Collective Work Suspension Notice Mexico (Aviso de Suspensión Colectiva de Trabajo)

A Collective Work Suspension Notice Mexico (Aviso de Suspensión Colectiva de Trabajo) is a formal written document by which an employer notifies both its workers and the competent Tribunal Laboral of a temporary suspension of work affecting all or a significant portion of the workforce, without terminating the employment relationships, pursuant to the causes and procedures established in Articles 427 through 432 of the Ley Federal del Trabajo (LFT) published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 1 April 1970 as subsequently reformed.

The legal distinction between collective suspension and collective termination is fundamental in Mexican labour law. A suspension (suspensión) temporarily interrupts the employment relationship without extinguishing it — the employer retains its obligation to reinstate the workers and resume the employment relationship once the suspending cause ceases, and the workers retain all their accrued rights (seniority, benefits, IMSS registration continuity) during the suspension period. A collective termination (terminación colectiva — governed by Articles 433 through 439 LFT) permanently ends the employment relationships and triggers full liquidación obligations. The Aviso de Suspensión Colectiva is the procedural gateway to the temporary suspension regime and must be filed before or simultaneous with the cessation of work.

Article 427 LFT establishes the closed list of legally recognized causes for collective work suspension. These causes are: Fracción I — force majeure or act of God (fuerza mayor o caso fortuito) not imputable to the employer, such as natural disasters (earthquakes, hurricanes, floods declared as natural disasters by the Secretaría de Gobernación under the Sistema Nacional de Protección Civil), pandemics, or catastrophic events; Fracción II — the incosteability notoria y manifiesta (evident and manifest economic non-viability) of the exploitation of a mine under the Ley Minera; Fracción III — exhaustion of raw materials or inputs beyond the employer's control that make continued production impossible; Fracción IV — lack of funds and the impossibility of obtaining them to continue operations, if previously authorized by the Tribunal Laboral; Fracción V — excess production in relation to market conditions, if previously authorized by the Tribunal Laboral; Fracción VI — crisis of the industry or trade to which the employer belongs, if authorized by the Tribunal Laboral; and Fracción VII — for government-owned enterprises (empresas del Estado), orders of the competent authority.

The 2019 reforma laboral (Decreto published in the DOF on 1 May 2019) transferred jurisdiction over collective suspension proceedings from the now-abolished Juntas de Conciliación y Arbitraje to the new Tribunales Laborales (labour courts) created under the Poder Judicial de la Federación, and created the Centro Federal de Conciliación y Registro Laboral (CFCRL) as the administrative body responsible for the registration of collective labour instruments. Collective suspension proceedings now follow the procedural rules of the reformed Ley Federal del Trabajo and the Ley Orgánica del Poder Judicial de la Federación (LOPJF).

The COVID-19 pandemic that began in March 2020 brought widespread use of collective suspension proceedings in Mexico, as the Acuerdo del Consejo de Salubridad General of 30 March 2020 declared COVID-19 as a general health emergency and the subsequent Decreto of the Secretaría de Salud (SSA) suspending non-essential activities from 31 March 2020 triggered the force majeure / act of God cause under Article 427, Fracción I LFT for thousands of employers in non-essential industries. The Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social (STPS) issued guidance during the pandemic on the use of collective suspension as a tool for preserving employment relationships during the emergency.

A Collective Work Suspension Notice Mexico is required under Articles 427 through 429 of the Ley Federal del Trabajo whenever an employer seeks to temporarily interrupt work for all or a significant portion of its workforce based on one of the legally recognized causes in Article 427 LFT. The notice must be filed with the competent Tribunal Laboral before or simultaneously with the cessation of work — employers who cease operations without filing the notice risk having the suspension treated as an unjustified collective dismissal, triggering full liquidación obligations under Articles 49 and 50 LFT for every affected worker.

An Aviso de Suspensión Colectiva is needed when a natural disaster — earthquake, hurricane, flood, or other event declared as a natural disaster by the Secretaría de Gobernación under the Sistema Nacional de Protección Civil — destroys or renders unusable the employer's facilities, making continued operations temporarily impossible. In these cases, the force majeure cause of Article 427, Fracción I LFT applies immediately and the employer must file the notice as soon as practicable.

The notice is also needed when a public health emergency — such as the COVID-19 pandemic declaration under the Acuerdo del Consejo de Salubridad General — results in official orders suspending non-essential economic activities. During the March–May 2020 COVID emergency in Mexico, employers in sectors classified as non-essential by the Secretaría de Salud were required to suspend operations, and those seeking to use collective suspension rather than collective termination had to file the Article 427 notice with the relevant authority.

A suspension notice is required when an employer in the mining sector faces the incosteability notoria y manifiesta of the exploitation under Article 427, Fracción II LFT. Mining companies must file both with the Tribunal Laboral and comply with the reporting requirements of the Secretaría de Economía under the Ley Minera before the suspension can be recognized as legally valid.

