Mexico has reformed its federal labor law to recognize teleworking and regulating employers’ responsibilities to workers who work from home, as well as those of remote workers to their employers. The most important aspects of this new home office modality are summarized below.
definition
Remote working is considered to be when 40 percent of the employee’s work is performed outside of the company’s facilities and the employees primarily use information and communication technology.
Work that is occasionally or sporadically carried out in this format is not considered to be “home office”.
Relevant elements
The following general working conditions must be specified in the employment contract, including the modalities for the home office: 1) the equipment and work materials, including health and safety obligations; 2) the description and the amount that the employer pays the employee under the home office modality as a regular payment for the services provided by him at home; and 3) the contact and monitoring mechanisms between the parties as well as the duration and distribution of the schedules, provided that they do not exceed the maximum weekly legal working hours.
This new modality must be regulated in the collective agreement and / or in the internal working rules.
The duties of employers are as follows: 1) Supply of computer equipment, ergonomic chairs and printers, if necessary, among others; 2) Take on costs that arise from the work of the employees, such as B. the payment of telecommunication services (Internet) and the proportional part of the electricity bills; 3) implement mechanisms that guarantee the security of the information and data used; 4) respect employees’ right to disconnect from their computers after work; and 5) Establish mechanisms and adequate training in communications and information technologies.
The duties of the employees are as follows: 1) Care, storage and safekeeping of the supplies made available to them for the performance of their tasks; 2) comply with the occupational health and safety regulations set by the employer; 3) protection of the data used to carry out their activities; and 4) Immediately inform employers of the cost of using telecommunications services and electricity as a result of their work.
Employers guarantee workers the right to privacy and segregation, regardless of any circumstances in which video cameras and microphones may be used.
The Department of Labor and Social Affairs is required to establish an official Mexican standard regarding the specific health and safety conditions that must be developed under the home office modality.
Conclusions
- Working from home is a new way of working, and any company that agrees to adopt it must adhere to the following:
- Implement an internal policy setting out eligible positions and conditions that comply with federal labor law.
- Establish the presence of this modality in the internal labor regulations and read the terms and conditions in the policy.
- Include a letter or addendum in the employees’ employment contracts to document the general terms and conditions and the employee’s desire to adhere to this working format, as well as a letter documenting the supplies made to the employee.
- Do not state this in the collective agreement unless it is unionized.
- Regarding employers’ obligations, employers have to pay the expenses for remote work such as internet and electricity set out in the internal labor policy. Since the law does not provide for a way to calculate such expenses, the following steps should be considered: The employee should provide a copy of their electricity bills from the last year and indicate all payments made online under penalty of perjury number of people in their address live and make a calculation per person. Once this amount has been established, it should be specified in the addendum to the employment contract or in the delivery letter to the employee.
- It is important to mention that many believe that employees currently working from home, as recommended by the federal government due to the COVID-19 pandemic, should follow the Technical Guidelines for Health and Safety at Work (Lineamientos Técnicos de Seguridad Sanitaria en el Entorno). Employers should prepare and train employees to adopt these guidelines and perform various functions in the event of potential absenteeism, including using home office technology and accessing the toolkit, guides, and practical advice to get the most out of this home to get out of office modality. Employers should consider preventively documenting and keeping the receipts of the supplies that were delivered to workers at the start of the pandemic.
Therefore, as a form of social distancing and as recommended by the government to avoid the spread of COVID-19, employees working from home during the pandemic will not necessarily be placed in a new home in view of the new regulations -Office modality considered by the Mexican government.
In this sense, every company must meet new home office obligations when it uses this modality as a form of work, regardless of whether there is a health emergency or not.
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