What rights do I have if I suffer an accident on the way to or from work?

If a working person suffers an accident on the way to the workplace or on the way home, they are entitled to disability. This benefit can be for a few days, with 100% of your salary, or permanent if you are no longer able to return to your job. The big problem is that the majority belongs to the informal sector and without social security it will be difficult for them to have a guarantee of these rights.

Article 42 of the Social Security Law (LSS) indicates that a work accident is also one that “occurs when the worker moves directly from his home to the place of work, or from the latter to the former.” According to the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS), each year on average about 138,000 cases of this type are registered.

A a large part of that population does not contribute to a pension. If they get sick or have an accident, they will not have a paid disability or they will not enjoy a life annuity if that accident leaves sequelae for which they can no longer work. And if they die and they had economic dependents, they will most likely be left homeless.

Full or partial pension

In order for “the insured person who suffers an occupational accident or illness” to obtain economic benefits “they must undergo medical examinations and treatments determined” by the IMSS.

In accordance with article 50 of the LSS, the institute will notify “the employer when an accident or illness is classified as professional, or in the event of a relapse due to these”. In the event of the death of the worker, his family must “immediately report the accident to the institute” who has suffered

According to numeral I of article 58, if the accident prevents you from working temporarily, you will receive “one hundred percent of the salary in which you were contributing at the time of the risk.” This amount will be given to you as long as you recover or as long as partial or total permanent disability is declared.

The Procedure decide whether or not you can return to work “must be carried out within the term of 152 weeks the duration of medical care as a result of the accident.

The IMSS grants two types of permanent disabilities: partial and total. Both deserve a lifetime pension. In the event that it is considered that the worker was completely unable to work, the final monthly pension will be 70% of the salary that was quoted at the time of the risk.

On the other hand, if the declared disability is permanent but partial, the pension will be calculated based on the disability assessment table of the Federal Labor Law (LFT). Said table is addressed to the IMSS medical personnel, “who will determine the percentage that the employer must give to the employee, according to the disease,” indicates the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS).

Once the IMSS issues the permanent disability resolution, be it partial or total, a period of two years opens in which the worker can request a review. After that “adjustment period, the final pension will be granted.”

death pension

If the worker dies as a result of an accident at work, their beneficiaries will have right to a pension, according to article 64 of the LSS. The percentages, according to that law are as follows:

By widowhood. Lifetime pension equivalent to 40% of the pension that would have corresponded to the worker due to total permanent disability. If he remarries, he will lose the right and a settlement of three years of the amount of the pension will be granted.

For orphanage. The amount will be only 20% of the total permanent disability pension. If both fathers or mothers had died in the work accident, the pension will be 30 percent. They will be granted up to 16 years of age, or up to 25 if they continue studying. If they begin to work and contribute to the IMSS, they will lose the right. At the end of the orphan’s pension, an additional payment of three monthly payments of the pension will be delivered.

Of ancestry. If the worker who died in a work accident had not married and did not have daughters or sons, their ancestors can claim a life pension. This will correspond to 20% of the total permanent disability pension for each person who proves economic dependency, perhaps their mother, father or even grandparents.

Meanwhile, article 276 of the LFT establishes that “the employer under whose authority the work was provided, will be responsible for work accidents.” For which you will have the obligation to pay compensation.

According to article 58 of the LSS, if the IMSS determines that the person was affected in 25% of their ability to work, it will not grant them a pension. Instead, he will pay him a “global compensation equivalent to five years of the pension that would have corresponded to him.”

Pensioned workers will receive a Christmas bonus equivalent to fifteen days of the amount of the pension they receive.

If the worker was discharged, but later suffers a relapse, they will be entitled to other days of disability. In the same way, in this new recovery period, she will receive 100% of her salary.

In the event of the death of the worker or worker, the family has the right to receive help for funeral expenses. The amount is 60 days of the current minimum wage in Mexico City.