MEXICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Mauricio Moreno Rey, Anahí Serrano, Erick Sastré and Karla Fajardo, Cannizzo, Ortiz y Asociados, S.C.
In addition, other laws contain other types of obliga - tions to prevent and eradicate discrimination in the workplace, for example, the Federal Law to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination ( Ley Federal Para Preve- nir y Eliminar La Discriminación ), which states that it is considered discriminatory to establish differences in remuneration, benefits or working conditions for equivalent jobs. In case of violation of the above, the correspond - ing authority may impose a fine ranging from 250 to 5,000 times the Unit of Measurement and Update – ie, between approximately MXN28,285.00 and MXN565,700.00. It should be noted that, to impose the corresponding sanctions, the authority must consider several issues, such as the seriousness of the discriminatory conduct or social practice; the concurrence of two or more causes or forms of discrimination; recidivism – ie, when the same person commits the same, a similar or a new violation of the right to non-discrimination, whether to the detriment of the same or a different aggrieved party; the effect produced by the discrimi - natory conduct or social practice, etc. 8.3 Digitalisation Despite much technological advance in the work - place, no regulation in Mexico has yet facilitated the digitalisation of employment disputes: court disputes remain in-person proceedings. However, with the creation of the new labour courts, there is already the possibility to request that some hearings within the procedure be held online if both parties agree.
Prior to these reforms, labour disputes were tried before the federal or local conciliation and arbitration boards which, although they exercised judicial func - tions in labour matters, belonged structurally to the executive branch. Regarding class actions in labour matters, in Mexi - co the concept of class actions is exclusive to civil matters to protect conflicts in matters of consumer relations of goods or services, public or private, and the environment. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Federal Labour Law contemplates the existence of collective labour disputes, in which the legitimised entity is usually the union of employees holding col - lective bargaining agreements and/or the majority of the employees of a company or establishment. 9.2 Alternative Dispute Resolution In Mexico, employees who wish to start a labour dis - pute must, before going to the labour courts, attend a conciliation procedure. The conciliation procedure will be carried out by federal or local conciliation centres. If a conciliation agreement is executed, it will have the status of res judicata and in case of non-compli - ance it will have the quality of a title to start executive actions through the mechanisms for the enforcement of judgments provided for in the Federal Labour Law. If the parties do not reach an agreement, the concili - ation centre will issue a certificate of non-conciliation in favour of the employee which enables them to file their claim before the competent court. Additionally, since the USMCA was ratified by Mexi - co in 2019, the Rapid Response Labour Mechanism, designed to prioritise labour obligations and reduce interference in workers’ union activities within specific sectors, has been highly active. To date, the United States has initiated 36 cases against Mexico, includ - ing five in 2025. The Rapid Response Labour Mechanism allows, in case of non-compliance with certain labour obliga - tions and/or denial of rights established in Chapter 23 of the USMCA, such as rights of freedom of associa - tion and collective bargaining within a specific compa - ny, for a USMCA party to initiate a dispute resolution procedure against another party in a specific list of
9. Dispute Resolution 9.1 Litigation
Mexico has had specialised labour courts since 2017, when a constitutional reform was published that ordered the creation of labour courts at the federal and state levels. This reform was complemented in 2019 by a reform to the Federal Labour Law that set forth the parameters for the creation of labour courts, and initially granted a maximum term of three years in local matters and four years in federal matters for their creation and entry into operation.
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