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Mexico - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Mexico City

 

CLIMATE

Varies from tropical to desert.

 

LANGUAGES

Spanish, various Mayan, Nahuatl, and other regional indigenous languages.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

Mixture of US constitutional theory and civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations.

 

CURRENCY

Mexican Peso (1 USD = 9.14140 MXP as of March 1, 2002)

 

MEXICO - COST-OF-LIVING

ERI's Relocation Assessor is a recommended source for cost-of-living data.

 

MEXICO - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U.S. Embassy at Mexico City

Paseo de la Reforma 305

Colonia Cuauhteoc

Mexico City, Mexico 06500

Telephone: [52] (5) 211-0042

Fax: [52] (5) 208-3373

http://www.usembassy-mexico.gov/

 

Consular Offices:

Consulate General Guadalajara

Progreso 175

44100 Guadalajara, Jalisco

Telephone: [52] (33) 3825-2700

Fax: [52] (33) 3826-6549

 

Consulate Juarez

Avenida Lopez Mateos 924 Nte.

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

Telephone: [52] (16) 11-3000

Fax: [52] (16) 16-9056

 

Consulate Monterrey

Avenida Constitucion 411 Pte.

Monterrey, Nuevo Leon

Mexico 64000

Telephone: [52] (81) 8345-2120

 

Consulate General Tijuana

Tapachula 96, Col. Hipodromo

22420 Tijuana Baja California

Mexico 22420

Telephone: [52] (664) 622-7000

Fax: [52] (664) 681-8016

 

Embassy of Mexico at Washington D.C.

1911 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.

Washington D.C. 20006

Telephone: (202) 728-1600

E-mail: mexembusa@sre.gob.mx

http://www.embassyofmexico.org/

 

MEXICO - HOLIDAYS

 

MEXICO - MINIMUM AGE

The Constitution prohibits children under 12 years of age from working and sets the minimum legal work age at 14 years; however, child labor is a problem. Those between the ages of 14 and 15 may work only limited hours, with no night or hazardous work, which generally makes hiring them uneconomical.

 

(Section 6.d. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Mexico – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

MEXICO - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

The Constitution and the Federal Labor Law provide for a daily minimum wage. The tripartite National Minimum Wage Commission (government, labor, and employers) usually sets minimum wage rates each December, effective on January 1, but any of the three parties can ask that the wage commission reconvene during the year to consider a changed situation.

 

In December 2000, the wage commission adopted a 6.9 percent increase effective on January 1, 2001, based in part on the Government's projection of a 6.5 percent annual inflation rate. By January 12, there was unanimous support among the tripartite members of the wage commission for establishing a consultative committee for the modernization of the minimum wage system. A consultative committee comprised of employers, union, academic specialists, and a government representative was formed and completed its work during the year.

 

In Acapulco, Mexico City, and nearby industrial areas, southeast Veracruz state's refining and petrochemical zone, and most border areas, the minimum daily wage was set at $4.48 (40.35 pesos). However, employers actually paid $5.11 (45.95 pesos) because of a supplemental 14 percent subsidy. These income supplements to the minimum wage, agreed to in annual tripartite pacts, are for all incomes less than four times the minimum wage, and decrease as wages and benefits rise. In Guadalajara, Monterrey, and other advanced industrialized areas, the minimum daily wage (before the subsidy) was $4.22 (37.95 pesos). In other areas, it was $3.98 (35.85 pesos). There are higher minimums for some occupations, such as the building trades.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Mexico – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

MEXICO - REMUNERATION

ERI's Geographic and Salary Assessors are recommended sources for international remuneration covering 189 countries.

 

MEXICO - REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

The Constitution and the Federal Labor Law (LFT) provide workers with the right to form and join trade unions of their choice. Approximately 25 percent of the total work force is unionized, mostly in the formal sector, where approximately one-half the labor force is employed.

