Internal Work Regulations Mexico (Reglamento Interior de Trabajo)

Internal Work Regulations Mexico (Reglamento Interior de Trabajo) is a mandatory workplace governance document that establishes the specific rules, procedures, obligations, and disciplinary framework governing the daily conduct of the employment relationship within a company or establishment, governed principally by Articles 422 through 425 of the Ley Federal del Trabajo (LFT) published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 1 April 1970 and substantially reformed in May 2019. Article 422 LFT defines the Reglamento Interior de Trabajo as a set of provisions that establish the conditions to which the employer and workers must submit in carrying out their work in the establishment (empresa o establecimiento), and mandates that these provisions do not contravene or alter the minimum rights established in the LFT or in the applicable collective bargaining agreement (contrato colectivo de trabajo). Article 423 LFT specifies the mandatory content that every Reglamento must address — including hours of entry and exit, days and hours of work, time and place of payment, special workplace norms for women and minors under Article 166 LFT, safety and hygiene requirements, disciplinary sanctions and their application procedures, and the mechanism for workers to request reclassification or promotion.

The constitutional foundation for workplace regulations in Mexico derives from Article 123, Apartado A of the Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos of 5 February 1917, which mandates the regulation of working conditions to protect worker health, safety, and dignity. The Reglamento Interior de Trabajo operates as a binding supplement to individual employment contracts — it cannot reduce minimum legal rights but may establish higher standards, specific workplace procedures, and company-specific protocols within the framework set by the LFT. The Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social (STPS) through the Dirección General de Inspección del Trabajo monitors Reglamento compliance as part of routine employer audits under Articles 540–541 LFT.

For companies with 20 or more workers in a single establishment, Article 424 LFT requires that the Reglamento Interior de Trabajo be agreed jointly by the employer and the workers (or their union representative under a contrato colectivo de trabajo) and deposited with the STPS — specifically with the Delegación Regional de la STPS (regional STPS office) or, following the 2019 reform, registered with the Centro Federal de Conciliación y Registro Laboral (CFCRL). The CFCRL, established by the Decreto de reforma laboral published in the DOF on 1 May 2019, replaced the Juntas de Conciliación y Arbitraje as the authority for pre-litigation conciliation and registration of collective labour documents including the Reglamento Interior de Trabajo for federally regulated industries.

The Reglamento Interior de Trabajo must also address specific compliance requirements introduced by Normas Oficiales Mexicanas (NOMs) issued by the STPS. NOM-035-STPS-2018 (psychosocial risk factors) requires the Reglamento to include provisions on the prevention of workplace violence (violencia laboral) and psychological harassment (hostigamiento y acoso laboral) — both of which were elevated to mandatory Reglamento content by the 2019 LFT reform that added Articles 3 Bis (defining workplace harassment) and 132 Fraction XXXI (employer obligation to create a protocol against discrimination and harassment). NOM-030-STPS-2009 (occupational safety programs), NOM-001-STPS-2008 (electrical safety), and sector-specific NOMs establish additional content requirements for the safety and hygiene sections of the Reglamento.

From a labour litigation perspective, the Reglamento Interior de Trabajo is critical evidence in Tribunal Laboral proceedings — it establishes the disciplinary procedure that the employer must follow before imposing sanctions on workers, and departures from the Reglamento procedure may convert a justified sanction into an unjustified dismissal under Article 47 LFT, triggering full severance liability under Article 50 LFT. All workers must be informed of the Reglamento content and must receive a copy or have access to the posted version (fixed in a visible location in the workplace under Article 425 LFT) to be bound by its provisions.

Internal Work Regulations Mexico are mandatory for all employers with 20 or more workers in a single establishment under Article 424 of the Ley Federal del Trabajo. The Reglamento must be agreed and registered before the establishment reaches 20 workers — employers who surpass this threshold without a registered Reglamento are in violation of Article 424 LFT and subject to fines under Article 994 LFT.

A Reglamento Interior de Trabajo is needed when a new establishment is opened — even if the parent company has an existing Reglamento, each establishment with 20 or more workers requires a separate registration with the STPS or CFCRL covering the specific working conditions at that location. For multi-establishment companies (empresas con múltiples establecimientos), a unified Reglamento covering all locations may be registered if working conditions are substantially uniform — but location-specific safety and shift provisions must be addressed in addenda or supplements.

The Reglamento is needed when existing workplace rules require updating — common triggers include changes in work schedules (jornadas de trabajo), introduction of remote work (teletrabajo) arrangements under Articles 330-A through 330-K LFT (added by the 2021 reform), changes in disciplinary procedures following the 2019 reforma laboral, or new compliance obligations under freshly issued Normas Oficiales Mexicanas. Under Article 424 LFT, modifications to the Reglamento require the same joint agreement process as the original registration — unilateral modification by the employer is invalid and workers may continue to rely on the prior version before the modification takes legal effect.

