Finiquito and liquidación: what the law owes you and how to calculate it yourself

When an employment relationship ends, the question is not whether they owe you something — they always owe you something — but how much and under what heading. Confusing the finiquito (final pay) with the liquidación (severance) costs thousands of workers money every year, because they sign as a "finiquito" what should have been a severance three times larger. Here's the difference, the numbers, and a free calculator to check your case.

Finiquito: what you're ALWAYS owed, whether you resign or get fired

The finiquito consists of the pro-rated amounts you already worked for and haven't been paid, regardless of how the relationship ends:

• Days worked still unpaid from the last period.
• Pro-rated aguinaldo (the mandatory Christmas bonus): a minimum of 15 days' salary per year (art. 87 LFT), pro-rated to the days worked in the current year.
• Pending and pro-rated vacation: since the "dignified vacation" reform (2023), 12 days in the first year, rising 2 per year up to 20 in the fifth, and then 2 more for each 5-year block (art. 76 LFT). Untaken days are paid out.
• Vacation premium: 25% on the vacation you're entitled to (art. 80 LFT).
• Seniority premium: 12 days' salary per year worked (art. 162 LFT), with the salary capped at 2 times the minimum wage ($630.08 per day in 2026). On resignation it's only paid if you completed 15 years or more; on dismissal or rescission, always.

Liquidación: only when the employer terminates without just cause

If you're dismissed without just cause (or you rescind for reasons attributable to the employer, art. 51 LFT), then on top of the full finiquito you're entitled to the indemnity:

• 3 months of integrated salary — the constitutional indemnity (arts. 48 and 50 LFT). Watch out for "integrated": it's not your nominal wage, it's the daily salary plus the pro-rated share of aguinaldo, vacation premium and other benefits (arts. 84 and 89 LFT).
• 20 days of integrated salary per year worked in the cases under arts. 50 and 52 — typically rescission attributable to the employer or refusal to reinstate. In exit-negotiation practice, it's the piece that's most disputed.
• Back wages if there's a lawsuit and you win it (capped at 12 months plus interest).

A worked example with real numbers

A worker earning MXN $20,000 a month ($666.67 per day), 4 years of seniority, dismissed without cause on June 30, with 5 days of pending vacation. Finiquito: pro-rated aguinaldo (~181 days of the year): 15 × 181/365 × $666.67 ≈ $4,959; pending vacation: 5 × $666.67 = $3,333 + the current year's pro-rata; vacation premium: 25% of the above; seniority premium: 12 × 4 × $630.08 (cap) = $30,244. Liquidación: integrated salary ≈ $703/day; 3 months = 90 × $703 = $63,270; 20 days × 4 years = 80 × $703 = $56,240 (if applicable). The difference between "signing the finiquito" (~$40k) and collecting the full liquidación (~$160k) is exactly the point of this article.

Before you sign, three rules

One: ask for the item-by-item breakdown — a lump-sum check with no breakdown is a red flag. Two: the resignation must be your real decision; being "invited to resign" so the company can save on the severance is the oldest play in the book. Three: an agreement ratified before the Conciliation Center gives certainty to you too — but only sign once the number is verified. You have one year to claim (two months in the case of dismissal for the indemnity action, art. 518 LFT — the clock runs out fast).