Registration of Domestic Employees with the IMSS

There exist many misconceptions and local folklore about whether or not we must supply Social Security insurance for our workers. I personally have heard everything from “my neighbor says that part-time workers don’t qualify” and “my gardener only works one day a week, so that’s not even part-time” to “we would like to supply workers insurance (IMSS social security), but we just found it too difficult to figure out, so we left it alone.”

To bring clarity to the issue:

This is a mandatory Federal Program that can cause undue headaches, litigation, and fines if not implemented. All workers are eligible, no matter how short their work schedule is. The qualification is that the employee is a re-occurring worker.

The IMSS program ensures the staff will be medically attended to in case of illness or accident, including in the workplace. The IMSS insurance program protects you, the employer, from severe medical financial liability due to illness, accidents, or an unexpected event that happens out of the workplace, like being hit by a car on a workday. Yes, the employer is responsible for the medical and the recuperation as well as the wages, until the staff member is fully functional again. It’s the law.

As of the 2019 reform, the registration of domestic employees with the IMSS (Mexican Institute of Social Security) is mandatory, as well as the payment of the corresponding fees as stipulated in Article 337 Fraction IV of the Federal Labor Law.

Let’s take into consideration how our guest community, due to their domestic needs, employ workers, and as employers, they must know their obligations as well as the rights of their employees. This is to prevent any labor liability, since living in a country where not knowing its laws or rules could incur a fault that could cause a claim or lawsuit by the employee.

For this reason, it is very important to educate the employer about the obligations that he or she has at the moment of hiring a domestic employee. These are the steps we must take to execute an individual employment contract with respect to the workers to be hired:

• Register with the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), as an employer of the employee.
• Register the employee with the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS).
• Terminate the employees’ employment with the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) in the event that the employees quit, or their contract is terminated in a justified or unjustified manner.
• Comply and stay up to date with the payment of employee-employer contributions to the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS).
• Make all payments in a timely fashion of the contributions before the INFONAVIT. Register as an employer with the SAT or Tax Administration Service (Mexican IRS), a Federal Public Administration agency in charge of tax collection, taxation, and oversight of compliance over tax obligations.

What are the contributions that must be paid?

They are known as the employer contributions, which are the total sum of the amount contributed to the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) by the workers, employers, and the social contribution (matching) contributed by the Mexican government.

What are the requirements to register a worker with the IMSS on behalf of the employer?

RFC of the fiscal address or work center; this is if it is an individual or in case the employer is a legal entity of the legal representative. Original and copy of proof of address.

• Sketch of the location of the work center.
• Valid official identification of the employer.
• CURP (Mexican version of the social security number).
• Notice of registration of the worker.

The purpose of knowing the obligations that the employer has with his or her employees in accordance with the regulations of the law in our country is to guarantee your legal security as well as the security that it offers to the employee –living with peace of mind.