Note published on May 13 in El Universal, Cartera [Portfolio] Section by Rubén Migueles.
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If the company where you work generated profits last year, employers have until the last day of May to distribute the corresponding portion among workers with the right to this benefit; therefore, these workers must verify that they receive the payment during the course of this month, explained lawyer Héctor de la Cruz, a partner at De la Vega & Martínez Rojas.
In case of not receiving it, the worker has two options. The main option is for the worker to go to the Labor Defense Attorney’s Office to file a complaint. That agency has the obligation of addressing these complaints and solving them in a relatively short period of time.
The Labor Defense Attorney’s Office requires the employer to present the documents that accredit whether the profit sharing corresponding to the fiscal year exists or, otherwise, in the event that there were no profits, to clarify the matter with the worker.
The second option is for the worker to file a complaint before the Conciliation and Arbitration Board with the objective of presenting the claim and to have the case resolved in order to have the corresponding payment made, as it is an obligation of all employers that have generated profits.
In the opinion of Héctor de la Cruz, the best option is to resort to the Labor Defense Attorney’s Office because it is a conciliatory agency that is free of cost. This is the best option as a first instance in order to solve the matter because the resolution period is relatively short, as it should not be longer than a month and a half.
But if the case is not solved there, if the employer refuses to make the payment, the worker would necessarily have to go to court in order to obtain a ruling authorizing him to be paid the corresponding amount.
“The problem is that the labor lawsuit is a longer procedure; in average, the process takes between two and three years, which takes a greater toll on the worker and, therefore, in my opinion, the first instance that they must resort to is the Labor Defense Attorney’s Office in order to try to solve the matter as quickly as possible”, said the lawyer.
The obligation in terms of the Law is that the company pays the full amount of profit sharing in a single payment, however, there are ways for the employer and the worker to agree on establishing other modalities, for example, agreeing to postpone the payment for a couple of months or making the payment in installments.
But in those cases, it is mandatory that the worker be in agreement, it is necessary to have the worker’s consent in that type of situation