 

No prior approval is needed to form unions, but they must register with the Federal Labor Secretariat (STPS) or state labor boards (JLCA) in order to function legally. Registration requirements are not onerous. However, the STPS or the JLCA occasionally have withheld or delayed registration of unions hostile to government policies, influential employers, or established unions. For example, in October the STPS refused to register a union to represent professional soccer players. The STPS and the JLCA also have registered unions that turned out to be run by extortionists or labor racketeers falsely claiming to represent workers. To remedy this, STPS officials required evidence that unions were genuine and representative before registering them. Genuine unions are those that can demonstrate that they actually have members and represent the workers at the workplace. Some labor organizations have complained that they have found it difficult to obtain registration, especially from some local conciliation and arbitration boards.

 

Human Rights Watch criticized the Government's system of labor tribunals in a 1999 report that claimed that the right to freedom of association often was violated even when courts ruled in favor of organizing workers. The report stated that in the case of the Democratic Union of Workers of the Ministry of the Environment, Natural Resources, and Fishing the courts allowed workers to organize formally, but government officials continued to interfere in such a way that the union could not function effectively.

 

The Federal Labor Board (JFCA) and the JLCA are tripartite (government, union, employer). Although trade union presence on the boards usually is a positive feature, it sometimes led to unfair partiality in representation disputes. For example, the board member from an established union worked to dissuade a JLCA from recognizing a rival organization. Trade union registration was the subject of follow-up activities pursuant to a 1995 agreement reached in ministerial consultations under the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC).

 

Unions form federations and confederations freely without government approval. Most unions belong to such bodies, which also must register to have legal status. The largest trade union central is the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), traditionally a part of the labor sector of the PRI, but affiliation is by individual unions.

 

The Revolutionary Worker and Peasant Confederation (CROC), and most of the separate national unions, smaller confederations, and federations in the Labor Congress (CT) also are allied with the PRI. However, several unions did not ally themselves with the PRI, including SNTE, the large teacher's union, which severed its PRI ties a decade ago, and freed its minority factions--including the CNTE, a breakaway teachers' union--to cooperate openly with other parties, particularly the PRD. In April the Federal Employee Union Federation (FSTSE) ended its long-standing relationship with the PRI. Rivalries within and between PRI-allied locals are strong. There also are a few small labor federations and independent unions outside the CT not allied with the PRI. One is the small, left-of-center Authentic Labor Front (FAT). Most FAT members sympathize with the PRD, but the FAT is independent and not formally tied to the PRD. In 1997 160 labor organizations representing workers in the private and public sectors, led by the telephone workers and social security workers unions, formed the National Union of Workers (UNT)--a labor central in competition with the officially recognized CT. In 1999 the Mexican Electricians Union (SME) announced that it would withdraw from the CT over its failure to give full support to the SME's opposition to the Government's plan to privatize partially the electric power sector. The SME had not withdrawn officially from the CT at year's end; however, it maintains no contact with the CT.

 

PRI-affiliated union officers traditionally helped select, ran as, and campaigned for PRI candidates in federal and state elections and supported past PRI government policies at crucial moments. The CT, especially the CTM, was well represented in the PRI senatorial and congressional delegations, although its numbers diminished significantly after the 1997 and the 2000 elections.

 

The ILO Committee of Experts (COE) has found that certain restrictions in federal employee labor law, adopted at FSTSE request, violate ILO Convention 87 on freedom of association. These restrictions allow only one union per jurisdiction, forbid union members from quitting the union, and prohibit reelection of union officials. In 1998 the COE and the ILO Committee on Application of Standards reiterated their criticism and asked the Government to amend the law. The Government responded to the criticism with subsequent labor reforms. A 1999 Federal Supreme Court decision permits the formation and recognition of more than one union per federal entity. On April 17, the Supreme Court ruled that Articles 395 and 413 of the LFT were unconstitutional because they violated the constitutional provision for freedom of association. This decision permits recognition of multiple unions at a company, and workers may obtain and retain employment whether or not they are associated with a union.

 

In April the Congress approved a package of constitutional reforms on indigenous rights and culture (see Section 5). Critics argue the approved reforms fail to meet the Government's obligations to ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples. The case was pending before the ILO at year's end.

