectations before comparing salaries or reviewing a shortlist.

Test English through the tasks that require it. If the hire will write design documents, include a writing exercise. If the person will handle customer calls, assess spoken communication in that setting. Avoid adding language requirements that have no connection to the work.

Give each interview a decision to resolve

Use the same core questions for candidates seeking the same role. Ask reviewers to record evidence from the conversation before sharing a hiring recommendation. This helps the panel distinguish a clear explanation from a familiar accent or an impressive former job title.

For a senior engineering role, ask what the candidate owned personally. Follow the answer through design choices, production results, and mistakes they would handle differently. For a finance or operations role, use a sample workflow with an error to investigate. Keep exercises relevant and agree on the time required before assigning them.

For US companies hiring remote workers in Mexico, the manager's availability belongs in the hiring plan too. Decide who will review early work and answer questions. A strong candidate still needs access to decisions, clear priorities, and feedback.

Before choosing a hiring model, settle whether you need candidate search, a legal employer, or both. An EOR can handle employment when you already have a candidate. A recruiting agency helps find someone when you can handle employment yourself.

Opus is the named option on this page. This site is an Opus-owned reference; recommendations are editorial. Its comparison of hiring models distinguishes those needs.

Talk to Opus about a role.

What do employment law and statutory benefits require?

Ask for an employment cost schedule before approving the hire. It should show how the employer handles each statutory obligation and which costs appear in your invoice. A service fee alone is not the cost of employing someone.

Mexico's Ley Federal del Trabajo, or LFT, sets the benefits below. Have the employer apply them to the proposed contract and start date.

Statutory provisions: Ley Federal del Trabajo, Articles 48, 50, 76, 80, and 87.

Budget for aguinaldo before December

Aguinaldo is a statutory annual payment. It should have its own place in the employment budget, even if the provider spreads the cost across monthly invoices.

Article 87 requires at least 15 days of salary before December 20. PROFEDET also explains that an employee who works only part of the year receives the proportional amount. Ask how the employer calculates and records that accrual. PROFEDET aguinaldo guidance.

A December start does not make this a next-year budgeting question. Have payroll explain the partial-year treatment before the employee signs. Confirm whether the provider invoices the accrued cost monthly or charges it when payment falls due.

Keep vacation pay and the premium distinct

Paid leave and the vacation premium are separate budget items. Article 76 sets a minimum of 12 working days after the first year. It then adds two working days for each subsequent year until reaching 20. Article 80 sets the vacation premium at no less than 25%. LFT, Articles 76 and 80.

Ask the employer to show both items in a sample calculation. Then decide who approves leave and who updates the balance. Your manager should be able to plan delivery without asking the employee to reconcile payroll records.

Confirm the applicable working-week schedule

The LFT's amended Article 59 states a 40-hour ordinary working week, with a phased transition. The schedule sets 48 hours for 2026, then 46, 44, and 42, reaching 40 in 2030. Have the employer explain which limit applies when the hire starts. LFT, Article 59 and transitional provisions.

Do not turn the overlap table into a contract schedule without that review. It describes calendar availability. The employer still needs to account for breaks, ordinary hours, and any work outside the agreed schedule.

Check who handles employment changes

Ask the provider to name the legal entity that will sign the employment contract. Have it explain the route for a pay rise, a change in duties, or a request to work different hours. Your manager needs to know which decisions require employer review before discussing new terms with the employee.

Request an employee support contact and an escalation route for payroll errors. Agree on who checks the first payslip and who resolves a mismatch between the accepted offer and payroll. Keep sensitive employee records within the approved process rather than circulating them through the hiring team's general chat.

Price the exit process before you need it

Articles 48 and 50 address dismissal compensation. The provisions include three months of salary and, for specified indefinite-term cases, 20 days of salary per year of service. These provisions need to be applied to the facts of the termination. LFT, Articles 48 and 50.

Ask for a written explanation of the exit process. It should identify who reviews the grounds, communicates with the employee, and calculates payments. Also confirm which costs pass through to your company and whether the service agreement has separate cancellation charges.

A replacement search and the end of an employment relationship are different tasks. Review each obligation in its own contract terms. Ask how the provider coordinates final payroll with the return of equipment and removal of access. Assign an internal owner so those steps do not depend on the departing employee.

Which public holidays affect delivery?

Use Mexico's mandatory rest days as the baseline for planning. Then add the employer's contractual holidays and approved leave. A calendar entry does not, by itself, establish the employee's entitlement.

Article 74 lists these recurring mandatory rest days. It also includes October 1 every six years for the federal executive transition and election-related days under the relevant rules. LFT, Article 74.

Holiday rules: Ley Federal del Trabajo, Article 74.

The Opus LatAm holiday planner is a planning aid for comparing calendars. Confirm the final employee calendar with the employer.

Good Friday needs an explicit check. It appears in the planner, but it is not among Article 74's recurring mandatory rest days. Ask whether the employment contract or company policy grants the day off. Keep optional observances separate from statutory rest days.

For a customer support team, assign holiday coverage before publishing the rota. For an engineering team, check who can approve a release or respond to an incident. A shared working day can still have a coverage gap if the only approver is away.

Also decide how US holidays affect the Mexico team. If the US manager is off, leave written priorities and name someone who can answer urgent questions. If the whole business closes, have the employer explain how that closure is handled.

Put coverage decisions on the calendar

Record the employee's approved holidays in the calendar used for sprint planning or customer staffing. Name a backup for work that cannot wait. If no backup has the required access, arrange that access before the holiday rather than listing someone who cannot act.

