In response to the COVID-19 Health Emergency, on April 13, 2020, the Mexican Social Security Institute (“IMSS” by its acronym in Spanish), the Plenary of the Council of the Federal Judiciary and the General Plenary of the Superior Chamber of the Federal Court of Administrative Justice, issued various publications in compliance with the health standards put in place to counter the pandemic. The most relevant of these publications are summarized below:
- Articles 40-C and 40-D of the Social Security Law provide that the IMSS, upon the request of an employer, may grant an extension for the payment of past due amounts for IMSS employer and employee contributions, capital, contributions for retirement insurance, and contributions for seniority severance and severance of older workers. During said extension, which is not to exceed forty-eight months, late fees will be calculated based on the unpaid balance then due. The corresponding agreements must be entered into in person before the Sub-delegation and office that controls the employer registration of the respective company.
For this purpose, the National Council of the Mexican Social Security Institute approved the proposal made by the representative of the Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce, Services and Tourism (“CONCANACO” by its acronym in Spanish) so that the payment of the aforementioned items may be deferred with the understanding that the initial amount to be covered will be 20% of the employer’s contribution and 100% of the employee’s contribution, and that the remaining amount may be deferred a maximum of forty-eight months, with no collateral required, and that the monthly interest rate will fluctuate between 1.26% and 1.82%, depending on the term selected (12, 24 and more than 24 months).
- Pursuant to Decree 6/2020, the Plenary of the Council of the Federal Judiciary amended and added Decree 4/2020 regarding contingency measures in the courts resulting from the public health event caused by the COVID-19 virus, extending the suspension of work from March 18 to May 5, 2020, which does not apply to courts that are on duty for purposes of handling urgent matters.
- Pursuant to Decree SS/11/2020, the General Plenary of the Superior Chamber of the Federal Court of Administrative Justice, the suspension of jurisdictional activities is extended from April 20 to May 5, 2020.
Likewise, temporary safeguards are put in place for attending to and resolving requests, in urgent cases without delay, for precautionary measures or suspensions of contested acts arising during the period of suspension of jurisdictional activities. Therefore, the Governing Board of the Federal Court of Administrative Justice will determine guidelines for the implementation of said temporary safeguards with instructions to reduce, as much as possible, the number of people who must work, considering that this is a limited docket and trying to use the administrative and technological resources at the disposition of the Court, such as e-mail and the jurisdictional bulletin, among others.The Federal Court of Administrative Justice may hold remote sessions of the General Plenary, the Jurisdictional Plenary and Sections of the Superior Chamber, as well as of the Governing Board and Administration, using technology tools. The scheduling of these sessions will depend on the assessment of the workload already contemplated by the General Plenary and the Governing and Administration Board.Contact information:Miriam Name | mname@ccn-law.comEsteban Gómez | egomez@ccn-law.com.mx
