Mexico’s New Home Office Regulations

After being approved by the Chamber of Deputies, last night the Mexican Senate gave the OK to the new reform that regulates home-based work. New regulations recognize remote work as recurrent “paid activity performed in places other than the establishment of the employer," as well as the use of information and communication technologies to establish a connection between employer and employee.

These are some of the main points to be highlighted:

• Training and counseling mechanisms must be guaranteed to the employee.

• Employees working remotely should be offered the same treatment as those working on-site.

• Only cameras and microphones may be used to monitor the employee.

• Wages must not be lower than those offered to office workers.

• The "right to disconnection" at the end of the working day must be respected.

• People working remotely must be registered in the social security system.

• The employer shall also provide, install and maintain the equipment needed for the job, including computer equipment, ergonomic chairs, printers, among others.

• In addition, the employer must assume the costs of working from home, including the internet and the proportional cost of electricity.

• Personal and work life must be observed from a gender perspective.

More news below:

• To survive, many people have no choice: they need to reinvent themselves. In this piece, Jorge Ponga, Partner of Humanologo Consulting, compares the situation we all are living in today with a waiting room, where many experience anxiety but at the same time hope. “This waiting room is preparing us for deep and lasting change as individuals and society. No one has said that the transit across this bridge would be easy and without pain, loss or implicit effort,” he points out.

• President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will propose an increase in the minimum wage of 15 percent by 2021. The minimum wage would reach MX$215  (US$10.7). "If the increases (inflation) continue, I hope that we can go back to what we had in 2000. We must continue but there must be a gradual recovery in wages," he said today during his daily conference. He said he expects the participation and support of the private sector.

• Digital exhaustion is becoming a more recurrent problem for employees, making digital wellness programs a priority. The fear of missing out (FOMO), stress, mental illness, anxiety and lack of productivity are the hurdles people experience at home and at the new workplace. These elements do not only affect employees but the actual work being done, which could bring losses due to a lack of motivation and productivity.

• “Digitalization is directly proportional to our ability to sell digital products or virtual learning platforms. This gap definitely exists”, said in an interview with MBN Santiago Gutiérrez, Vice President for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean of Pearson PLC. The option PLC has been working on for years, he explains, is to deliver resources to students offline. They can then connect at certain times under certain circumstances. Read the full conversation here.