L E G A L U P D A T E
December, 2015
RESOLUTION WHICH CREATES THE NOTICE SYSTEM OF WORK RELATED ACCIDENTS WAS CREATED AND THE TEMPLATES TO INFORM WORK RELATED ACCIDENTS AND DEATHS OF WORKERS WERE PUBLISHED
On December 14, 2015, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare ("STPS" for its acronym in Spanish) published in the Federal Official Gazette ("DOF" for its acronym in Spanish) the Resolution by means of which the Notice System of Work Related Accidents was created and the templates to inform work related accidents and deaths of workers were published ("Resolution"). The Resolution shall become binding as of January 1, 2016.
I. Antecedent
On November 30, 2012, a Decree approved by Congress in terms of which the Mexican Federal Labor Law ("FLL") was reformed, was published in the DOF, same which became binding on December 1, 2012. As a result of said reform, several modifications were introduced regarding the regulation of employment relationships in Mexico.
Among others, sections XVI and XVII of Article 132 as well as section V of Article 504 of the FLL were modified in order to re-define the obligation of employers to (i) install and operate the workplace in accordance with the provisions established in the regulation and the Mexican Official Standards in matters pertaining safety, health and environment in the workplace, in order to prevent work related accidents and diseases; (ii) adopt the preventive and corrective measures determined by the labor authorities in this regard; (iii) observe and fulfill the regulation and the Mexican Official Standards in matters pertaining safety, health and environment in the workplace; and (iv) give notice in writing or through electronic means to the STPS, among other authorities, within the next 72 hours, of any accidents occurred, being also obliged to give the foregoing notice to such authorities as soon as the employer becomes aware of the death of a worker due to work related hazards, the foregoing in accordance with section VI of Article 504 of the FLL.
II.Resolution
The purpose of the Resolution is to establish the Notice System of Work Related Accidents ("SIAAT" for its acronym in Spanish), as well as to publish the formats by means of which employers, workers or family members may submit before the STPS, under oath to tell the truth, the notices of work related accidents and deaths occurred as a consequence of work related hazards. The Agreement is issued with the intention of providing employers with the technological means to allow them to fulfill their obligations in a simpler way.
The Resolution establishes that employers must avoid the double delivery of notices of work related accidents. For such a purpose, employers must submit such notices either in writing or through their registry in the SIAAT, the foregoing in order to avoid accounting work related accidents twice.
The resolution also states that the information received by the STPS due to the application of the Resolution shall be shared with the General Direction of Federal Work Inspection, the Unit of Federal Work Delegations and with the Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board. Employers who file notices of 2 work related accidents before the STPS shall be deemed to have complied with their obligation at federal level as set forth in sections V and VI of Article 504 of the FLL.
In those cases in which the STPS detects (i) that the information provided by employers, whether through the SIAAT or through the formats included in the Resolution, is false; (ii) that the employers have conducted themselves with intentional malice or bad faith; or (iii) that there are inconsistencies in the filling-in of the notices; the STPS shall order extraordinary visits of inspection in the workplaces, the foregoing in addition to the notice that it may have to give to the corresponding District Attorney’s Office.
The SIAAT is an electronic system which purpose is simplifying for employers the filing before the STPS of the notices of work related accidents and deaths occurred as a consequence of work related hazards. The SIAAT may be accessed by all employers and its representatives of the workplaces established within the country who may become aware of the occurrence of a work related accident or death. In addition to the website http://siaat.stps.gob.mx, the STPS shall provide through in the websites http://www.stps.gob.mx and http://www.gob.mx. The administration and operation of the SIAAT will be in charge of the STPS through the General Direction of Labor Investigation and Statistics, with the technical and software support of the General Direction of Information Technologies.
Employers who chose to submit notices of work related accidents through the SIAAT must use their advanced electronic signature ("Firma Electrónica Avanzada" or "FIEL" for its acronym in Spanish), and have their current digital certificate issued by the Tax Administration Service ("SAT" for its acronym in Spanish); they must also have the public and private codes that conform it, and must follow the procedures set forth in the user manual of the SIAAT, which is available in the abovementioned website. The Resolution establishes that those employers who login to the SIAAT through authentication with the FIEL, expressly agree to register, with the same, the notices of work related accidents and deaths.
When the employer authorizes one or more individuals to submit the notices of work related accidents and death, it will be necessary to register in the SIAAT the general information of the designated persons. Likewise, in case that the notices or complementary information is submitted by a representative, it will be necessary to attach in the SIAAT, in digital form, a brief of authorization with the original signature of the employer or its legal representative.
Once a notice is received by the SIAAT, it will issue an electronic receipt of delivery as proof of the submission, same which will contain the following information: (i) document number; (ii) name or corporate denomination of the employer, and its federal tax payer registry number ("R.F.C." for its acronym in Spanish); (iii) name of the injured employee and its Mexican Individual Registration Number ("CURP" for its acronym in Spanish); (iv) workplace where the accident or death occurred; (v) date and time in which the notice was submitted; (vi) date and time of the accident or death; (vii) State and Municipality in which the accident or death occurred; (viii) link ("cadena digital"); and (iv) QR code (bi-dimensional barcode which contains codified information to validate the notices). The authenticity of the electronic receipt of delivery will be verifiable online in the SIAAT, through the QR code.
The STPS will publish the following templates in the website http://siaat.stps.gob.mx, same which will be available as of January 01, 2016: (i) "Notice of work related accidents", which must be used when the employer decides to submit in writing the notices of work related accidents or deaths; (ii) "Complementary information to the notice of work related accidents", which must be used to complement information registered in the template described in the preceding section; and (iii) "Notice of work related accidents for employees and family members", which must be used when the notice is submitted by the injured workers or their relatives, when the employer fails to comply with its obligation to submit the notice within the following 72 hours to the accident.
The templates must be completely filled-in in duplicate and shall be submitted with original signature before the General Direction of Labor Investigation and Statistics or in the Delegation, Sub-delegation or the closest Federal Work Office to the workplace in which the accident occurred. The STPS will provide the instructions to complete the templates, same which will be available in the same website. An example of the templates is available in the following link:
http://www.dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5419853&fecha=14/12/2015
In case you require additional information, please contact the partner responsible of your account or any of the following attorneys: