Appendix
B.
Glossary
Annual bonus, aguinaldo
Mexico: Federal Labor Law mandates
that workers have the legal right
to receive an annual bonus, aguinaldo,
equal to 15 days’ wages or more. This
bonus must be paid before December
20 of each year. Workers with less
than one year’s service will be paid
a prorated portion of the annual bonus.
Causes for Justified Termination
of Work
Canada:
Just causes for terminating an employee
vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
In Ontario, for example, an employee
may be terminated if he or she is:
- employed for a definite term
or task;
- temporarily laid off, as defined
in the regulations;
- guilty of willful misconduct or
disobedience or willful neglect
of duty that has not been condoned
by the employer;
- under a contract of employment
that is or has become impossible
to fulfil or is frustrated by a
fortuitous or unforeseeable event
or circumstance; or
- employed in an activity, business,
work, trade, occupation or profession,
or any part thereof, that is exempted
by regulations from unjust dismissal
legislation.
Mexico:
An employee may be terminated if:
- the worker deceives the employer
about the worker’s abilities, skills
or qualities;
- the worker, while doing his or
her job, commits a dishonest or
illegal action, violence, threats
or ill-treatment towards the employer
or any member of the employer’s
family or the top management of
the enterprise, except in the case
of provocation or self-defense;
- the worker is guilty of any of
the acts mentioned above toward
any of his or her fellow workers
and the discipline of the workplace
is affected as a consequence of
such acts;
- the worker is guilty, outside
his or her employment, of any of
the acts mentioned above towards
the employer or any member of the
employer’s family or the top management
of the enterprise, and the said
acts are of such a serious nature
as to render the fulfillment of
the labor contract impossible;
- the worker in the performance
of his or her work, or in connection
it, willfully causes material damage
to the buildings, works, machinery,
tools, raw materials or other objects
connected with the work;
- the worker causes serious damage
as mentioned above, acting without
malicious intent but with negligence
which is the sole cause of the damage;
- the worker by inexcusable imprudence
or carelessness endangers the safety
of the establishment or any person
in it;
- the worker is guilty of immoral
conduct in the workplace;
- the worker reveals manufacturing
secrets or communicates matters
of a private character to the detriment
of the enterprise;
- the worker is absent from work
more than three times in a 30-day
period without the employer’s permission
or without sufficient reason;
- the worker refuses to obey the
employer without sufficient reason
in matters connected with the work
under contract;
- the worker refuses to adopt preventive
measures or follow the procedures
laid down for the prevention of
accidents or disease;
- the worker reports for work in
a state of intoxication or under
the influence of drugs, unless he
or she has a medical prescription;
- a court of law has sentenced
the worker to a term of imprisonment
that prevents him or her from working;
or
- for reasons similar to those mentioned
above if they are of equal gravity
and entail similar consequences.
Disability for Other than Job-related
Reasons
Mexico: A disability caused by other
than a job-related injury or illness
that leaves a worker unable to earn,
in a similar job, more than 50 percent
of his or her income in the last year
of service.
Earned Income for Child Tax Benefits
Canada: The benefit is based on your
total taxable income for the year.
United States: The benefit is based
on all the income you receive from
working, including nontaxable benefits
like the value of meals or lodgings
provided by the employer or voluntary
salary deferrals.
Earnings
Canada: With a few exceptions, earnings
include any money an employer pays
an employee under the terms of a contract
of employment, whether that contract
is oral or written. The main exceptions,
not counted in earnings, are tips,
gifts or bonuses, travelling allowances,
and contributions made by an employer
to a fund or benefit plan.
Mexico: All wages, benefits and other
payments to workers for food, housing,
and other non-cash payments are considered
insurable earnings at IMSS. There
are some exceptions: cash or non-cash
bonuses, overtime payments, and premiums
paid by the employer to insurance
or benefit plans are not included.
Eligible Person for Child Tax
Benefits
Canada: The person primarily responsible
for the care and upbringing of a child.
This may be the mother, father, a
grandparent or a guardian. He or she
must live with the child and be a
resident of Canada for income tax
purposes.
United States: Any person or family
whose annual income is less than $25,760
with one qualifying child, or less
than $29,290 with two or more qualifying
children is eligible for the benefit.
Taxpayers who do not have a qualifying
child may be eligible for an earned
income benefit if they earn less than
$9,770.
Employee
Canada: An employee is defined as
any person employed by an employer.
