88 Work-Related Illnesses to Be Included in Federal Labor Law

The reform to the Federal Labor Law is to feature new table of work-related illnesses. The reform has already been finished and is awaiting the approval of the National Commission for Regulatory Improvement (CONAMER). Once this process is completed, President López Obrador will send the reform to the Chamber of Deputies to start the legislative process.

According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS), the reform would position Mexico as the country with most advanced regulation regarding workplace and occupational ailments in Latin America. "This update includes new work-related illnesses that were historically ignored, such as heart attacks due to exposure to chemicals, miscarriages, endometriosis and COVID-19, among others," the ministry stated.

The new table will increase the diseases recognized as having come about because of work activities from 161 to 194. The impact of this initiative will most likely influence companies to reinforce their security protocols and protect their workers voluntarily, solving multiple issues at once. Upgrading this project was long overdue, said regulatory experts: though the table of work-related illnesses is heading for its third update, this is its first modification in 52 years.

“Inexplicably, despite half a century of advances in medicine and science, the attempts to update it carried out by different administrations were unsuccessful. In no case was it possible to update the Table of Sicknesses or the Table of Assessment of Permanent Disabilities,” said the president about the project.

The project furthermore plans to establish periodical reviews of the table to prevent another half century of stagnation in the legislation. Psychosocial illnesses, such as stress and anxiety created by work will be included on the list for the first time. “With this reform, workers are benefited first and foremost, because it allows them a greater certainty that the ailments, they suffer due to their work are reflected in the table of diseases and they will have work risk insurance protection,” said STPS.