PTU in Mexico 2026: Who Gets Profit Sharing, How It Is Calculated and When It Is Paid

Official 2026 guidance says active and former employees, including base or temporary workers who worked at least 60 days in the relevant year, can be eligible. General directors, shareholders and people providing independent professional services without a subordinate employment relationship are among the exclusions. Employment status matters more than the label a company casually uses.

Mexico's system divides the amount available for workers into two equal parts. One is allocated according to days worked; the other is allocated according to salary received. That means a long-serving employee and a higher-paid employee can each influence different parts of the calculation. It also explains why an equal split across a team is not the expected result.

Current official guidance describes a cap of three months' salary or the average PTU received over the previous three years, whichever is more favourable to the worker. Companies must pay in the April-to-May window; individual employers have the later May-to-June window. If you believe a payment is missing, save contracts, payslips and evidence of days worked before seeking advice.

PTU can add real value to a permanent Mexican employment package, but it is not the same as guaranteed base pay. When comparing an employee offer with contractor income, model salary, statutory benefits, aguinaldo and PTU separately. A contractor rate may look larger while transferring benefit and tax risk back to the individual.

Ask for the employer's PTU notice, the relevant employment dates, the days credited and the salary amount used for your allocation. Keep your payslips and contract. This does not establish an entitlement by itself, but it lets you distinguish a genuine eligibility or timing issue from a calculation you have not yet seen. Seek individual advice promptly if the documents do not explain the result.

PTU is a statutory profit-sharing payment, not a guaranteed percentage of your salary. Eligibility, the employer's distributable pool, days worked, salary and the cap all determine the individual result.

That is why a large company profit does not automatically mean the same payment for every worker. First establish whether you are in scope, then ask how the employer allocated the pool. The two-part calculation means service and pay each have their own effect on the result.

The company payment window and the individual-employer payment window are different, so avoid treating a colleague's date as the universal deadline. Keep a small record of the relevant employment year.

• Before payment: retain payslips and start or end dates.
• At payment: request the gross PTU line and any cap explanation.
• After payment: compare the explanation with your employment record before escalating.