 

The Constitution and the LFT provide for the right to strike. The law requires 6 to 10 days' advance strike notice, followed by brief government mediation. If federal or state authorities rule a strike "nonexistent" or "illicit," employees must remain at work, return to work within 24 hours, or face dismissal. If they rule a strike legal, the company or unit must shut down completely, management officials may not enter the premises until the strike is over, and the company may not hire replacements for striking workers. Provisions for maintaining essential services are not onerous. The law also makes filing a strike notice an effective, commonly used threat that protects a failing company's assets from creditors and courts until an agreement is reached on severance pay. Although few strikes actually occur, informal stoppages are fairly common, but uncounted in statistics, and seldom last long enough to be recognized or ruled out of order. The law permits public sector strikes, but formal public sector strikes are rare. Informal ones are more frequent.

 

According to the STPS, 35 legal strikes occurred in federal jurisdiction during the year. The Han Young maquiladora plant, target of a 1998 strike and subsequent legal battles, closed in 2000. Courts and administrative bodies have ruled against continuing worker appeals for damages. A union leader and a lawyer, subjects of arrest warrants in 2000, were not taken into custody and the case is effectively closed.

 

On August 18, more than 10,000 workers at the Volkswagen Plant in Puebla went on strike to demand higher wages comparable to those Volkswagen pays its workers in other countries. The strike was settled peacefully after 18 days of negotiations involving Secretary of Labor Carlos Abascal. The workers won a 10.2 percent raise, above the country's inflation rate.

 

On September 15, an agreement between Mexicana Airlines management and flight attendants averted a strike that would have had major repercussions for the country's airline industry. The flight attendants received a wage raise of 8.5 percent.

 

The Constitution and the LFT protect labor organizations from government interference in their internal affairs, including strike decisions. However, this also can protect undemocratic or corrupt union leaders. The law permits closed shop and exclusion clauses, allowing union leaders to vet and veto new hires and to force dismissal of anyone the union expels. Such clauses are common in collective bargaining agreements.

 

Employer organizations slowed efforts to push for labor law reform early in 1999 and entered into ongoing discussions with the Government and labor unions about reforming the LFT's rules of procedure. Government, employers, and unions had negotiated reforms through tripartite national agreements and collective bargaining at the enterprise level. Reforms were effected also through cooperation in programs to increase, and compensate for, productivity. Government, national labor unions, and employer organizations met periodically throughout the year to discuss ways and means of cooperation to boost productivity, wages, and competitiveness. The STPS sponsored a reformatted restructured committee that was working on draft labor legislation to present to Congress at year's end.

 

Unions are free to affiliate with, and increasingly are interested in actively participating in, trade union internationals.

 

A complaint alleging a refusal on the part of the Government to register the Academic Workers Union of the National College of Technical Occupational Education (SINTACONALEP) as a union still was pending before the ILO's Committee on Freedom of Association (CFA) at year's end. SINTACONALEP's employer, the National College of Technical Occupational Education (CONALEP), requires its teaching staff to sign documents denying the existence of an employment relationship thereby feigning a type of relationship that is covered under the civil code and not the LFT; the form, terms, and conditions all indicate an employment relationship. Hence according to STPS, SINTACONALEP members do not meet the definition of workers under the LFT to be registered as a union. In 1999 the CFA issued an interim report requesting that the Government provide a copy of the applicable law that denies trade union status to SINTACONALEP and that the Government investigate the allegations of interference and antiunion discrimination on the part of CONALEP. In October 1999, the Government responded and claimed that the refusal to register SINTACONALEP was in accordance with the legal provisions in force in the country and with ILO conventions. The CFA subsequently requested more detailed information from the Government, and noted that the Government's response had not addressed all of SINTACONALEP's complaints.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

The Constitution and the LFT provide for the right to organize and bargain collectively. Interest by a few employees, or a union strike notice, compels an employer either to recognize a union and negotiate with it or to ask the federal or state labor board to hold a union recognition election. LFT prounion provisions led some employers to seek out or create independent "white" or company unions as an alternative to mainstream national or local unions. Representation elections are traditionally open, not secret. Traditionally, management and union officials are present with the presiding labor board official when workers openly declare their votes, one by one. Such open recounts, which in the past have resulted in the intimidation of prounion workers and in reprisals against them, are prevailing practice but are not required by law or regulation. Secret ballots are held when all parties agree.

