More than a year has passed since Mexico, like the rest of the world, found itself immersed in the havoc caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our country’s productive sectors sought, through various means, to adapt their ways of producing goods and providing services in the face of a virus that forces us to stay home and reduce social contact to a minimum.
It is a fact that the way in which we were accustomed to living, working, coexisting in society, and, in general, everything, changed from one moment to the next, and we had to revolutionize ourselves both practically and mentally in order to keep functioning. Growing technology and alternative means of communication served as a key element for practicing social distancing without affecting, or doing so as little as possible, the development of life in workplaces. Many employers who, before the pandemic, refused to modernize their ways of working, found in remote work (home office) a way to keep their employees working from home and, in many cases, even doing so more productively. However, the increase in productivity has exposed several problems that we face in Mexico in connection with remote work. Respect for the right to disconnect, compliance with working hours, and the separation between personal and work life —which is increasingly blurred— cause harm to employees that has begun to be a red flag requiring prompt attention. In the context of the pandemic, and with the urgency that the situation warranted, the Federal Labor Law was amended precisely to include the regulation of this new labor dynamic, establishing the minimum rights and obligations under that format. However, said regulation is a general framework and does not specify how to adapt to the needs of each workplace, which is why it is essential to have policies and, even, in accordance with the standard itself, to adjust the wording of employment contracts to allow the use of the model in a manner that protects the interests of the parties and avoids penalties. The so-called burnout syndrome, or job-burnout syndrome, is a form of work-related stress that involves precisely the emotional exhaustion of the individual, the loss of interest in his or her objectives, and rejection of work, among other things. It is a proven fact that our country’s productive sector, which today operates through the remote format, is also closer to suffering work-related stress and other psychosocial risks that may incapacitate it for the proper performance of its functions. In October 2018, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare published in the Official Gazette of the Federation NOM-035-STPS-2018, for the identification, analysis, and prevention of psychosocial risks at work. Under said regulations, workplaces must implement a policy in this regard: administer questionnaires, keep records, and other mechanisms of identification, analysis, and prevention. To date, a large number of workplaces have not adapted their regulations to include the indicated policies, exposing themselves to penalties by the labor authorities and also exposing their workers to suffering the consequences of psychosocial risks. It is worth noting that the remote modality made even more evident the inequality experienced day by day by women, groups in situations of vulnerability, and, in general, the economically active sectors of the population. The foregoing results from the current social context and the coexistence of labor, family, school, and social obligations within the same physical space, revealing the shortcomings and failures on which our society is founded. Today it is an imminent necessity to be concerned about the mental health of workers, to know their personal context, and to promote healthy and functional labor relations. It is not enough to have a remote-work policy in terms of what is established by the Federal Labor Law, nor is it enough to administer questionnaires to detect psychosocial risks as indicated by NOM 035. Workplaces need to generate social and labor awareness, in such a way as to seek to prevent any harm or deterioration in the health of collaborators. That is why it is essential to find a way to take care of workers within the correct regulatory framework, allowing businesses to keep operating and to comply with the laws but, above all, to contribute to the integral development of their members, in such a way that professional achievements also reflect personal growth. To achieve this, it will be essential for companies to have the advice and support of experts who help them design and implement the necessary policies and strategies, adapted to their particular context, that place them in a scenario of legal compliance and at the forefront. For additional information on the subject of this note, please contact our experts: Rodolfo Trampe, Partner: +52 (55) 5258-1054 | rtrampe@vwys.com.mx Alix Trimmer, Associate: +52 (55) 5258-1016 | atrimmer@vwys.com.mx
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