Legitimation of Collective Bargaining Agreements in Mexico: What Employers Need to Know Now

On July 31, 2019, Mexico’s Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (Secretaria del Trabajo y Previsión Social (STPS)) published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (Diario Oficial de la Federación, or DOF) the protocol for the legitimation of a currently existing collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in compliance with Transitory Article Eleven of the official decree published in the DOF on May 1, 2019. The objective of the legitimation process is to provide certainty to unionized employees, making sure they know the terms of the applicable CBA and their union.

Mexico Amends the Regulation of the Registry of Providers of Specialized Services or Specialized Works (REPSE)

On February 3, 2023, Mexico’s Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social) (STPS) published in the Official Gazette of the Federation an amendment to the guidelines regarding the Registry of Specialized Services Providers or Specialized Works (“REPSE,” for its acronym in Spanish), related to the provision of outsourcing services.

Mexico’s Minimum Wage Set to Increase on January 1, 2023

On December 1, 2022, Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador announced that, unanimously, the business and labor sectors, as well as the government, had agreed to increase the minimum wage by 20 percent for 2023, which will be applicable in the Free Zone of the Northern Border (Zona Libre de la Frontera Norte or ZLFN), as well as the wage applicable in the rest of the country.

Mexico’s Pending Health and Safety Rules on Teleworking: What Do Employers Need to Know?

On January 11, 2021, the federal government published a decree in the Official Gazette of the Federation, amending the Federal Labor Law (FLL) to regulate the terms and conditions, employer and employee obligations, and safety and health measures related to telework. Telework is regulated by a special chapter of FLL and the telework designation is applicable whenever work is performed more than 40 percent of the time at an employee’s home or at a domicile that the employee has chosen and on which the employee has agreed.

The Right to Disconnect Under Mexico’s Telework Regulations—What Does It Mean for Employers?

On January 12, 2021, the right to disconnect (known in other countries as the “right to digital disconnection”) became an employment right in Mexico for employees in telework arrangements, with the publication of an amendment to the Federal Labor Law (FLL) in the Official Gazette of the Federation (Diario Oficial de la Federación) the day prior.

Mexico’s COVID-19 Traffic Light Monitoring System: News for April–May 2022

Mexico’s federal government will soon cease updating its COVID-19 pandemic monitoring system on a biweekly basis, Dr. Hugo López-Gatell, Mexico’s undersecretary of prevention and health promotion, said in a recent press conference. The announcement comes on the heels of the four-tiered system showing all thirty-two states in green status—the only status without restrictions on business and social activities—for the second period in a row.

Mexico’s COVID-19 Traffic Light Monitoring System: News for March 21–April 3, 2022

For the first time since Mexico’s federal government rolled out its pandemic monitoring system in June 2020, all of the nation’s thirty-two states have been given the green light to conduct social and business activities without restriction, although face masks are still required while using public transportation.

Mexico’s COVID-19 Traffic Light Monitoring System: News for March 7–20, 2022

Mexico’s federal government has indicated that the National Health Council will soon decree the end of the pandemic in Mexico. The expected announcement comes on the heels of signs that COVID-19 cases are significantly waning, with community transmission levels low enough for the government to designate all but one of Mexico’s thirty-two states in green status under the biweekly pandemic monitoring system.

Mexico’s COVID-19 Traffic Light Monitoring System: News for February 21–March 6, 2022

Half of Mexico’s thirty-two states have been cleared by the federal government to fully reopen for business and social activities, a remarkable change from early February, when only four states were given the green light under the nation’s four-tiered pandemic traffic light monitoring system.

Mexico’s COVID-19 Traffic Light Monitoring System: News for February 7–20, 2022

Nearly all of Mexico’s central and northern states have been directed by the federal government to limit the number of people on-site for business and social activities to half their normal capacity in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, according to the government’s latest pandemic tracking system update.

Mexico’s COVID-19 Traffic Light Monitoring System: News for January 24–February 6, 2022

As the Omicron variant of COVID-19 spreads throughout Mexico, the federal government is directing more states to ramp up efforts to contain the virus, including directing Aguascalientes to allow only essential activities—the first time since last September that any state has operated under the country’s red traffic light pandemic control measures, the most stringent according to the national four-tiered COVID-19 monitoring system.