 

On March 2, at a foreign-owned company in Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, the JFCA allowed an independent union election in response to employee claims that the long-standing union, CROC, engaged in harassment and coercion at the workplace. However, the JFCA rejected the proposal to employ a secret ballot, citing that its use would be onerous and make it impossible to verify that workers had standing to vote. A total of 502 workers of an estimated 1,400 voted. The JFCA reportedly allowed new employees and management and office personnel, who did not have a legal right to vote, to participate in the election; however, the JFCA reportedly denied some illegally fired workers their legal right to vote. The CROC retained the collective bargaining contract as a result of the ballot. The AFL-CIO, protesting the election, made a submission to the National Administrative Office (NAO) in Washington D.C. charged with oversight of the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation.

 

Wage restraints no longer exist, except for those caused by recession or an employer's difficult situation. Wages in most union contracts appeared to keep pace with or ahead of inflation, but most workers had not yet regained buying power lost over the past decade.

 

The country's record for internal union democracy and transparency was spotty. Some unions were democratic, but corruption and strong-arm tactics were common in others.

 

In a case involving freedom of association linked to the right to organize unions, in 1997 a total of 9 unions and 24 human rights NGO's jointly filed a submission with the U.S. NAO alleging that a CTM-affiliated union used strong-arm tactics to intimidate workers so that they would not vote in favor of a rival union to represent workers at a plant in Mexico state. This submission also alleged violations of health and safety regulations. The Canadian NAO also received a submission on this case in 1998. The U.S. NAO issued a report in 1998 that recommended ministerial consultations. A May 2000 agreement between the U.S. and Mexican Labor Secretaries and adhered to by the Canadian Labor Minister provided that the Mexican Labor Secretariat hold a public NAFTA conference in Mexico City in fall of 2000 to address the issues raised in the complaints. However, at year's end, the conference had not taken place.

 

The public sector is almost completely organized. Industrial areas are organized heavily. Even states with little industry have transport and public employee unions, and rural peasant organizations are omnipresent. The law protects workers from antiunion discrimination, but enforcement is uneven in the few states with low unionization.

 

Unionization and wage levels in the in-bond export sector varied by area and sophistication of the manufacturing process. Wages have been lower and job creation has been greater in this sector than in more traditional manufacturing. Wages in the maquiladora sector still were lower than in the traditional manufacturing sector, although they were approaching manufacturing sector level. Some observers alleged poor working conditions, inadequate wages, and employer and government efforts to discourage unionization in this sector. There was no evidence that the Federal Government opposed unionization of the plants (the maquiladora sector tends to be under state jurisdiction), but some state and local governments in the west are said to help employers discourage unions, especially independent ones, through the use of protection contracts. Protection contracts, to which the workforce is not privy, are used in the maquila sector and elsewhere to discourage the development of authentic unions. These contracts are collective bargaining agreements negotiated and signed by management and a representative of a so-called labor organization, sometimes even prior to the hiring of a single worker.

 

On September 21, according to the international NGO Campaign for Labor Rights, workers at a Nike contract factory succeeded in forming an independent union when the South Korean-owned Kukdong International factory in Atlixco, Mexico state, certified the independent union, Sitemex, for 450 workers. The certification of Sitemex represents the first instance in which an independent union ousted an institutional union.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The Constitution prohibits forced labor, which includes forced and bonded labor by children; however, trafficking in persons, including children, for sexual exploitation and forced labor is a problem (see Section 6.f.). There also were cases of abuses of refugees and undocumented immigrants (see Section 2.d.).

 

d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment

 

The Constitution prohibits children under 12 years of age from working and sets the minimum legal work age at 14 years; however, child labor is a problem. Those between the ages of 14 and 15 may work only limited hours, with no night or hazardous work, which generally makes hiring them uneconomical. Enforcement was reasonably good at large and medium-sized companies, especially in maquiladoras and industries under federal jurisdiction. Enforcement was inadequate at many small companies and in agriculture and construction. It was nearly absent in the informal sector, and the government's efforts to enforce the law stalled.

 

A 2000 report published by UNICEF and the National Action Commission in Favor of Children reported that approximately 3.5 million children between the ages of 6 and 18 work regularly. Approximately 1.2 million children work in agriculture, particularly in the northern states. UNICEF and the DIF, in a 1999 study of working children in the 100 largest cities, estimated that 150,000 children work in those cities.

