Summary of Mexican Federal Labor Law Manual
Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras

(numbers in parentheses refer to the Article number of the Federal Labor Law unless otherwise noted)

Chapter I. The Workday and Overtime

Outlaws excessive hours which are "inhuman" as decided by the Conciliation and Arbitration Board (CAB). (5)

The workday is defined as the time the worker is at the disposition of the employer. (58)

The employer and worker must agree on the length of the workday, which must be within the law, and after that it cannot be changed arbitrarily. The schedule can be arranged so that workers can have Saturday afternoon off. (59)

Day shift is between 6:00 A.M. and 8:00 P.M. Night shift is between 8:00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M. Mixed (afternoon) shift comprises parts of day and night shifts but with less than three and one-half hours during the night shift. (60)

The maximum length of the workday will be eight hours of day shift, seven of night shift and seven and one-half of mixed shift. (61)

The worker must have a minimum of one-half hour of rest during the workday. (63)

The worker shall be paid for breaks and lunch if he is unable to leave the workplace. (64)

The mandatory workday may be extended only in cases of disaster or imminent risk which endangers the life of the worker, of other workers or the management, or the existence of the company and then only for the duration of these emergencies. (65)

The mandatory workday may also be extended in extraordinary circumstances but may never exceed three hours per day and three times per week. (66)

Workers may not be required to work any other time than is permitted in this chapter. (68)

Overtime must be paid at the rate of 100% more than regular time. (67)

Any overtime in excess of nine hours per week must be paid at the rate of 200% of the regular pay. (68)

Chapter II Days Off

The worker shall have one day off for every six days of work. (69)

Effort should be made to make this day off Sunday. Workers who work on Sundays are entitled to a minimum of 25% additional pay (71).

In workplaces which run continuously, days off must be agreed upon by the employer and the workers. (70)

The following are mandatory days off (74):

New Years Day February 5th

March 21^st May 1^st

September 16^th November 20th

December 1st every six years (for federal elections)

December 25th

On holidays listed above, workers and management will jointly determine the number of workers who must work. If they cannot agree, the Permanent Board of Conciliation or in its absence the CAB will resolve. Workers required to work shall be paid for the holiday plus double their regular salary. (75)

Chapter III Vacations

Workers with more than one year service shall have at least six workdays of paid vacation and which shall grow by two workdays for each subsequent year of service until twelve workdays are reached.

After the fourth year, two days of vacation shall be added every 5 years of service. (76)

Vacations shall be taken in at least six continuous days. (78)

Pay may not be substituted for vacation. If a worker leaves before one year of service is completed, vacation time shall be calculated proportionately with the time of service. (79)

Workers are entitled to a premium of at least 25% above what is owed them for vacation.

Vacations must be given workers within six months of completion of a year of service. Management must give workers each year a report with their seniority date and in accordance with it the amount of vacation time earned and the date when it shall be taken.

Chapter IV Terminations

The following are separations without employer responsibility (47):

1. Lying by the worker or by the union which recommended him with false certification or references as to his ability, aptitude or experience. This cause for separation cannot be used after the worker has worked for thirty days.

2. If the worker lacks honesty, engages in acts of violence, threats, insults or bad treatment against the owner, his family or the managerial or administrative personnel of the company or establishment except if there has been provocation or if it is in self-defense.

3. If the worker commits any of the previously enumerated acts against a fellow worker which have the effect of interrupting the work which he is doing.

4. If the worker commits any of the previously enumerated acts outside of work against the owner, his family or directing or administrative personnel that is serious enough to render the employment relation impossible.

5. If the worker intentionally does damages while carrying out his work to buildings, work, machinery, instruments, raw materials and other objects used in work.

6. If a worker causes serious damage to the material mentioned above because of negligence such that it is the only cause of the damage.

7. If the worker compromises the safety of the establishment or of people in it through his imprudence or inexcusable carelessness.

8. If the worker commits immoral acts in the workplace.

9. If the worker reveals industrial secrets or reveals subjects of a private nature causing harm to the company.

10. If the worker has more than three absences in a period of thirty days without permission of management or without justifiable cause.

11. Disobeying management without justification in a matter of required work.

12. If the worker fails to adopt preventative measures or follow prescribed methods to avoid accidents and illnesses.

13. If the worker undertakes his work in a state of intoxication or under the influence of a narcotic or drug stimulant except if it is prescribed. Before beginning work, the worker must make management aware and present the doctor's prescription.

