In labor matters, 2022 will not be the exception in the wave of changes experienced by companies in the last three years, with a pending list to comply with both the new rules of the work relationships not to be left behind in market trends.
Specialists consider that this year will be marked by a work agenda robust, both in regulatory matters and in organizational changes to adapt to new work models and global trends.
“In recent years we have realized that labor issues They are not exclusive aspects of the Human Resources or labor relations areas. The incidence, importance and impact of some changes have required that the general management, the areas of operation, and purchases be involved in this. Labor aspects regain an importance throughout the organization, ”says Alfredo Kupfer, partner at the Sánchez Devanny firm.
The constant changes in the Labor legislation are a trend that will continue in 2022. In this context, Alfredo Kupfer, who is also a panelist of the Rapid Response Mechanism of the T-MEC for disputes in labor matters, considers that companies should be aware of the reforms that are promoted to throughout the year.
“We will have to continue monitoring the initiatives that are promoted during 2022, because just as in labor matters it seemed that it was practically impossible to touch the legislation a few years ago, now it seems that every year we have updates, modifications and, above all, adaptations to the new ones. realities ”, he points out.
For Jorge Pérez Izquierdo, general director of PAE, the labor agenda of companies will be full of challenges due to changes to the subcontracting regime and the practical adjustments that this implies, such as having to check that the contracted specialized service provider complies with the new legal framework.
“Many of the companies have to learn to live with the new schemes permanently, and the majority of the companies in Mexico used outsourcing schemes by productive cycles. That is a very important issue, being able to know how to select companies with the new scheme. The other issue that will be fundamental is the union, we know that it is an issue that has more preponderance and has to have a lot of lens and optics from the Human Resources areas “, explains the executive.
In this sense, Jacqueline Álvarez, partner of EY Law in Mexico, assures that as part of the legal modifications of the subcontracting reform, companies must now keep an updated file of each supplier to verify regulatory compliance.
“It is extremely important to have a defense file created for each supplier – whether specialized or not – in order to monitor the timely fulfillment of their obligations,” explains the specialist.
Safe regulatory changes
In addition to the new subcontracting rules, the telework reform is another of the points that organizations should consider in 2022, because as mobility recovers, remote work will no longer be due to force majeure and, therefore, there will be no justification for not complying with the legislation, he considered Alfredo Kupfer.
In the middle of this year, the official telework regulation will come into force, which will contain security measures in remote work and the risks associated with this activity.
Similarly, 2022 will be the first time that the profit sharing It is calculated with the new formula incorporated in the Federal Labor Law (LFT) after the subcontracting reform. In this sense, the amount may not exceed three months of salary or must equal the average of the PTU received in the last three years; whichever is higher.
On the other hand, this year the implementation of the 2019 reform will conclude so that the new labor justice system will operate in all the states of the country. This should be considered by the organizations because the solutions of labor disputes will have a new procedure.
Trends in human capital
Regulatory compliance will not be the only element of the work agenda of bussiness. The job market will also continue to transform with new trends.
According to Valeria Moy, general director of the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), the most important challenges in terms of work relationships They are on topics such as job flexibility, new leadership, mental health, and talent development and attraction.
“We can no longer ask workers to be in fixed office hours. We have to adapt to working from home, new forms of remote work, a hybrid labor market, and that is not trivial because it requires a technological integration that not all companies are ready to do ”, he explains.
Regardless of the behavior of the economy and the labor market, the specialist considers that the areas of Human Resources They will face a complicated environment due to the changes observed at a global level. “Things are changing, generations are different, young people react very differently, preparation is different, attitudes towards employment are very different. This poses challenges to the sector because it is not easy to find human resources to this to what one needs and in that sense the world and Mexico are changing ”.
According to a PAE survey, the highest priorities for companies in the coming months are the talent retention, the emotional well-being of employees and a competitive salary policy.
“None of this is new, they are not new issues, but they became more acute during the pandemic. Nobody was really moving, but now that the economy is beginning to move, people have more possibilities and alternatives, ”explains Jorge Pérez Izquierdo.