 

In 1996 the ILO reported that 18 percent of children 12 to 14 years of age work, often for parents or relatives. Most child labor is in the informal sector (including myriad underage street vendors), family-owned workshops, or in agriculture and rural areas. Mexico City's central market employs approximately 11,000 minors between the ages of 7 and 18, who work as cart-pushers, kitchen help, and vendors. The children do not receive a fixed wage, and most work long shifts, starting in the early morning hours. The CTM agricultural union's success years earlier in obtaining free transport for migrant seasonal workers from southern states to fields in the north inadvertently led to a significant increase in child labor. The union and employers were unable to convince indigenous farm workers to leave their families at home, and many settled near work sites in the north. The union has had some limited success in negotiating with employers to finance education in Spanish and indigenous languages near work sites and in obtaining social security child care centers, but it has had difficulty in persuading member families not to bring their children into the fields. Many urban child workers are migrants from rural areas, are illiterate, and have parents who are unemployed.

 

The Federal Government's antipoverty program works to keep poor children in school as an alternative to work (see Section 5). The government of the Federal District implemented a law adopted in 1999 that increased limitations on working hours and conditions for children employed as supermarket baggers and automotive attendants.

 

The Constitution prohibits forced labor, which includes forced and bonded labor by children; however, trafficking in children is a problem (see Sections 6.c. and 6.f.).

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

The Constitution and the LFT provide for a daily minimum wage. The tripartite National Minimum Wage Commission (government, labor, and employers) usually sets minimum wage rates each December, effective on January 1, but any of the three parties can ask that the wage commission reconvene during the year to consider a changed situation. In December 2000, the wage commission adopted a 6.9 percent increase effective on January 1, 2001, based in part on the Government's projection of a 6.5 percent annual inflation rate. By January 12, there was unanimous support among the tripartite members of the wage commission for establishing a consultative committee for the modernization of the minimum wage system. A consultative committee comprised of employers, union, academic specialists, and a government representative was formed and completed its work during the year.

 

In Acapulco, Mexico City, and nearby industrial areas, southeast Veracruz state's refining and petrochemical zone, and most border areas, the minimum daily wage was set at $4.48 (40.35 pesos). However, employers actually paid $5.11 (45.95 pesos) because of a supplemental 14 percent subsidy. These income supplements to the minimum wage, agreed to in annual tripartite pacts, are for all incomes less than four times the minimum wage, and decrease as wages and benefits rise. In Guadalajara, Monterrey, and other advanced industrialized areas, the minimum daily wage (before the subsidy) was $4.22 (37.95 pesos). In other areas, it was $3.98 (35.85 pesos). There are higher minimums for some occupations, such as the building trades.

 

The minimum wage does not provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Few workers (approximately 16 percent) earn only the minimum wage; most workers earn more than the minimum wage, and industrial workers average three to four times the minimum wage, earning more at larger, more advanced, and prosperous enterprises.

 

The law and contract arrangements provide workers with extensive additional benefits. Legally required benefits include free social security medical treatment, pensions, individual worker housing and retirement accounts, substantial Christmas bonuses, paid vacations, and profit sharing. Employer costs for these benefits add from approximately 27 percent of payroll at marginal enterprises to over 100 percent at major firms with good union contracts. In addition, employers frequently subsidize the cost of meals, transportation, and day care for children, and pay bonuses for punctuality and productivity.

 

The LFT sets six 8-hour days as the legal workweek, but with pay for 56 hours. For most industrial workers, especially under union contract, the true workweek is 42 hours, although they are paid for 7 full 8-hour days. This is one reason why unions vigorously defend the legal ban on hourly wages. Workers asked to exceed 3 hours of overtime per day or required to work overtime on 3 consecutive days must be paid triple the normal wage.

 

There are 11 special labor arbitration and conciliation boards (in Queretaro, Pachuca, Ciudad del Carmen, Zacatecas, Orizaba, Ciudad Juarez, Cancun, Colima, La Paz, Reynosa, and Tijuana) and 4 more state offices of the STPS to make it more convenient for workers to file complaints and bring other actions before the labor court system.

