Note published in Reforma, Negocios [Business] Section by Verónica Gascón.
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Note published in El Norte, Negocios [Business] Section by Verónica Gascón.
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Note published in Mural, Negocios [Business] Section by Verónica Gascón.
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| Against bad practices | ||
| Congressman Manuel Baldenebro presented a bill for the regulation of outsourcing.
In its declaration of purpose, it explains the situation on this type of contracting: |
||
| 6,000
illegal labor subcontracting companies in the country.
|
51
complaints linked to front companies, with false invoicing received by the Attorney General´s Office against said companies. |
|
| 21
billion pesos are evaded annually. |
||
|
15 engage in false invoicing. |
31
of these companies are linked to front companies.
Source: Bill with information from the STPS* and the FGR** |
|
* Department of Labor and Social Welfare
** Attorney General’s Office of the Republic
Hiring via outsourcing is sought to be limited exclusively to temporary, sporadic and specialized positions, that is, it cannot be used to cover positions in essential activities within a company.
This is established in a bill presented by the president of the Commission of Labor and Social Welfare in the Lower Chamber, Manuel Baldenebro.
This project, presented on this past October 13, also includes the creation of a registry of companies that provide subcontracting services.
Additionally, economic penalizations equivalent to 500 to 10 thousand times the Unit of Measure and Update are being contemplated to be imposed on whomever uses the subcontracting regime to simulate, evade and elude responsibilities on labor rights, social security and tax payment.
This means that no criminal penalizations are imposed, as proposed in the bill presented by Senator Napoleón Gómez Urrutia.
“This bill must have credibility, if it is to be the one to be discussed”, stated Ricardo Martínez, labor lawyer at the De la Vega y Martínez Rojas Firm.
The proposal contemplates that work conducted under the subcontracting regime must comply with three conditions: it may not cover all of the activities carried out by the contracting party or the beneficiary; it must be justified due to its specific, temporary and specialized nature and it may not be provided by individuals or entities that are not registered in the subcontracting companies Registry.
According to the bill’s declaration of purpose, there are approximately 6 thousand labor subcontracting companies in Mexico that have violated the rights of subcontracted workers. These companies evade around 21 billion pesos per year.
The bill points out that it is necessary to adapt the legal framework on labor matters that regulates subcontracting to enable companies that operate legally on maintenance, waste management, personnel administration, information technology, technology, storage, distribution, transportation, training, legal consulting, security, cleaning, information filing, public relations, logistics, packaging, among others, to have a legal basis based on the new normality and on the labor, social and economic demands required in Mexico.
In the opinion of Ricardo Martínez, subcontracting, currently regulated by Article 15-A of the Federal Labor Law, is further restricted through this proposal.
“What is being sought is for subcontracting to be sporadic and temporary and thus, what they are striving to eliminate is the practice referred to as insourcing, which happens when a corporation creates a company to place all workers in, and thus lower the payment of PTU (profit sharing)”, stated Martínez.
On the other hand, he said that the National Subcontracting Registry may not be effective, given that there is already a requirement in place by the IMSS [Mexican Social Security Institute] that requires that employers inform this institution when they subcontract personnel; however, this has not worked.
“There is already a registry in place at the IMSS, I don’t understand the need for a second registry; it would be better to coordinate it with the provisions of the IMSS Law; a new registry creates more bureaucracy. Nobody paid any attention to the Social Security registry”, he said.
In the opinion of the labor lawyer, the manner in which subcontracting is regulated in the Federal Labor Law is good legislation, but what is needed is that inspection is conducted by the government.
