Labor Settlement Agreement before CFCRL Mexico (Convenio de Terminación Laboral)

A Labor Settlement Agreement before the CFCRL Mexico (Convenio de Terminación Laboral ante el Centro Federal de Conciliación y Registro Laboral) is a formal written settlement instrument executed before a federal conciliator (conciliador federal) of the Centro Federal de Conciliación y Registro Laboral, establishing the definitive resolution of all actual or potential labour claims arising from an employment relationship, governed primarily by Article 987 of the Ley Federal del Trabajo (LFT) as reformed by the Decreto published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 1 May 2019.

The CFCRL was created by the 2019 reforma laboral to replace the Juntas de Conciliación y Arbitraje — the tripartite labour boards that previously administered both conciliation and adjudication of labour disputes in Mexico. The reforma separated conciliation (now handled by the CFCRL and state conciliation centres) from adjudication (now handled by Tribunales Laborales under the Poder Judicial de la Federación and the Poder Judicial of each state). This structural reform was designed to accelerate dispute resolution, promote voluntary settlements, and reduce the backlog of pending labour cases that plagued the Junta system.

Article 33 LFT establishes the foundational rule that any waiver of workers' rights made outside of a CFCRL proceeding or judicial process is null and void (nulo de pleno derecho). This rule means that an Acuerdo de Terminación Laboral ratified before a CFCRL federal conciliator acquires a uniquely powerful legal status: it constitutes a convenio con valor de cosa juzgada — a settlement with the legal force of a final court judgment — that extinguishes all claims the worker might assert before the Tribunales Laborales or IMSS arising from the terminated employment relationship. The ratified convenio cannot be attacked on the grounds that the worker misunderstood the terms, was pressured to sign, or received less than the minimum legal benefit — provided the conciliator certified at the ratification hearing that the worker understood and freely consented to the terms.

The Centro Federal de Conciliación y Registro Laboral operates conciliation centres (centros de conciliación) in all 31 states of Mexico and in Mexico City, with additional satellite offices in major industrial and commercial zones. Pre-litigation mandatory conciliation (conciliación previa obligatoria) under Articles 684-A through 684-E LFT applies to all individual labour disputes — an employer cannot file an unjustified dismissal defense before a Tribunal Laboral without first attempting CFCRL conciliation, and a worker cannot present a labour claim without first receiving a CFCRL conciliation clearance certificate (constancia de no conciliación).

The Convenio de Terminación Laboral differs from a private Acuerdo de Rescisión Mutua in that it is executed in the presence of a CFCRL federal conciliator who verifies that both parties understand the terms, that the worker consents freely, and that the agreed amounts do not fall below the minimum legal finiquito entitlements under the LFT. The conciliator does not adjudicate disputes but facilitates negotiation — if the parties cannot reach agreement, the conciliator issues a constancia de no conciliación that allows the worker to proceed to the Tribunal Laboral. Under Article 685-A LFT, the entire CFCRL conciliation proceeding must be completed within 45 calendar days from the date the conciliation request is filed, making it one of the fastest formal dispute resolution mechanisms available to Mexican employers and workers.

The 2019 reforma laboral also created the Registro Laboral within the CFCRL — a national database of collective bargaining agreements (contratos colectivos de trabajo) and union registrations that previously resided in the Juntas de Conciliación. Individual settlement agreements ratified before the CFCRL are also registered and form part of the public record of labour relations in Mexico, contributing to the transparency objectives of the reforma.

A Labor Settlement Agreement before the CFCRL Mexico is needed in every situation where an employer and worker wish to achieve a final, binding, legally unassailable resolution of all actual or potential claims arising from their employment relationship — and particularly where the employer wants certainty that the worker cannot file a subsequent unjustified dismissal claim before the Tribunales Laborales.

The convenio is required when an employment relationship has ended — whether by employer-initiated dismissal (rescisión por el patrón), worker resignation (renuncia), mutual agreement (mutuo consentimiento under Article 53 fraction I LFT), or expiration of a fixed-term contract — and the parties wish to reach a settlement that goes beyond a simple private agreement. CFCRL ratification is the only mechanism under Mexican law that produces a settlement with res judicata force under Article 987 LFT.