 

The law requires employers to observe occupational safety and health regulations, issued jointly by the STPS and the Social Security Institute (IMSS), and to pay contributions that vary according to their workplace safety and health experience ratings. LFT-mandated joint management and labor committees set standards and are responsible for workplace enforcement in plants and offices. These committees meet at least monthly to consider workplace needs and file copies of their minutes with federal labor inspectors. Federal and state authorities exchange information.

 

STPS and IMSS officials continued to report that compliance is reasonably good at most large companies. However, because smaller firms are far more numerous and so much more difficult to monitor, these officials were unable to draw any general conclusions about their compliance. There were not enough federal inspectors to enforce effectively health and safety standards at smaller firms. There are special problems in construction, where unskilled, untrained, poorly educated, transient labor is common, especially at many small sites and companies. Many unions, particularly in construction, are not organized effectively to provide training, to encourage members to work safely and healthily, to participate in the joint committees, or to insist on their rights.

 

To protect the rights of workers, the Secretariat of Labor made 9,593 safety and hygiene inspections in private factories and public institutions through August and estimated that it would complete 13,790 by the end of the year. However, while the Government increased the number of federal inspectors in 1997 and concluded agreements with more states to expand and better coordinate labor inspections, the number of maquila plants (approximately 3,500) far exceeds what the less than 700 (approximately 350 state and 341 federal) inspectors can monitor.

 

In July 2000, a large group of U.S., Canadian, and Mexican labor organizations and NGO's filed a submission with the U.S. NAO alleging the failure of Mexican labor authorities to comply with health and safety regulations resulting in occupational injuries to a number of workers at maquiladora plants belonging to a U.S. company in the border state of Tamaulipas. The U.S. NAO accepted the submission in September 2000 for formal review and conducted a public hearing in San Antonio, Texas, in December. Following the hearing, the U.S. NAO issued a report on the matter and requested consultations. The STPS agreed to the consultations; however, consultations were not scheduled by year's end. The STPS conducted regular and periodic inspections of the plants, but the U.S. NAO questioned their efficacy.

 

Many agricultural workers are internal migrants, who often travel with their families, including young children. They often are paid by volume of the work they produce, rather than by the day. Working conditions vary by area of the country and from one locality to another. Allegations have been made that workers, including young children accompanying them, have been exposed to pesticides and other chemicals.

 

Individual employees or unions also may complain directly to inspectors or safety and health officials. Workers may remove themselves from hazardous situations without jeopardizing their employment. Plaintiffs may bring complaints before the federal labor board at no cost to themselves.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

There are no specific laws that prohibit the trafficking of persons, although other laws may be used to prosecute traffickers of undocumented migrants, women, and children; however, trafficking is a serious problem, and there were credible reports that police, immigration, and customs officials were involved in the trafficking of such persons.

 

Mexico is a source country for trafficked persons to the U.S., Canada, and Japan, a transit country for persons from various countries, especially Central America and China, and a destination country for children trafficked from Central America, especially from Honduras to Tapachula, Chiapas. There are an increasing number of persons from Brazil and Eastern Europe transiting through the country, some of whom are trafficked. Salvadorans and Guatemalans, especially children, are trafficked into the country for prostitution, particularly on the southern border. Internal trafficking, including of children for sexual exploitation, also is a problem. Russian criminal organizations reportedly traffic women from Eastern Europe into the country to work in nightclubs.

 

The Government has a Plan of Action to Prevent, Attend, and Eradicate the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Minors. The program is administered through the DIF and is supported by numerous executive and legislative branch entities. The Chihuahua State Attorney General's Office runs a series of self-awareness programs to educate women about the many dangers confronting them in Ciudad Juarez. There also have been campaigns to prevent illegal migration and migrant smuggling.

 

Numerous NGO's work on related issues such as migrant trafficking, child prostitution, sexual

 

MEXICO - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

http://www.ssa.gov/SSA_Home.html

 

MEXICO - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The Federal Labor Law sets six 8-hour days as the legal workweek, but with pay for 56 hours.

 

For most industrial workers, especially under union contract, the true workweek is 42 hours, although they are paid for 7 full 8-hour days. This is one reason why unions vigorously defend the legal ban on hourly wages. Workers asked to exceed 3 hours of overtime per day or required to work overtime on 3 consecutive days must be paid triple the normal wage.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Mexico – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)