14. If the worker is sentences to a term in prison which prevents him from working.

15. Infractions equally serious and with similar consequences to those enumerated above.

The management must give the worker notice in writing of the date and reason or reasons for his termination. Notice must be given the worker, and if he refuses to accept it (sign it), the employer must within five days of the date of termination notify the appropriate Board and send the notice to the registered address of the worker. The failure to advise the worker or the Board by itself is sufficient to consider the termination unjustified. (47)

Workers have the right to severance pay according to the following (162):

1. Twelve days pay for each year of service

2. Severance pay shall be paid to workers who leave voluntarily if they have completed at least fifteen years of service. Likewise, severance pay shall be given to workers who are terminated (involuntarily) for justifiable cause and to those who are terminated no matter whether the reason for termination is justified or not.

The worker may file a case demanding reinstatement or three months pay before the CAB.

If in the hearing the owner cannot prove the reason for termination, the worker shall have the right to lost wages from the date of termination to the date when the case is decided. (48)

Chapter V Women and Work in Maqui-ladoras

Workers who are mothers have the following rights (170):

1. During pregnancy, a worker shall not be given work which requires considerable effort and is a danger to her health, such as lifting, pulling or pushing heavy weights, which causes trembling or vibration, standing during long periods, or which causes changes in her psychological or nervous condition.

2. She shall enjoy a period of rest of six weeks before and six weeks after delivery.

3. Time off before delivery shall be extended for the necessary time in the case of work which is impossible to do because of pregnancy or birth.

4. While breastfeeding she shall have two extra breaks each day of a half hour each to feed her baby in a place designated by the company which is appropriate and clean.

5. During the time off designated in part 2, she shall receive her entire salary.

6. She shall return to the job which she left as long as no more than one year has passed from the date of birth, and

7. Pre and post natal leave shall be calculated into her seniority.

Child care service shall be provided by the Mexican Institute of Social Security in conformity with the law and regulation (171).

In places where women work, management must provide a sufficient number of places to sit down for the women (172).

Internal regulations of work is the set of rules for workers and management of a company or establishment. Technical and administrative rules for the direct execution of work aren't considered to be internal regulations (422).

Regulations contain:

1. Hours of work, time designated for lunch and breaks during the day.

2. The place and time in which work shall begin and end.

3. Days and times for the cleaning of the buildings, machinery, and work apparatus.

4. Pay days and places.

5. Rules for the use of chairs (referred to in article 132, chapter V).

6. Rules for preventing risks at work and instructions for first aid.

7. Work which is unhealthy and dangerous which minors may not perform and protective devices which pregnant women must have.

8. The time and manner in which workers must present themselves for medical examinations prior to beginning work or periodically and the preventative measures which the government requires.

9. Permits and licenses.

10. Penalties for discipline and procedures for its application. The use of suspension as a disciplinary method may not exceed eight days. The worker has the right to be heard before discipline is applied.

11. Other necessary and convenient rules in accordance with the nature of each company or establishment in order to obtain the most security and regularity in the development of the work.

Development of internal regulations must follow the following rules:

1. They must be developed by a joint commission of representatives of the workers and management.

2. If the parties agree, one of them must file a copy with the CAB within eight days of the agreement.

3. They shall not produce lead to any outcome whose effects are against this law, its regulations, or against collective contracts or legal contracts.

4. The workers or the owner may at any time request that the Board rectify omissions in the regulations or revise rules which are against this law and other work regulations.

The regulations will take effect on the date of their filing. The must be printed and distributed to the workers and displayed in the most visible places the establishment has. (425).

Chapter VII Contracts

Working conditions must be reduced to writing when there is no applicable collective contract. There will be at least two copies which shall be held by each party (24).

The document which contains working conditions must have (25):

1. Name, nationality, age, gender, marital status and address of the worker and the owner.

2. If the employment relationship is for a fixed job or time or for an indeterminate time.

3. Required services shall be determined with the greatest precision possible.

4. The place or places to report to work.

5. The length of the workday.

6. The wage to be paid and how it is to be raised.

7. The day and place where wages will be paid.

8. A description of how the worker will be trained or instructed.

9. Other working conditions like rest days, vacations and others on which the worker and owner agree.

It is presumed that a contract exists and that a work relationship exists between a one who gives his work and one who receives it (21).

The lack of a written contract (as referred to in articles 24 and 25) does not deprive the worker of the rights which derive from the standards of work or from the employment relationship. Rather, the fault is in the owner for not having formalized them (26).

