Women and Pregnancy/Maternity Leave in Mexico - In Mexico pregnancy and maternity are social values which are greatly protected under the law.
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Sunday, March 8, 2009 |
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Women and Pregnancy/Maternity Leave in Mexico - In Mexico pregnancy and maternity are social values which are greatly protected under the law. Abortion continues to be a criminal offense. In the Constitution of the Republic itself, Roman Numeral V of Article 123 is entirely devoted to the basic rights of pregnancy and start-up maternity. The constitutional principle states that women during pregnancy shall not perform any kind of labor demanding considerable effort and signifying a danger to their health during gestation. Women shall enjoy an obligatory rest of six weeks before the approximate date of delivery and of six weeks after giving birth. During these three months they must receive their full salary and preserve their employment and their acquired rights on account of the working relationship. During the period of lactancy mothers shall have two periods of rest during working time of half an hour each in order to feed their children.
Amplifying the basic principles in the Constitution, the Federal Labor Law (FLL) has a full Title, number Five, which deals with labor of women. The Title starts in Article 164 of the FLL by stating that women enjoy the same rights and bear the same obligations as men, a long standing goal of feminism. However, apparently in contradiction, the next Article 165 of the FLL mandates specific and different modalities for women's labor, having to do with the main purpose of protecting maternity and lactancy.
Article 166 prohibits employers from engaging women in unhealthy and/or dangerous activities during gestation and lactancy. It also prohibits women from working industrial night shifts, from working in commercial or service activities after 10 p.m.as well as in performing overtime. These protections must occur without any reduction in women’s salary, special bonuses and rights. The general definition of unhealthy and dangerous activities are then specified in Article 167 of the FLL as those which, because of the nature of the work or the physical, chemical and biological conditions of the environment, within which work is rendered or because of the composition of the raw materials being utilized, are capable of acting negatively over the life and health, physical and/or mental, of the women in state of gestation and/or over the unborn and/or born child. Certain rulings describe in concrete the activities which are unhealthy and/or dangerous.
Article 170 of the FLL regulates and prescribes in detail the women's constitutional rights. 1) During pregnancy women shall not perform work demanding considerable effort, such as lifting, pulling or pushing great weights, shall not be a fearful environment, remain standing for long periods of time, nor perform actions which alter the psychic and/or nervous state. 2) The periods of six weeks before birth and six weeks after, of mandatory rest, shall be enlarged for all the time necessary in case it is impossible for a specific woman to work because of the pregnancy or delivery. 3) The two half hour periods to feed their children during work time shall be spent in an adequate and hygenic place designated by the employer. 4) During the three month period, before and after birth, women shall receive full pay. During the enlarged period and up to sixty additional days, women shall receive fifty percent of their wages. 5) Mothers shall return to their same job, as long as no more than a year has elapsed after the date of delivery. 6) The pre and post birth rest periods, are to be taken into consideration as part of their seniority.
Article 171 states that the Mexican Institute of Social Security shall provide the day care services, according to its law, which mandates the delivery of a special service to working mothers, through day care centers, for children from 43 days to four years in age, financed through an obligatory contribution of one percent of payroll paid by all employers to finance these day care centers, according to Articles 201 through 213 inclusive of the Social Security Law of Mexico. If the employer provides directly the services of day care for children, the Social Security Institute is prepared to negotiate the reversion or adjustment of the mandatory premium of one percent of the payroll, payable by the cited employer.
Finally Article 172 of the FLL mandates that in establishments where women work the employer must keep a sufficient number of chairs for the use of working mothers.
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