On January 7, 2022, Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI by its acronym in Spanish) published the new values for the Updated Metric Unit (Unidad de Medida y Actualización or UMA) that will take effect on February 1, 2022, as provided by Article 5 of the Law to determine the value of the UMA. The UMA serves as the basis for calculating the payments, obligations, or penalties that are owed to the government, whether under federal or state law. Its updated value is published on an annual basis.

The values of the UMA for 2022 will be as follows:

The variation from the 2021 UMA is +7.36%.

The UMA was adopted as an economic reference in 2016. Before this, the minimum wage was used to calculate payment obligations and sanctions. Any reference to the minimum wage that is maintained in the legislation or the legal system and that is not related to employment relationships or payments derived from employment relationships, will be understood as a reference to the UMA, which will be the new value that must be considered for the payment of obligations according to federal and state laws.

Accordingly, it is important for employers to review their individual and collective work contracts to ascertain how the UMA will impact the social security benefits agreed upon by the parties.  Likewise, employers should review and adjust their payroll practices as appropriate to comply with UMA-related requirements.