MEXICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Melissa Franco and Mauricio Oropeza, Deloitte Impuestos y Servicios Legales, S.C.
working hours at home or the address they have chosen for such purposes (teleworking or home office), the employers must provide, install and maintain the equipment necessary for teleworking, among other requirements. In addition, the Con - gress has approved some other relevant amends in the matter, including the right of workers to have (and thus, the obligation of the employers to pro - vide) adequate chairs and seats with backrests in service, commerce and similar workplaces for the execution of their jobs or periodic rest. • Maternity/paternity leave – pregnant women will enjoy a rest period of six weeks before and six6 weeks after childbirth. For paternity leave, the Mex - ican Labour Law establishes a leave entitlement of five working days with pay for working men for the birth of their children, and likewise in the case of the adoption of an infant. 10.2 Employee Compensation Besides the minimum established by the LFT, compa - nies can provide additional benefits to their employ - ees, such as stock options and golden parachutes. According to the specific tax, legal and financial strat - egy for an M&A transaction, it is common practice to opt for the employer’s substitution and/or termination of the labour relationships. 10.3 Employment Protection When acquiring a business, the company has the option to transfer the employees, giving notice to them and the labour authorities, or it can opt for their dismissal. The termination of the labour relationship by the uni - lateral will of the employer, without verifying any of the causes for termination provided for in the LFT, is considered unjustified dismissal. An employee who has been unjustifiably dismissed will be entitled to indemnification/severance consisting of three months’ salary, plus: • 20 days’ salary per year worked; • 12 days’ salary per year worked limited to two times the minimum wage; • the proportional part of the annual statutory bonus; • the proportional part of vacation pay; • the proportional part of the vacation bonus; and
• other benefits included in the employment agree - ment or in the conditions that regulate the rela - tionship with the company or employer, such as bonuses, commissions, savings fund and utilities. In the case of a collective agreement, specific ben - efits can apply depending on the union agreement. According to the LFT, collective termination can be as part of the closure of a business or the reduction of the jobs available, due to force majeure, events not attributable to the employer, notorious unprofitability or bankruptcy, among other situations. For the employer’s substitution, the change of employ - er does not affect the labour relations of the company or establishment, as the replaced employer will be jointly and severally liable with the new employer for the obligations towards employees prior to the sub - stitution and for a six-month term after such substitu - tion. Upon the conclusion of such term, only the new employer will be responsible for compliance with the labour obligations, considering that the assets of the company or establishment must also be transferred to the substitute employer in order for the employer substitution to take effect. 11. Intellectual Property and Data Protection 11.1 Intellectual Property Considerations for Approval of FDI The relevance of intellectual property (IP) is usually determined by the importance that each business on it, and by their IP policies. In the case of trade mark or industrial secrets, it is common practice in Mexico for protection to also be sought by investors. 11.2 Intellectual Property Protections There are no specific sectors that are marked as being difficult for IP matters. All requests are duly reviewed and evaluated by the Mexican authorities, which usu - ally have pro-registration criteria. 11.3 Data Protection and Privacy Considerations There are two regimes for data protection:
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