Home-Office Reform in Mexico: Everything You Need to Know

January 14, 2021 1 min read

This story originally appeared on Alto Nivel

The reform on home office in Mexico is already official , it was published yesterday and came into force this Tuesday. With this, the Federal Labor Law has recognized the home office as a way of carrying out paid activities in places other than those of the bosses, for which collaborators and bosses must acquire new responsibilities.

What does this reform consist of? By being recognized as teleworking (home office), it has been determined that employers must provide the necessary tools so that their workers can fulfill their functions. Likewise, employees will take responsibility for these tools.

For its part, the Federal Government will have 18 months to create an Official Mexican Standard that governs the obligations regarding health and integrity during work performed remotely.

Obligations of employers in the telework modality

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• The salary must be kept full.
• It is necessary to cover the corresponding cost of the internet and electricity service; provide computers to employees, as well as other equipment and supplies required for work (ergonomic chairs, printers, etc.).
• It is also essential that employers take charge of installing and maintaining work equipment.
• The right to disconnect outside working hours is recognized (that is, workers may not answer phone calls, messages, emails and so on, once the agreed working hours have ended).
• The patones must register the workers of this modality to the compulsory social security scheme.
• Establish advisory and training mechanisms so that employees can perform optimally.

Obligations of employees

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• Take care of the equipment provided by the employers.
• Inform in advance about the agreed costs regarding the use of the services necessary for teleworking (electricity or internet).
• Comply with the data protection policies related to their work activities.
• Attend the established provisions that are related to health and safety.
• Pay attention to the mechanisms determined for the supervision of activities.

What is teleworking?

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According to Article 330-A of the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF), telework refers to a ” form of subordinate labor organization that consists of the performance of paid activities “. The difference with respect to “ordinary” work is that telework is carried out in places other than the employer’s establishments. That is to say:

The working person under the teleworking modality will be the one who provides their personal, paid and subordinate services in a place other than the company’s facilities or employer’s source of work and uses information and communication technologies.

For the purposes of teleworking, information and communication technologies will be understood as the set of services, infrastructure, networks, software, computer applications and devices that are intended to facilitate tasks and functions in the workplace, as well as such as those needed for the management and transformation of information, in particular the technological components that allow creating, modifying, storing, protecting and retrieving that information.

DOF

However, in accordance with Article 330-G, the change from face-to-face to teleworking must be voluntary and must be established in writing . In addition, there will be the right to the reversibility of the contract. It is worth mentioning that the activities that are carried out occasionally or sporadically will not be considered as teleworking .