Mexico’s COVID-19 Traffic Light Monitoring System: News for November 29, 2021–December 12, 2021

Five of Mexico’s 32 states—all in the north of the country—are currently operating in yellow status, with all work activities permitted and precautionary measures in place to prevent infection among high-risk individuals, pursuant to restrictions recommended by the federal government to control the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mexico’s New Minimum Wage for 2022

The Mexican National Commission on Minimum Wages (Comisión Nacional de los Salarios Mínimos or CONASAMI) approved, by a majority vote on December 01, 2021, an increase to the daily minimum wage applicable in Mexico (including the corresponding amount applicable in the Free Zone of the North Border (Zona Libre de la Frontera Norte or ZLFN).

Mexico’s COVID-19 Traffic Light Monitoring System: News for November 15–28, 2021

All but one of Mexico’s 32 states have been cleared by the federal government to open for business and social affairs without restrictions under the nation’s COVID-19 traffic light monitoring system—the largest number of states in green-light status since the system was implemented in June 2020.

Mexico’s COVID-19 Traffic Light Monitoring System: News for November 1–14, 2021

The third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico has ebbed significantly in the last few weeks—enough for the federal government to lift all restrictions on social and business activities in nine states. Under Mexico’s four-tiered COVID-19 Traffic Light Monitoring System, those nine states are in “green light” status, the only restriction-free status. Because the pandemic is ongoing, Mexico’s health authorities have continued to urge the population to reduce the risk of infection by complying with government guidelines to prevent the further spread of the virus.

Mexico’s COVID-19 Traffic Light Monitoring System: News for October 4–17, 2021

The third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico has ebbed significantly in the last few weeks—enough for the federal government to lift all restrictions on social and business activities in nine states. Under Mexico’s four-tiered COVID-19 Traffic Light Monitoring System, those nine states are in “green light” status, the only restriction-free status. Because the pandemic is ongoing, Mexico’s health authorities have continued to urge the population to reduce the risk of infection by complying with government guidelines to prevent the further spread of the virus.

Mexico’s COVID-19 Traffic Light Monitoring System: News for September 6–19, 2021

The COVID-19 traffic light scenario in the states of Mexico still looks complicated, with only Chiapas and Chihuahua among the nation’s states operating without restrictions on social and business activities. Therefore, the federal Ministry of Health continues to urge the population to reduce the risk of infection by complying with the sanitary measures with which Mexico’s residents are all too familiar.

Mexico’s COVID-19 Traffic Light Monitoring System: News for August 23–September 5, 2021

About 63 percent of Mexico’s adult population has received a vaccination against COVID-19, but the pandemic situation has still worsened considerably, with only one of the nation’s 32 states having no restrictions on social and business activities as recommended under the nation’s pandemic traffic light monitoring system.

Mexico’s COVID-19 Traffic Light Monitoring System: News for July 26–August 8, 2021

As Mexico enters the third wave of the pandemic amid a global resurgence of COVID-19, the federal government of Mexico has revised the criteria it uses to update its traffic light monitoring system to alert residents to the epidemiological risks of COVID-19 and provide guidance on restrictions in each of the country’s states.

Mexico’s COVID-19 Traffic Light Monitoring System: News for July 19–August 1, 2021

During the pandemic, Mexico’s federal government has used a four-tiered biweekly traffic light monitoring system to alert residents to the epidemiological risks of COVID-19 and provide guidance on restrictions on certain activities in each of the country’s states. The federal government is currently evaluating the factors for measuring the epidemiological traffic light system, first implemented in June 2020, and, accordingly, the government has not issued the federal-level report for the period of July 19, 2021, through August 1, 2021.

Mexico’s COVID-19 Traffic Light Monitoring System: News for May 24, 2021–June 6, 2021

Mexico’s federal government is continuing to reopen more of the country as the pandemic appears to be waning, with half of the 32 states designated in green traffic light status—the status under which all business and social activity restrictions are lifted, according to the nation’s four-tiered COVID-19 monitoring system.