Note published on March 23 in El Sol de México, Sociedad [Society] Section by Bertha Becerra.
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Instead of what is currently established, which is 22 days in average, the agreement contemplates up to 57 days of salary per year.
The payment of employee profit sharing by companies will be raised to an average of 57 days of salary on an annual basis instead of the 22 days in average that workers currently receive and which is, in certain cases, much lower.
The workers’ and the employers’ sectors, together with the Department of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) agreed on a maximum that does not exceed three months of the worker’s salary or the average of the profits that he received in the three previous years, with the right to be paid whichever of these is highest.
To this end, the amendment of Article 127 of the Federal Labor Law (LFT) was proposed, adding Section VIII. That is, if in any case the amount of the profits that might correspond to the worker should be higher than 3 months of his salary, he can only receive the maximum limit.
Héctor de la Cruz, a lawyer specializing in Labor Law, pointed out that the analysis prepared by the STPS establishes that this new rule will benefit the country’s workers, as many sectors currently have a very low level of profit sharing.
“And with the new provision, the payment of this concept will be raised to an average of 57 days of salary on an annual basis instead of the 22 days in average that they currently receive and which is, in certain cases, much lower”, he explained.
Lawyer De la Cruz believes that “This will help certain sectors that have been identified as capital-intensive industries that need a high volume of production to provide an adequate return on investment.”
Such as the automotive, manufacturing industries; the financial sector and insurance. Also, the energy sector and extractive industries; telecommunications and information technologies, among others.
“Which, however, are much more vulnerable to economic deceleration compared to others and, therefore, are more fragile when faced with the distribution of profits at a fixed 10% of their total earnings”, he explained in an interview.
Thus, if these sectors generate disproportionate profits, they could limit the impact to a payment of PTU to 3 months and thus avoid distortions in certain companies, as the authorities pointed out.
However, the lawyer from the De la Vega & Martínez Rojas Firm, also said, there are many other companies that could resent this measure, as their profit margin could be put at risk “and thus, in my opinion, a support program should be considered.”
In this sense, he considered micro, small and medium companies, who do not have very high profit margins and who suffer when their costs rise, to be the most fragile.
