Domestic Worker Contract Mexico (Contrato de Trabajo Doméstico)

A Domestic Worker Contract Mexico (Contrato de Trabajo Doméstico) is a written employment agreement between a household employer (patrón) and a trabajador doméstico — any person who provides domestic services for the personal benefit or maintenance of the home, including cooks (cocineros/as), drivers (choferes particulares), gardeners (jardineros), nannies (niñeras), caregivers (cuidadores), housekeepers (recamareras), and laundry workers (lavanderos) — governed exclusively by Chapter XIII of the Ley Federal del Trabajo, comprising Articles 331 through 343, as reformed by the Decreto published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 2 May 2019.

The constitutional basis for domestic worker rights in Mexico rests in Article 123, Apartado A of the Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, which was amended in 2019 to expressly guarantee domestic workers the same protections as other salaried workers. This constitutional reform responded in part to the recommendations of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 189 (Domestic Workers Convention, 2011), which Mexico ratified in 2020, establishing minimum standards for decent work for domestic workers including social security access, reasonable working hours, rest periods, and protection from abuse.

Prior to 2019, domestic workers in Mexico were excluded from the IMSS social security system — a structural exclusion that left an estimated 2.4 million domestic workers without healthcare, disability coverage, or retirement benefits. The 2019 reform to Article 13 of the Ley del Seguro Social and the subsequent Programa de Incorporación Voluntaria al IMSS para Trabajadores del Hogar (later converted to the obligatory Programa IMSS Bienestar para Trabajadores del Hogar through the 2023 Decreto published in the DOF on 1 February 2023) mandated compulsory IMSS registration for all domestic workers performing services for eight or more hours per week for the same household employer.

Under Article 331 LFT, a domestic worker is defined as a person who habitually and continuously provides services for the personal needs of a household or its members — the key distinction being that the work must benefit the home itself rather than any commercial or productive activity of the employer. Article 332 LFT clarifies that persons who perform domestic services only occasionally (esporádicamente) are not covered by Chapter XIII but may still be workers under the general provisions of the LFT.

Article 333 LFT establishes the special working hours regime for domestic workers: those who live in (trabajadores de planta) are entitled to at least nine consecutive hours of night rest, plus three hours of daily rest divided into periods of at least one hour each between morning and afternoon work shifts. Workers who do not live in (trabajadores de entrada por salida) have the same maximum daily hour protections as general workers under Articles 60 and 61 LFT — a maximum eight-hour diurna, seven-hour nocturna, or seven-and-a-half-hour mixta workday.

Article 334 LFT mandates a weekly rest day of at least 24 consecutive hours. Article 335 LFT requires domestic workers to receive hygienic and comfortable lodging and food (habitación y alimentos higiénicos y cómodos) when they live in the household — the monetary value of these in-kind benefits must be counted toward the total compensation for IMSS quota calculation purposes under the Salario Diario Integrado (SDI) rules of Article 84 LFT.

The Contrato de Trabajo Doméstico documents the agreed terms of this special employment relationship and provides the primary evidentiary document for IMSS Bienestar registration, STPS (Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social) inspections, and any dispute resolution before the Centro Federal de Conciliación y Registro Laboral (CFCRL) under Article 684-A LFT.

All employer obligations for PTU (Participación de los Trabajadores en las Utilidades) under Articles 117–131 LFT apply equally to domestic worker employers who generate taxable profits — though most household employers are personas físicas without taxable business profits and therefore not subject to PTU distribution. ISR withholding obligations under Article 94 of the Ley del Impuesto sobre la Renta (LISR) apply when the domestic worker earns more than the exempt threshold established annually by the SAT.

A Domestic Worker Contract Mexico is required whenever a household employs a person to perform domestic services on a regular, recurrent basis — regardless of whether the worker lives in the household (trabajador de planta) or arrives daily (trabajador de entrada por salida). The Ley Federal del Trabajo arts. 331–343 classify these arrangements as formal employment relationships subject to all mandatory minimum protections.

The contract is needed when engaging a cook, housekeeper, gardener, nanny, caregiver, chauffeur, or laundry worker who works eight or more hours per week for the same household. Below this threshold, the relationship is occasional under Article 332 LFT; at or above it, IMSS Bienestar registration under the obligatory 2023 programme is triggered and a written contract becomes the foundational document for that registration.

Household employers must execute this contract before the domestic worker's first day of service to comply with IMSS Bienestar pre-registration requirements. The Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social uses the contract details — specifically the agreed daily salary and the value of in-kind benefits — to calculate the Salario Diario Integrado (SDI) and set monthly IMSS quota amounts for the household employer.

The contract is required when a domestic worker is hired through a domestic staffing agency (agencia de colocación de trabajadores del hogar). In these three-party arrangements, Article 13 LFT makes the household where the services are actually performed the employer for IMSS purposes — so the family must have its own written contract directly with the worker.

