Unjustified Dismissal Notice with Liquidación Mexico (Aviso de Rescisión Injustificada)

An Unjustified Dismissal Notice with Liquidación Mexico (Aviso de Rescisión Injustificada) is the formal written notification issued by a Mexican employer (patrón) when it elects to terminate an employment relationship without a legally sufficient cause under the Ley Federal del Trabajo (LFT), triggering the obligation to pay the full constitutional indemnity (indemnización constitucional) and seniority-based compensation established in Article 50 LFT. This document serves simultaneously as the termination notice and as the employer's acknowledgment of the liquidación completa owed — documenting the calculation of severance to create a clear record for the Centro Federal de Conciliación y Registro Laboral (CFCRL) and for SAT and IMSS compliance purposes.

Article 50 of the Ley Federal del Trabajo establishes the compensation owed when an employer terminates an indefinite employment relationship (contrato por tiempo indeterminado) without just cause (sin causa justificada). For workers who have worked for more than one year, Article 50 Fraction II awards: three months of salary (indemnización constitucional equivalent to 90 days' salary) plus 20 days of salary per year of service (indemnización por antigüedad) — both calculated on the Salario Diario Integrado (SDI) computed under Article 84 LFT. Additionally, workers with at least 15 years of service are entitled to a prima de antigüedad of 12 days' salary per year of service under Article 162 LFT, capped at twice the general minimum wage per day regardless of the actual SDI. For workers who have not completed one year of service, Article 50 Fraction I awards compensation in proportion to the days worked, calculated at 6 days per month for the first year.

The Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN) has established through jurisprudencia that when an employer terminates a worker without invoking the causes of Article 47 LFT — or when the alleged causes are not proven before the Tribunales Laborales — the termination is presumed unjustified under the principle of estabilidad en el empleo (employment security). Under Article 48 LFT, the worker has the right to elect between reinstatement (reinstalación) or payment of the liquidación under Article 50 LFT — this election typically occurs during the CFCRL conciliation stage or before the Tribunal Laboral.

The 2019 labour reform (Decreto published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 1 May 2019) fundamentally changed the enforcement landscape for unjustified dismissal claims. All labour disputes — including claims arising from unjustified dismissal — must first go through mandatory pre-litigation conciliation at the CFCRL or the corresponding state conciliation centre under the reformed Articles 684-A through 684-E LFT before proceeding to a Tribunal Laboral. The CFCRL conciliation process is intended to resolve the majority of claims within 45 days, significantly reducing the backlog previously handled by the former Juntas de Conciliación y Arbitraje.

For tax purposes under the Ley del Impuesto sobre la Renta (LISR), the indemnización constitucional and other severance payments are partially exempt from ISR under Articles 93 Section XIII and 93-A LISR: the exempt amount is 90 times the general minimum wage (Salario Mínimo General) per year of service, with the excess over this limit subject to ISR. The IMSS de-registration (baja del trabajador) must be filed within five business days of the termination date under Article 15 Fraction I of the Ley del Seguro Social — the Aviso de Rescisión Injustificada provides the documentation basis for the baja filing.

An Unjustified Dismissal Notice with Liquidación Mexico is required whenever a Mexican employer decides to end an employment relationship without being able or willing to invoke a specific cause under Article 47 of the Ley Federal del Trabajo — or when the employer acknowledges that the intended termination does not meet the strict procedural and substantive requirements for a justified dismissal.

The Aviso de Rescisión Injustificada is needed when a company undergoes organisational restructuring (reestructura organizacional), downsizing (reducción de personal), or outsourcing of functions previously performed by employees — in Mexico, there is no concept of statutory redundancy in the European sense, and any termination driven by business need rather than employee misconduct constitutes a rescisión injustificada under the LFT, entitling the worker to the full Article 50 LFT liquidación.

The document is needed when an employer decides to terminate a worker whose performance has been unsatisfactory but where the disciplinary process under the Ley Federal del Trabajo and the internal Reglamento Interior de Trabajo has not been fully followed — rather than risk an Article 47 LFT challenge that could be lost due to procedural defects in the carta de rescisión justificada, many employers elect the rescisión injustificada and pay the liquidación to achieve a clean, documented separation.

The Aviso is also required when settling a labour dispute (conflicto laboral) through a negotiated exit — even if the employer believes it has just cause, a voluntary negotiated settlement using the rescisión injustificada framework (acknowledging the liquidación) avoids the litigation costs, management time, and reputational risk of a contested Article 47 LFT proceeding before the CFCRL and the Tribunales Laborales.

