The pandemic caused by covid-19 has been a tough, but very instructive test that allows companies and workers to realize that teleworking or home office It is not harmful, but productive when taken seriously enough, which has been the case in most cases, which is why the new Mexican Official Standard NOM-037, whose draft was recently published, should strengthen teleworking.
On July 15, 2022, it was published in the Official Journal of the Federation (DOF) the Draft Mexican Official Standard PROY-NOM-037-STPS-2022, which establishes the health and safety conditions in the aforementioned modality and derives from the reform to the Federal Labor Law on teleworking in January 2021. The project has 60 calendar days to be published in its final version and from then on, it will have another 180 calendar days for the obligations and conditions it contains to come into legal force, that is, towards the end of the first half of 2023.
The primary objective is to protect workers and provide them with greater guarantees, and this means that employers must be very aware of their new obligations. This is a change in work culture with budgetary implications for organizations, as it also entails inspections by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) and, eventually, economic sanctions for non-compliance.
Although it is a draft, I believe that it should be taken as practically the final version. It is very difficult for a draft to be significantly modified once it is published, especially since a year and a half has been spent discussing it by the authorities, private initiatives and civil society organisations.
The NOM-037 project is the result of a new reality in the country. There were already very specific studies that solutions had to be analyzed for road traffic and insecurity problems, especially in large cities. Before the pandemic, some companies managed, if not the home officeYes, flexible working hours; for example, Fridays were granted so that staff could continue working from home, especially in intellectual activities that do not require 100% physical presence in the workplace.
The NOM-037 project establishes minimum elements so that the teleworker can carry out his tasks in optimal conditions. For example, having an ergonomic chair that guarantees an adequate body posture; it seems like a minor issue, but someone who is seated for 8 hours a day during the work day can suffer serious illnesses and stress in the long run if the chair is not adequate for his work; the project also considers the risks of working at home, the rules of contact that guarantee that there is no social isolation and the loss of the sense of belonging. Employees will also have the right to disconnect, that is, not to expect the company to answer calls outside of their work hours, during meal times or days off, etc.
The truth is that the pandemic, although very regrettable due to its dire consequences due to the loss of the lives of millions of human beings, in the workplace allowed us to verify that the majority of workers do take advantage of their time and are productive in this modality of working remotely from home.
We will have to be attentive, therefore, to the publication of NOM-037 and its entry into force and, of course, to the way in which both the provisions relating to teleworking and the rules contained in this NOM-037 end up landing in order to, where appropriate, finish evaluating the impact that this type of work has on the society and culture of our country.
By Andres Rodriguez, eexpert in labor law and social security.
Source: Excelsior