The document is required when a company becomes subject to a collective bargaining agreement (contrato colectivo de trabajo) — the CBA may incorporate the Reglamento by reference or require specific amendments to align workplace rules with the agreed escalafón, seniority, and disciplinary provisions of the collective agreement. Under Article 422 LFT, the Reglamento may not contradict the CBA's minimum standards.

A Reglamento Interior de Trabajo is also needed when the STPS Inspección del Trabajo identifies its absence or non-compliance during a routine employer audit — in this case, the employer must produce and register a compliant Reglamento within the time period specified in the inspection report (acta de inspección) to avoid escalating penalties under Articles 992–994 LFT. Companies with fewer than 20 workers are not legally required to file a Reglamento but benefit from having one as a documented framework for consistent disciplinary application and STPS Inspección readiness.

A valid Internal Work Regulations Mexico document under Ley Federal del Trabajo Articles 422–425 must address the following mandatory content areas and additional elements required by NOM compliance obligations.

Entry, Exit, and Work Schedule Provisions: Under Article 423 Fraction I LFT, the Reglamento must specify the hours of entry (hora de entrada) and exit (hora de salida) for each work shift (turno), the grace period permitted for late arrivals, and the procedure for recording attendance (control de asistencia). For establishments with multiple shifts, each shift's schedule must be detailed. The Reglamento must specify the location or method for the time-and-attendance system — biometric scanners, electronic check-in, or traditional time cards — and the consequences of repeated tardiness within the disciplinary framework.

Salary Payment: Under Article 423 Fraction III LFT, the place, time, and method of salary payment must be established. The Reglamento should specify whether payment is made by bank transfer (SPEI to CLABE), payroll card (tarjeta de nómina), or cash (for workers in remote locations without banking access), the specific day and time of each payment period, and the procedure for workers to report and resolve payment discrepancies. The payment provisions must be consistent with Article 88 LFT's maximum payment interval limits.

Rest Periods and Leave Policies: The Reglamento must address the daily rest period (tiempo de descanso para alimentos — typically 30 to 60 minutes, which does not count toward the workday under Article 63 LFT), weekly rest days (descanso semanal under Article 69 LFT), mandatory official holidays (días de descanso obligatorio under Article 74 LFT — seven federal holidays plus those agreed in the CBA), and the procedure for requesting vacation (vacaciones under Articles 76–80 LFT), sick leave (incapacidad médica del IMSS), and personal leave (permisos con y sin goce de sueldo).

Safety and Hygiene Provisions: Under Article 423 Fraction VII LFT and the STPS NOMs framework, the Reglamento must establish safety rules for each work area, required personal protective equipment (equipo de protección personal — EPP) under NOM-017-STPS-2008, emergency evacuation procedures under NOM-002-STPS-2010, and the composition and responsibilities of the Comisión de Seguridad e Higiene (mandatory bipartite safety committee under Article 509 LFT and NOM-019-STPS-2011). The NOM-035-STPS-2018 psychosocial risk prevention program must be referenced, with the employer's specific measures for preventing workplace violence, acoso laboral (workplace harassment), and hostigamiento sexual (sexual harassment) documented under Articles 3 Bis and 132 Fraction XXXI LFT.

Disciplinary System: Under Article 423 Fraction VIII LFT, the Reglamento must establish the specific types of worker violations (faltas) and the corresponding disciplinary sanctions (sanciones) applicable to each — typically a progressive discipline system (amonestación verbal, amonestación escrita, suspensión sin goce de sueldo, rescisión justificada under Article 47 LFT). The procedure for applying each sanction must be specified, including the worker's right to be heard (garantía de audiencia), the timeframe for applying sanctions after discovering the infraction (Article 517 LFT — 30-day limitation period), and the formal documentation required (acta administrativa levantada ante testigos). Without a documented Reglamento disciplinary procedure, employers risk having all dismissals classified as unjustified by the Tribunales Laborales.

Promotion and Escalafón Provisions: For companies not governed by a collective bargaining agreement, the Reglamento must establish the criteria for worker promotion (ascenso) and the escalafón (merit-seniority ladder) under Article 423 Fraction VIII LFT. These provisions must apply objective criteria — seniority, performance evaluation results, training certifications — and must be applied without discrimination under Article 133 LFT. Forms-legal.com provides this Internal Work Regulations Mexico template to help employers establish a legally compliant governance framework under LFT Articles 422–425 and NOM-035-STPS-2018.

Remote Work Provisions: For establishments where any workers perform teletrabajo (remote work) under Articles 330-A through 330-K LFT (2021 reform), the Reglamento must address: the equipment and connectivity support obligations of the employer (Article 330-H LFT), the right to disconnect (derecho a la desconexión under Article 330-J LFT), the mechanisms for monitoring remote work attendance and productivity without violating the worker's privacy under the LFPDPPP, and the process for transitioning between remote and in-person work arrangements.