The document is needed when an employer has initiated termination proceedings against a worker citing justified cause under Article 47 LFT (misconduct, repeated insubordination, property damage, or other specified grounds) but the worker disputes the justification. Rather than proceeding to Tribunal Laboral litigation — which can take one to three years even after the 2019 reforma — both parties may prefer to negotiate and ratify a monetary settlement before the CFCRL that resolves all claims in days or weeks. The conciliación previa obligatoria requirement under Articles 684-A through 684-E LFT means this step is often mandatory before litigation can commence.

The convenio is also needed when a worker who has already filed a conciliation request with the CFCRL (solicitud de conciliación) reaches a settlement with the employer during the conciliation proceeding. The conciliator will prepare and supervise the execution of the convenio at the conclusion of the hearing, and both parties sign in the conciliator's presence. The CFCRL then issues a certified copy (copia certificada) of the ratified convenio that can be enforced directly against either party without further judicial proceedings.

For large employers conducting multiple simultaneous separations — during a workforce reduction (reducción de personal), a plant closure (cierre de planta), or a company restructuring — the CFCRL offers collective conciliation proceedings where multiple individual settlements can be ratified in a single or coordinated series of hearings, significantly reducing the administrative burden compared to filing separate solicitudes de conciliación for each worker.

A valid Labor Settlement Agreement before the CFCRL Mexico under Ley Federal del Trabajo art. 987 must include the following essential elements to be accepted by the CFCRL conciliator and to acquire res judicata force.

CFCRL Proceeding Reference: The CFCRL case or proceeding number (número de expediente CFCRL) assigned at the time of filing the conciliation request, the name of the conciliation centre (centro de conciliación) where the hearing takes place, the name of the federal conciliator (conciliador federal) presiding over the hearing, and the date and time of the ratification hearing (audiencia de ratificación).

Identification of Parties: Full legal name, RFC, CURP, NSS, and official identification number (INE/IFE credential or passport) of both the worker (trabajador) and the employer (patrón) — including company RFC, IMSS registro patronal, and name and identification of the legal representative attending with power of attorney (poder notarial). Both parties must attend in person or through a duly authorized representative with the appropriate mandate under the Código Civil Federal.

Employment Relationship Background: Job title, department, start date, termination date, and the daily base salary (salario diario base) and Salario Diario Integrado (SDI) that formed the basis for the finiquito and liquidación calculations.

Description of Claims and Defenses: A concise description of the claims or potential claims being settled — for example, unjustified dismissal indemnity under Article 50 LFT, accrued vacation under Article 76 LFT, proportional aguinaldo under Article 87 LFT — and the employer's defense or position on each claim. This section documents that both parties were aware of the claims being extinguished by the settlement.

Agreed Settlement Amount: An itemized breakdown of all amounts agreed to be paid, distinguishing between: (a) finiquito components (aguinaldo proporcional, vacaciones proporcionales, prima vacacional proporcional, PTU proporcional); (b) liquidación components, if any (indemnización constitucional of 3 months under Article 50 LFT, 20 days per year under Article 50 LFT, prima de antigüedad under Article 162 LFT); and (c) any additional voluntary amounts (voluntad adicional del patrón). The total agreed amount (monto total del convenio) must be expressed in Mexican pesos (MXN).

Payment Method and Schedule: Whether the agreed amount will be paid at the CFCRL hearing (pago en la audiencia), by bank transfer within a stated period, or by certified cheque — specifying the bank account details or cheque number if applicable. The CFCRL may require proof of payment (comprobante de pago) before issuing the ratification certificate.

Mutual Release with Res Judicata Effect: The release clause declaring that both parties mutually discharge all claims — present, past, and future — arising from the employment relationship, which upon CFCRL ratification acquires the force of cosa juzgada under Article 987 LFT, making enforcement available directly through the CFCRL without further judicial proceedings.

ISR and Social Security Declarations: Acknowledgment of the ISR tax treatment of each payment component and confirmation of the employer's obligations as agente retenedor de ISR under Article 96 LISR. Confirmation that the employer will file the IMSS baja within 5 business days and settle all outstanding IMSS and INFONAVIT contributions.

Forms-legal.com provides this Labor Settlement Agreement template as a practical preparation tool for the CFCRL conciliation proceeding. The CFCRL conciliator will review and may modify the agreement at the hearing. All parties should be represented or advised by a Licenciado en Derecho specializing in derecho laboral — particularly regarding the calculation of the constitutionally correct indemnity and the ISR treatment of each settlement component under the Ley del Impuesto sobre la Renta. CFCRL appointments are scheduled online at cfcrl.gob.mx.