Mexico
Mexico’s Labor Reform 2019 imposes stricter obligations on employers
The Mexican Federal Law (“LFT”) stands amended on May 1, 2019. The changes affect all employers in Mexico having any workforce. The employers face additional obligations as well as certain prohibitions:
Employers will have to change the work contracts of the workers enabling them to add beneficiaries in case of the death of the worker. Employers must identify the psychosocial risks which the employees face (stress, anxiety, etc.) and develop an action plan for combating or reducing such risks. In addition, employers should review the labor contracts every four years taking into account the workers approval. Employers should maintain certain registers of temporary workers and should ensure that there is no discrimination on grounds of sex, religion, caste, gender, etc. by devising a protocol to check such discrimination.
Employers must ensure that pregnant employees are not deprived of social security benefits in the event of the termination of the labor contract.
One of the most important changes is the overhaul of unions and how workers can participate in them. The worker can now freely decide to engage in collective bargaining and to organize and join a union. The new law will help unions to be independent and not company controlled.
Implication
Employers should review their employment policies/human resource policies as well as employment contracts/agreements to incorporate the recent changes made in Mexican Labor Reform.
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