On December 18, 2012, the Council of Representatives of Mexico's National Minimum Wage Commission approved a general increase of 3.9%, to the minimum wage for geographic zones "A" and "B." The wage increase will be effective as of January 1, 2013.

For Zone A, the 3.9% wage increase will raise the minimum wage to $64.76 Mexican pesos (currently approximately $5.07 USD) per day. Among the geographical areas covered under Zone A are Mexico City (Federal District) and its metropolitan area; the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur; the cities of Acapulco, Guerrero, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Guadalajara, Jalisco and its suburbs, Monterrey, Nuevo León and its metropolitan area, Hermosillo, Sonora, Matamoros and Reynosa, Tamaulipas and Coatzacoalcos, and Veracruz.

For Zone B, the 3.9% wage increase will raise the minimum wage to $61.38 Mexican pesos (currently approximately $4.81 USD) per day. The most important federal localities covered under Zone B are as follows: Aguascalientes, Campeche, Coahuila, Colima, Chiapas, Durango, Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Michoacán, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Tabasco, Tlaxcala, Yucatán y Zacatecas. Zone B also covers specific municipalities within the states of Chihuahua, Guerrero, Jalisco, Estado de México, Nuevo León, Sonora, Tamaulipas and Veracruz, not included within Zone A.

No changes were made to the geographical distribution of the municipalities within Zones A and B. For a complete listing of the minimum wage levels for Mexico, to take effect as of January 1, 2013, please click here (text is in Spanish).

Employers are advised to seek experienced counsel to review their payroll practices and implement any necessary changes to comply with this adjustment to the minimum wage.