While businesses often focus their compliance efforts on major legislative reforms, a recent decree issued by Mexico’s Department of Labor and Social Welfare (“STPS”) has introduced significant changes to the day-to-day administrative burden faced by employers. Through this new decree, the Mexican labor authority has officially reduced requirements that have historically created administrative bottlenecks for employers, directly affecting two areas: industrial safety and the formalization of work-from-home arrangements.
Until very recently, managing these notices required a formal administrative filing process. Preparing files with redundant notarized powers of attorney or relying on informal written submissions that were subject to varying individual interpretations. In fact frequent rejection by the government official handling the matter was standard practice. That landscape is now changing. The authority has eliminated the requirement to submit powers of attorney and documents previously issued by the same agency, opting instead for standardized forms. Although this may appear to be a minor adjustment, in practice it substantially reduces the margin for technical error and administrative discretion during inspection processes.
The real significance of this measure lies in the streamlining of employers’ response timelines. On the one hand, the multiplicity of notices related to NOM-020-STPS-2011, which governs pressure equipment and vessels classified under Category III, is no longer an issue. The authority has consolidated the former STPS-08-002 and STPS-08-003 procedures into a single administrative process, which now operates exclusively under the STPS-08-003 code. Through this unified process, companies may obtain their control number within a maximum of five business days, provided that the application is submitted at least five business days before the equipment is placed into operation.
On the other hand, the most significant change affects Mexico’s work-from-home registration framework. The previous dual burden of separately managing employer registration and the validation of work record books has been consolidated through the merger of the STPS-08-006 and STPS-08-007 procedures. The surviving procedure, now identified solely as STPS-08-006, is intended to expedite the statutory processing period, reducing it from three months to just fifteen business days.
The immediate result for businesses operating in Mexico is to strongly consider avoiding use of the previous “informal written submissions. Companies’ Human Resources and Health and Safety departments should promptly transition to the new official forms published by the STPS to avoid requests for corrections based on formal deficiencies. This apparent administrative flexibility creates an operational risk if companies fail to update their internal manuals in a timely manner. It is therefore essential to audit corporate expiration calendars, particularly because the renewal of certifications under NOM-020 now requires strict discipline: the filing must be made within a specific period of sixty calendar days before the certification expires.
The STPS’s regulatory simplification not only streamlines administrative paperwork but also reduces the procedural grounds for delays in key authorizations. Updating corporate protocols to reflect these guidelines now is no longer merely a compliance matter; it becomes a strategic safeguard for ensuring business continuity and minimizing unnecessary friction with Mexican authorities.
For any questions or additional information regarding this matter, please contact Pablo Sáenz and Santiago González Ojeda.
Pablo Sáenz | psaenz@ccn-law.com.mx
Santiago González Ojeda | sgonzalez@ccn-law.com.mx