A collective contract is an agreement arrived at between one or more unions of workers and one or more owners with the object of establishing the conditions under which work is done in one or more companies (386).

An owner who employs workers who are members of a union has the obligation to negotiate a collective contract with it when asked (387).

A collective contract shall contain (391):

1. The names and addresses of the contracting parties.

2. The companies/establishments it covers.

3. Its duration or a statement that it is for an indeterminate time or for a particular job.

4. The hours of work.

5. Days off and vacations.

6. The salary schedule.

7. Clauses about training or instruction of the workers in the company or establishments which it comprises.

Chapter VIII Salaries

General minimum wages must be sufficient to satisfy the necessities of a head of household in the material, social and cultural sphere and to provide for the required education of his children. Professional minimum wages will be determined with additional consideration for their various economic activities (Constitution of Mexico, Article 123, Section VI).

Salary is defined as the remuneration which the owner must pay the worker for his work (82).

The salary made up of daily cash pay, housing, bonuses, commissions, payments in kind and whatever other quantity or payment which is given to the worker for his work (84).

The salary must be sufficient and never less than the minimum according to this law. The quantity and quality of work may be considered when setting the amount of wages (85).

Equal work which is carried out in an equal position, shift with the same efficiency must be paid equally (86).

The minimum salary must be sufficient to satisfy the normal needs of a head of household in the material, social cultural sphere and to provide for the required education of his children (90).

Christmas Bonus (Aguinaldo)

Workers have the right to an annual Christmas bonus which must be paid before December 20th which is the equivalent of at least fifteen days' salary. Workers who have not com-pleted a full year of service, whether or not they are working on the day the bonus is due, have the right to the portion of the bonus which corresponds to the time they had worked whatever it may was (87).

Withholding of Pay

It is prohibited to levy fines on workers no matter what may be the cause or reason (107).

Workers are entitled freely to their salaries. Whatever method or arrangement which re-moves this right shall be null and void (98).

The right to receive a salary cannot be given up; likewise, the right to receive salaries due (99).

The responsibility of the owner to pay salaries cannot be suspended except in cases and with the requirements established by law (106).

Raises

Collective contracts may be renegotiated yearly in respect to daily salaries (399bis).

Profits

Workers shall share in the profits of companies at a percentage determined by the National Commission for Profit Sharing (117 Note: The National Commission for Profit Sharing determined it would be 10% on March 4, 1985).

For the purposes of this law, profits in each company are defined as taxable income under the rules of income of the Tax Law (120).

Profit sharing must be paid to workers within sixty days following the due date for yearly taxes. The amount of profit sharing which is not declared in the year in which it is required shall be added to the profit sharing of the following year (122).

Profit sharing shall be divided in two equal parts: The first is divided equally among all workers, taking into consideration the number of days worked by each in the year independent of the wage scale. The second half shall be divided in proportion to the total wages due in the year (123).

The right of workers to profit sharing shall be according to the following rules (127):

1. Directors, administrators and general managers of companies shall not share in profits.

2. Other confidential workers shall receive profit sharing except when the salary they receive is more than 20% greater to the highest paid unionized worker in the company.

4. Leaves of absence for mothers before and after giving birth and for temporarily disabled workers who were injured at work shall be considered to be active service.

7. Temporary workers shall also be entitled to profit sharing of the company if they have worked at least sixty days during the year.

Chapter IX Training and Instruction

Whatever may be their business, companies are required to provide training or instruction about the work to their workers (Mexican Constitution, Art. 123, Section XIII).

Work is a right and a social duty. It is not an article of commerce; respect for the freedom and dignity of the worker is required and he must be provided with conditions which secure life, health and a proper economic level the worker and his family.

It is prohibited to discriminate among workers for reasons of race, gender, age, religious or political belief or social condition.

Furthermore, it is in the interest of society to promote and oversee the training and instruction of the worker (30).

The document which contains working conditions must contain (25):

8. Instructions on how the worker will be trained or instructed in terms of the plans and programs established or which may be established in the company in conformance with this law.

Of the training and instruction of the workers (153A)

Every worker has the right to receive training or instruction in his work which permits him to raise his standard of living and productivity in conformance with the plans and pro-grams determined by agreement of the owner and union or the workers and approved by the Secretary of Labor & Social Protection (153A)

Owners and workers may agree on training and instruction provided either inside the company or outside (153B).