The notice is needed when an employer — regardless of sector — faces economic causes that render continued operation temporarily impossible: exhaustion of inputs (Fracción III), lack of funds (Fracción IV), excess production relative to market conditions (Fracción V), or industry-wide crisis (Fracción VI). For causes Fracciones IV through VI, the employer must first obtain prior authorization from the Tribunal Laboral before ceasing work — failure to obtain prior authorization for these economic causes means the suspension is not legally protected and workers retain the right to receive salary during the unauthorized stoppage.

Under Article 429 LFT, during the period of collective suspension, the employer must pay each affected worker an indemnity (indemnización) calculated at one day's minimum wage (salario mínimo general — SMG established annually by the Comisión Nacional de los Salarios Mínimos — CONASAMI) per day of suspension, for each day that the suspension continues, unless a higher amount is agreed upon in a collective bargaining agreement (CCT) registered with the Centro Federal de Conciliación y Registro Laboral (CFCRL). This obligation runs from the first day of suspension and cannot be deferred or waived.

A valid Collective Work Suspension Notice Mexico under Articles 427 through 432 of the Ley Federal del Trabajo must contain the following essential elements to initiate the suspension regime legally and protect the employer from unjustified dismissal liability.

Employer Identification: Full legal name or business name (razón social), RFC (Registro Federal de Contribuyentes assigned by the SAT), Registro Patronal IMSS, registered address (domicilio fiscal), industry or trade classification (sector o giro), and the name, title, and RFC of the legal representative (representante legal) signing the notice, along with reference to the notarial power of attorney (poder notarial) that authorizes the representative to act. For group-of-companies (grupo empresarial) situations, the specific legal entity employing the affected workers must be identified — collective suspension cannot be invoked at the group level if the relevant entity is solvent.

Cause of Suspension: The specific legal cause invoked from the closed list in Article 427 LFT — including the Fracción number (I through VII) — with a detailed factual description of the circumstances giving rise to the cause. For Fracción I (force majeure), the notice must describe the specific event, the date it occurred, and attach documentary evidence such as: emergency or disaster declarations from the Secretaría de Gobernación, official health emergency decrees from the SSA or state health authorities, engineering reports on facility damage, or regulatory orders suspending operations. The factual description must be specific and credible — generic claims of force majeure without supporting documentation will not satisfy the Tribunal Laboral.

Affected Workers: A complete list (nómina de trabajadores afectados) of all workers affected by the suspension, including for each worker: full name, RFC, NSS (Número de Seguridad Social — IMSS), CURP, job position (puesto), daily wage (salario diario), and department or work area. The list must distinguish between workers whose relationships are suspended (suspendidos) and any workers who will continue working (workers in essential functions, maintenance, security). Workers omitted from the list retain the right to claim their full salary during the suspension period as if no suspension had been declared.

Duration of Suspension: The anticipated start date (fecha de inicio de la suspensión) and, if known, the anticipated end date (fecha estimada de término) of the collective suspension. Article 432 LFT provides that once the cause giving rise to the suspension ceases, the employer must notify the Tribunal Laboral and reinstate the workers within the period established by the Tribunal — failure to reinstate timely converts the suspension into an unjustified collective termination. The notice should include the employer's commitment to notify the Tribunal and workers as soon as the cause ceases.

Indemnity During Suspension: Explicit statement of the employer's obligation under Article 429 LFT to pay each suspended worker an indemnity of one day's general minimum wage (SMG) per day of suspension — for 2025, MXN $278.80 per day per worker in the general zone, or MXN $419.88 in the northern border free zone (Zona Libre de la Frontera Norte — ZLFN) — payable regardless of whether the employer has the financial capacity to pay, since failure to pay the Article 429 indemnity gives workers the right to treat the suspension as an unjustified dismissal and claim full liquidación. If the applicable CCT registered with the CFCRL provides a higher suspension indemnity, the CCT amount controls.

IMSS and INFONAVIT Treatment: Explanation of the employer's obligations to the IMSS during the suspension period. Under Article 31, Fracción IV of the Ley del Seguro Social (LSS), the employer must notify the IMSS of the collective suspension (aviso de suspensión de relación laboral) so that the IMSS adjusts contribution obligations for the suspended workers. The employer's continued obligation to pay employer-side contributions for certain IMSS insurance branches during the suspension depends on the duration of the suspension — suspensions lasting more than 8 weeks trigger specific IMSS rules on contribution continuation and recommencement that should be verified with the IMSS patron registration (registro patronal) office.

Supporting Documentation: List of all documents attached to the notice, which should include: the documentary evidence supporting the Article 427 LFT cause invoked; the complete affected worker list with individual data; financial statements (estados financieros) if an economic cause is invoked; and regulatory orders or emergency decrees if applicable. The Tribunal Laboral may request additional documentation before authorizing the suspension, and incomplete submissions delay the process.

Forms-legal.com provides this Collective Work Suspension Notice Mexico template as a practical starting point. Given the procedural complexity of collective suspension proceedings before the Tribunales Laborales, the IMSS notification obligations under the Ley del Seguro Social, and the risk of reclassification as unjustified collective dismissal with full liquidación liability, employers should engage a licensed abogado laboralista specializing in collective labour law before initiating a collective suspension.