On March 19, the Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare, Luisa María Alcalde Luján, announced a new three-month cap on profit sharing for workers, which would mean an increase from 22 to 57 days on average, equal to an increase of 154%.

She also mentioned that currently an average of 22 days of profit sharing is paid, which represents 7,301 pesos, and with the new proposal this benefit would be increased to 18,557 pesos per worker.

Previously, the total cost of PTU was 56,120 million pesos, with the present change it will increase to 157 billion pesos for over 6 million workers in the country.

In the words of Secretary Alcalde, “The proposal simplifies the implementation of the Law and gives equal treatment to all sectors. The sectors where there will be more benefits for workers are those that used to pay a PTU much lower than the national average (22 days),” said the Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS by its Spanish acronym).

Secretary Alcalde pointed out several examples, such as the specialized construction sector, which pays an average of 5 days, corresponding to 796 pesos, but with this amendment, workers in this sector will get 83 days, amounting to 13,526 pesos.

“With the proposal, the proportion of workers earning PTU above the national average would increase by 43 percent,” said the STPS.

Luisa María Alcalde Luján, pointed out that an amendment to article 127 of the Federal Labor Law is required, which in section VIII will include that “the amount of profit sharing will have a cap of three months of the worker’s salary or the average of the profit sharing received in the last three years; the amount that is in favor of the worker will be applied”.

It is important to mention that currently Article 127 of the Federal Labor Law (LFT by its Spanish acronym), in its section III, establishes a cap, which should be modified or repealed for these purposes:

III. The amount of the share of workers in the service of persons whose income arises exclusively from their work, and of those who are engaged in the care of goods that produce income or in the collection of credits and their interest, may not exceed one month’s salary.

The STPS has made available the following image to provide information on how the payment of PTU should be properly performed.

Do you know how to estimate the profit sharing?

Once the amount of the company’s profit has been determined, a 10% should be divided in two equal parts:

* the first half of the 10% is distributed equally among the workers, according to the days accrued during the year, regardless of salary.

* the second half of the 10% is distributed in proportion to the annual salaries of each worker. In other words, it will vary according to each worker’s salary.)

We will be following up on any communication from the labor authorities to keep you informed.

We remain at your service for any questions or clarification in this regard.