On December 4, a decree was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation amending and adding several provisions to the Federal Labor Law (the “Law“).

The amendment to the Law is in line with the trend of improving social security for workers in Mexico.

Amendment of Articles 513, 514 and 515.

Article 513 of the Law deals with the power of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare to update the tables of Occupational Illnesses and Valuation of Permanent Disabilities Resulting from Occupational Risks. With the present amendment, the Catalog of Charts for the Valuation of Occupational Illnesses is added.

With the creation of this new catalog, it is intended for it to serve as an instrument for the evaluation made by medical experts in occupational medicine, since it establishes the relationship between the work and the damage suffered by the worker. This catalog will be published in a period of 45 working days starting on December 5 in the Official Gazette of the Federation.

Article 514 addresses the update of the aforementioned tables and catalog. The reform of this article consists of establishing a revision of these instruments every 5 years or when there are studies that justify it.

Article 515 addresses the initiation of the legislative process for the implementation of the updates to the tables and catalog referred to in Article 514. The amendment of this article does not result in a substantive change, only a wording change.

Table of Occupational Diseases and Table of Valuation of Permanent Disabilities Resulting from Occupational Risks.

The above mentioned tables are essential for the protection of social security rights for workers enrolled in the Mexican Social Security Institute (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social). These tools allow the correct evaluation of occupational diseases and permanent disabilities resulting from occupational hazards. The updating of these instruments is of special importance since they had not been updated for 53 years.

It is important to emphasize that the updating of these instruments was substantial, since the Table of Occupational Diseases was aligned with the International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization and 88 new ailments were added. In the Table of Valuation of Permanent Disabilities 115 conditions were added.

The reform came into effect on December 5, 2023.

Should you have any questions or require additional information regarding this communication, please contact info@rapa.mx.