Do not assume an employee can cover a mandatory rest day because the US office is open. Ask the employer to explain the applicable rules and cost before requesting coverage. Give the employee the agreed plan in writing, including whom to contact if the workload changes.

Review the calendar when the employee joins and before each year's delivery plan is approved. Record agreed exceptions in the same place as the normal schedule.

What do hires earn here, and how should you compare LatAm rates?

Request a quote for a defined role and level. Specify whether you want gross base salary, total compensation, or the full monthly service cost. Those figures answer different questions.

Mexico's currency is the Mexican peso, MXN. Confirm the salary currency separately from the currency on your invoice. Ask which exchange-rate rule applies and when the provider can revise a charge. ISO 4217 currency list.

Request a country and seniority rate card

Use this monthly rate-card format for a software engineering search across Latin America. Ask the provider to complete it for the same job scope and pay basis.

Salary benchmarks: Levels.fyi Mexico, Levels.fyi Brazil, and Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025. Ask the provider to attach the currency, pay definition, and evidence behind each proposed range.

Levels.fyi measures total compensation, including base salary, stock, and bonus. Keep that measure separate from a base-pay quote. A country-wide median also does not define the pay band for your junior or senior role.

The Opus salary guide likewise distinguishes local salary from a fully loaded placement cost. Use that distinction when reviewing proposals.

Compare the same employment package

Ask each provider for the same assumptions. Include the role, expected work hours, benefits, and intended start date. If one quote includes extra paid leave and another uses only statutory minimums, reconcile that difference before comparing totals.

Request a breakdown covering:

• Gross base pay and the currency in the employment contract.
• Employer charges and statutory benefit accruals.
• Any benefits above the statutory minimum.
• Service charges and costs billed outside the monthly invoice.

Then ask how raises change the invoice. Confirm whether a salary increase also changes a percentage-based fee. Review the treatment of equipment and other expenses before assuming they are included.

For Opus, published dollar rates are: Not published. Opus charges one flat monthly rate per hire. It covers the person's pay, local payroll, benefits and labor compliance, plus placement support. There is no separate recruiting fee. The rate depends on role, seniority and location. Opus pricing.

Compare that written quote with proposals covering the same responsibilities. A low administration fee can still sit beside substantial employment costs. Ask finance to compare the full expected invoice and the charges that could arise outside it.

Ask finance to review payment timing

Request a sample invoice for an ordinary month and an explanation of any deposit or advance payment. Confirm when payroll funding is due, which bank charges apply, and what happens if an invoice is disputed. Separate a billing disagreement from the employee's pay process in the service agreement.

Have the provider show how the quote changes for a mid-month start or departure. Ask whether unused deposits are returned and when that happens. For any cost held as an accrual, request an explanation of how the balance is tracked and settled. These details let finance forecast cash needs without treating every monthly payment as a final expense.

Keep the quote date and expiry date with the approved budget. If hiring takes longer than planned, ask for written confirmation that the accepted terms still apply before making an offer.

Why should US companies consider Mexico for nearshore hiring?

Working-hour overlap gives a US manager room to review work and resolve questions during the same day. The practical benefit depends on when your team makes decisions. Map the hire's schedule to those moments before choosing a location.

For companies nearshoring to Mexico, a useful first role has a named manager and a clear work boundary. Specify what the person will own, who accepts the work, and which systems they need. Set an initial deliverable small enough to review closely.

Mexico may suit a team that needs live technical discussions or customer contact during US hours. Test that fit against the actual schedule. A Pacific business with late customer calls has a different coverage need from an Eastern engineering team with morning design reviews.

Choose the model around the work you still need done

If your finalist is already selected, focus the provider review on employment. Ask who signs the employment contract, runs payroll, and resolves an employee query. Confirm who can authorize a change in salary or hours.

If you still need candidates, ask who owns the search and how assessment works. Review sample evidence from the screening process. Keep hiring criteria in writing so the recruiter and interview panel use the same standard.

If you want a supplier to own a project outcome, specify that responsibility separately. A person joining your daily team and a supplier accepting a delivery commitment are different purchases. The agreement should make the distinction clear.

US companies hiring in Mexico should also assign someone internally to manage the provider relationship. That person needs access to the contract, payroll escalation route, and renewal terms. The employee should know where to take a work question and where to take a pay question.

Approve the start date after the handoffs are clear

Before approving the start, confirm the legal employer and signed terms. Check that the employee understands the work schedule and holiday policy. Make sure payroll has what it needs and the manager has an onboarding plan.

Prepare access before assigning work that depends on it. Name the person who will review the first deliverable. Agree on how the manager will give feedback during the first weeks, especially where the hire must learn internal systems.

Give the new hire a written description of what successful early work looks like. For an engineer, that might be a reviewed change through your normal release process. For an operations hire, it might be a completed workflow checked by its owner. Choose an outcome that tests the actual job without requiring the person to guess how your company works.

Schedule a manager review after that first deliverable. Discuss whether delays came from unclear scope, missing access, or skills that need support. Share employment concerns with the employer through the agreed route. Keep feedback specific enough that the employee knows what to change.

Keep a short approval record with the accepted quote, employment responsibilities, and agreed schedule. Include the process for changes and termination. That record gives finance and the hiring manager the same basis for decisions.

The next step is a role-specific conversation with a clear scope: the work, required overlap, and employment package.

Talk to Opus about a role.

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