A written Contrato de Trabajo Doméstico is also needed when the household employer wishes to document superior benefits beyond the legal minimum — such as private medical insurance, a savings fund (caja de ahorro), additional vacation days, or a transport allowance — to avoid disputes about whether such benefits are permanent acquired rights (derechos adquiridos) under Article 5 LFT or discretionary supplements.

When a domestic worker is dismissed without justified cause under Article 47 LFT, the written contract serves as the baseline document for calculating severance — three months' salary plus 20 days per year of service under Article 50 LFT, plus proportional aguinaldo (Article 87 LFT), proportional vacation and prima vacacional (Articles 76 and 80 LFT), and the seniority premium (prima de antigüedad) of 12 days' salary per year under Article 162 LFT for workers with 15 or more years of service. Without a written contract, the Tribunal Laboral presumes the worker's account of agreed conditions under Article 784 LFT.

The Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social (STPS) Inspección del Trabajo has authority under Article 541 LFT to inspect private households employing domestic workers and demand production of written employment contracts, IMSS registration evidence (comprobante de alta), and payment records (recibos de pago). Employers who cannot produce these documents face presumption of violations and administrative fines.

A valid Domestic Worker Contract Mexico under Ley Federal del Trabajo arts. 331–343 must contain the following essential elements to meet IMSS Bienestar registration requirements and withstand scrutiny by the STPS Inspección del Trabajo and the Tribunales Laborales.

Identification of Parties: Full legal name, RFC (Registro Federal de Contribuyentes assigned by the SAT), CURP (Clave Única de Registro de Población issued by RENAPO), and domicile of the household employer (patrón). The domestic worker's full legal name, CURP, NSS (Número de Seguridad Social assigned by IMSS upon first registration), official identity document number (INE credential or passport), and home address. If the worker is a foreign national, the immigration document type (Tarjeta de Residencia Temporal or Permanente) and INM folio number must also appear.

Type of Domestic Service and Functions: The specific services to be performed — cook, housekeeper, gardener, nanny, caregiver, driver, laundry worker, or combination — described with sufficient precision under Article 25 Section IV LFT. Ambiguous job descriptions can be used to expand the worker's entitlements in Tribunal Laboral proceedings.

Residence Arrangement: Whether the worker lives in the household (trabajador de planta) or arrives and departs daily (trabajador de entrada por salida), as this determines the applicable rest period rules under Article 333 LFT. If the worker lives in, the lodging and food benefits provided must be described and their monetary value stated for SDI calculation purposes.

Working Hours and Schedule: The daily schedule, weekly working days, and daily hours. Trabajadores de entrada por salida are subject to the same maximum daily hour limits as general workers under Articles 60 and 61 LFT. Trabajadores de planta are entitled to at least nine consecutive hours of nocturnal rest and three hours of daily rest split between morning and afternoon under Article 333 LFT.

Weekly Rest: Confirmation of at least one 24-hour rest day per week under Article 334 LFT, with the day(s) specified. Sunday is preferred under Article 71 LFT; if the employer requires Sunday work, a 25% premium applies.

Salary and Payment Method: The agreed daily or monthly salary in MXN, which must meet or exceed the general CONASAMI minimum wage ($278.80 MXN per day in 2025 for the general zone). The payment method (cash, bank transfer) and frequency — Article 88 LFT limits payment intervals to one week for daily workers. The monetary value of any in-kind benefits (food, lodging) forming part of the SDI must be specified.

IMSS Bienestar Registration: An express clause confirming that the employer will register the worker under the IMSS Bienestar programme within the time limits established by the 2023 Decreto, and will make the corresponding monthly IMSS quota contributions. The employer's CURP or RFC serves as the patrón identifier for IMSS Bienestar household employer accounts.

Mandatory Benefits: Aguinaldo of at least 15 days' salary payable before 20 December under Article 87 LFT; annual paid vacation of at least 12 working days after one year of service under Article 76 LFT (reformed 2022); prima vacacional of at least 25% of vacation pay under Article 80 LFT. Annual leave for domestic workers follows the same reformed Article 76 LFT scale as all workers since the 2022 vacation reform.

Termination and Severance: Procedure for contract termination with and without justified cause under Articles 47 and 51 LFT, and the severance entitlements under Article 50 LFT for unjustified dismissal. Article 340 LFT gives domestic workers the right to terminate the employment relationship at any time with eight days' notice, and the employer may terminate with the same notice for any reason that does not constitute unjustified dismissal, but must pay the corresponding finiquito.

Data Protection: An aviso de privacidad under Article 15 of the Ley Federal de Protección de Datos Personales en Posesión de los Particulares (LFPDPPP, published in the DOF 5 July 2010) informing the worker of CURP, RFC, NSS, and biometric data processing for IMSS Bienestar, ISR withholding, and payroll purposes, and of the worker's ARCO rights exercisable before the INAI.

Forms-legal.com provides this Domestic Worker Contract Mexico template as a reference document. Household employers should consult a licensed abogado laboralista to confirm compliance with the current IMSS Bienestar programme requirements, the applicable CONASAMI minimum wage, and any local state-level labour regulations that supplement the LFT framework.