Training and instruction must be given to the worker during the hours of work, but if the nature of the work does not permit it, then the owner and worker must agree on another arrangement(153E).

Training and instruction must have the following purpose (153F):

1. To update and perfect knowledge and abilities of the worker in his job such as to provide information on the application of new technology in the job.

2. To prepare the worker to take a new or open position.

3. To prevent risks in work.

4. To improve productivity.

5. In general to improve the abilities of the worker.

Workers who receive training or instruction are obliged to (153H):

1. Be punctual in attending classes, group sessions and other activities the are part of the process of training or instruction.

2. Listen to the instructions of the people who are giving training or instruction and complete the program, and

3. Take examinations for evaluation, knowledge and aptitude which are required.

Each company shall organize a Labor-Management Committee of Training and Instruction with an equal number of representatives of the workers and the owner which will oversee the organization and operation of the system and of the methods of instruction and suggest measures for perfecting them in conformance with the needs of the workers and the company (153I).

Collective contracts must include clauses about the owners' obligation to provide training and instruction for the workers and his plan and program for it in accordance with requirements established in this chapter (153M).

Within fifteen days of the negotiation, revision or extension of the collective contract, the owners must present to the Secretary of Work and Social Protection for approval the plans and programs of training and instruction which they have agreed to establish or, when appropriate, plans and programs already ap-proved that they have agreed to modify(153N).

When the owner does not complete his obligation to present to the Secretary of Labor and Social Protection the plans and programs for training and instruction within the appropriate time limit outlined in article 153N or when the plans and programs presented are not carried out, he will be sanctioned according to Article 878, IV of this Law (153S).

Chapter X Layoffs

The following are reasons which permit a temporary mass layoff in a company or establishment (427):

1. Circumstances outside of the owners' control ("act of God").

2. Lack of primary materials.

3. An excess of production in relation to economic conditions and circumstances of the marketplace.

A layoff may affect the entire company or establishment or a part of it. Layoff shall be according to seniority with the least senior laid off first (428).

In cases outlined in article 427, the following rules will be observed (429):

1. If it is because of sections 3 or 5 (lack of sales), the owner must obtain in advance of layoff authorization from the Conciliation and Arbitration Board in accordance with the procedure for collective conflicts of an economic nature, and

2. If it is because of sections 2 and 6 (lack of materials) the owner must obtain in advance of layoff the authorization of the Conciliation and Arbitration Board in accordance with the procedures contained in article 782 and following.

The Conciliation and Arbitration Board in approving the layoff, will fix the amount of money the workers must be paid, taking into account, among other circumstances, the probable duration of the layoff and the possibility that the workers will find other work, without (?) exceeding the value of one month's salary (430).

The union and the workers may ask the Conciliation and Arbitration Board every six months for verification that the causes of the layoff persist (431)

The owner must announce at the soonest opportunity the date for the resumption of work (432).

Chapter 11 Unions

A union is an association of workers or owners constituted for study, improvement and defense of their respective interests (356).

The workers and the owners have the right to form unions without prior authorization (357).

Nobody may be forced to become part of or not become part of a union (358).

Unions have the right to draft their statutes and bylaws, freely elect their representatives, organize their administration and their activities, and formulate their program of action (359).

The statutes of unions shall contain (371):

1. Description of what distinguishes it from the rest;

2. Address;

3. Purpose;

4. Duration. If left blank, it is assumed the union is formed for an indeterminate time;

5. Requirements for admission of members;

6. Obligations and rights of members;

7. Causes and procedures for expulsion and discipline;

8. Form for convening an assembly, timeframe for holding meetings, and required quorum to hold a meeting. If the board of directors does not convene an assembly at the required time designated in the statutes, at least thirty-three percent of the members of the entire union or the section may petition the board of directors to convene the assembly. If they do not do so within ten days, the petitioners may call a meeting, in which case in order that the assembly can meet and adopt resolutions, two-thirds of the members of the union or the section must agree.

Resolutions must be adopted by at least fifty-one percent of the total members of the union or section.

9. Procedures for the election of the board of directors and number of its members.

10. Length of term of board directors;

11. Rules for administration, purchase and sale of property and wealth of the union;

12. Form of payment and amount of union dues;

13. Timeframe for presenting financial statements;

14. Rules for the liquidation of the assets of the union; and

15. Any other rules that the assembly shall pass.

The board of directors of the union must present a complete and detailed report to the assembly at least every six months of the administration of the union's assets. This obligation may not be omitted (373).