For multinational companies managing global workforce reductions affecting Mexican employees, the Aviso de Rescisión Injustificada is the standard termination document — the company acknowledges the LFT Article 50 obligations, calculates the liquidación on the applicable SDI, and executes a comprehensive settlement (convenio de liquidación) at the CFCRL to obtain a legally binding release from future labour claims. The CFCRL-endorsed settlement (convenio homologado) provides finality that a simple payment without CFCRL involvement cannot — workers retain the right to challenge unilateral payments before the Tribunal Laboral for up to three years under Article 516 LFT.

A valid Unjustified Dismissal Notice with Liquidación Mexico under Ley Federal del Trabajo Article 50 must include the following elements to document the termination, calculate the correct liquidación, and provide the basis for CFCRL settlement and IMSS de-registration.

Identification of the Parties: Full legal name, RFC (Registro Federal de Contribuyentes assigned by the SAT), Registro Patronal IMSS, and domicilio fiscal of the employer (patrón); and the full name, CURP (Clave Única de Registro de Población), RFC, and NSS (Número de Seguridad Social) of the employee (trabajador). The job title (puesto) and the exact employment start date (fecha de inicio de labores) must be stated, as seniority (antigüedad) is the basis for calculating the Article 50 Fraction II indemnity.

Termination Date and Effective Date: The date on which the employment relationship terminates. For unjustified dismissal, the effective date is typically the date the aviso is delivered. All benefit calculations (finiquito and liquidación) use this date as the cut-off.

Salario Diario Integrado (SDI): The SDI calculated under Article 84 LFT — integrating the base daily salary plus proportional daily value of aguinaldo (minimum 15 days under Article 87 LFT), prima vacacional (25% of vacation days under Article 80 LFT), and any other recurring benefits. The SDI is the calculation base for both the liquidación and the finiquito. As of 2025, the SDI cannot be less than the general minimum wage of $278.80 MXN/day, or $419.88 MXN/day in the Zona Libre de la Frontera Norte (ZLFN) established by CONASAMI.

Liquidación Calculation Under Article 50 LFT: An itemised calculation of the full liquidación completa, including: (a) Indemnización constitucional — 3 months of salary = SDI × 90 days, under Article 50 Fraction II; (b) Indemnización por antigüedad — 20 days of SDI × years of service (including fractions), under Article 50 Fraction II; and (c) Prima de antigüedad — 12 days per year of service for workers with 15+ years, capped at twice the general minimum wage per day, under Article 162 LFT. The total liquidación sum must be stated clearly in Mexican pesos (MXN).

Finiquito Components: The accrued but unpaid benefits separate from the liquidación: (a) Proportional aguinaldo for the current year (days worked ÷ 365 × 15 days × SDI); (b) Unused vacation days accrued in the current and any prior periods (vacation days earned × SDI); (c) Prima vacacional on unused vacation (vacation days × SDI × 25%); (d) Unpaid wages for days worked through the termination date; and (e) Any other accrued benefits under the employment contract or company policy — food vouchers, performance bonus accruals, savings fund balance.

ISR Tax Treatment of Severance: A reference to the partial ISR exemption applicable to the indemnización under Article 93 Section XIII LISR: the exempt amount equals 90 times the Salario Mínimo General per year of service; the excess is taxable income subject to ISR withholding by the employer under Article 96 LISR. The employer must issue a CFDI (recibo de nómina / liquidación) and a constancia de retenciones reflecting the severance payment and withholding for the worker's tax records.

IMSS De-Registration Notice: Confirmation that the employer will file the baja del trabajador ante el IMSS within five business days of the termination date, as required by Article 15 Fraction I of the Ley del Seguro Social, to prevent the continued accrual of IMSS contributions after the effective termination date.

CFCRL Settlement Option: A statement inviting the worker to appear at the CFCRL (Centro Federal de Conciliación y Registro Laboral) to formalise the settlement in a convenio de liquidación (settlement agreement) that, once homologated by the CFCRL, constitutes a legally binding res judicata resolution preventing the worker from filing future labour claims based on the same employment relationship. Employers who pay liquidación without CFCRL endorsement face the risk that the worker files a claim within three years under Article 516 LFT alleging underpayment.

Forms-legal.com provides this Unjustified Dismissal Notice Mexico template as a practical starting point for employers managing workforce separations under Mexican labour law. Every unjustified dismissal involves complex SDI, ISR, and IMSS calculations — the liquidación amount and the CFCRL settlement process should be handled with the assistance of a licenciado en derecho laboral to ensure finality and full compliance with the Ley Federal del Trabajo.