Mexico: Any person who performs a
subordinate work for another individual
or legal person.
Employer
Canada: Any person who employs one
or more employees.
Mexico: Any individual or legal
person using the services of one or
more workers.
United States: An entity or individual
that employs one or more individuals
for some portion of a day in each
of 20 weeks or paid wages of $1,500
or more during any calendar quarter
in the current or immediately preceding
calendar year.
Employers for Purposes of Unemployment
Insurance
Canada: In general, all employers
are required to pay premiums to the
Employment Insurance program.
United States: In general, all employers
(as defined above) are required to
pay federal unemployment insurance
taxes. Agricultural employers become
subject to the tax if they pay $20,000
or more in any calendar quarter for
agricultural labor.
Fair Labor Standards Act 1938
(FLSA)
The federal law in the United States
of general applicability regarding
rights of employees to receive no
less than the federal minimum wage
rate (presently set at $5.15 per hour),
and a premium rate for over-time.
It also contains child labor standards.
Hours of Work
Mexico: Time during which an employee
lends his or her services to an employer
for the performance of the work.
United States: Any time spent in
physical or mental exertion which
is suffered or permitted, controlled
or required by the employer; all hours
an employee is required to give to
the employer, including time spent
waiting, if it is primarily for the
employer’s benefit; and all time during
a workweek that an employee is required
to be at a prescribed workplace or
on duty.
Industries and Sectors under
Federal Jurisdiction
Canada:
Industries of an extra-provincial
or international character: railways;
highway transport; telephone and telegraph
systems; pipelines; canals; ferries,
tunnels and bridges; shipping and
shipping services; radio and television
broadcasting and cable systems; airports;
banks; grain elevators licensed by
the Canadian Grain Commission, and
certain feed mills and feed warehouses,
flour mills and grain seed cleaning
plants; the federal public service
(for occupational safety and health
purposes); employment in the operation
of ships, trains and aircraft; and
exploration and development of petroleum
on lands subject to federal jurisdiction.
Mexico:
Industries: textiles; electrical;
cinematography; rubber; sugar; mining;
metallurgy and steel; hydrocarbons;
petrochemicals; cement; lime-kilns;
automotive industry, including mechanical
or electrical auto parts; chemicals,
including pharmaceutical chemicals
and medicines; cellulose and paper;
vegetable oils and grease; food production,
covering exclusively the manufacture
of foods that are packed, canned or
barreled, or are destined for such
processing; manufacture of beverages
that are barreled or canned or are
destined for such processing; railways;
basic woodworking, including the production
of sawdust and the manufacture of
plywood; glass-making, exclusively
the manufacture of plate glass or
barreled glass; the making or manufacture
of tobacco products; and banking services.
Enterprises: those which are administered
directly by the federal government
or by its decentralized organizations;
those operating under federal contract
or concession and those which are
connected; those operating in federal
zones or under federal jurisdiction,
in federal territorial waters or in
the exclusive economic zone of the
Nation.
Instituto del Fondo Nacional para
la Vivienda de los Trabajadores, INFONAVIT
(Employee’s Housing Fund Institute)
Mexico: An economically and legally
independent social service institution
created to administer the Fondo Nacional
de la Vivienda (Employee’s Housing
Fund) and to operate a financial system
to allow workers to get credit at
low rates to buy, build or repair
their houses.
Length-of-service bonus
Mexico: Payment consisting of 12
s’ wages for each year of service
to permanent workers who resign voluntarily,
on condition that they have completed
at least 15 years of service with
the same employer, or whose employment
is terminated either for justified
or unjustified reasons. Temporary
workers with more than 15 years of
service with the same employer are
entitled to be recognized for their
seniority and to be paid a length-of-service
bonus.
Ley Federal del Trabajo,
LFT (Federal Labor Law)
Mexican Law of general application
throughout the republic which governs
labor relations, referred to in Article
123 of the Constitution.
Minimum Wage
Canada: The minimum payment that
a worker must receive for an hour’s
work.
Mexico: The smallest cash payment
that a worker must receive for an
ordinary day’s work. The minimum wage
is fixed annually and usually is effective
from January 1. The minimum wage can
be reviewed at any time if it is necessary
for economic reasons.
United States: The minimum payment
that a worker must receive for an
hour’s work. Compensation counted
as part of the minimum wage includes
wages, salaries, commissions, and
other cash payments, as well as certain
non-cash payments such as customarily
furnished meals, lodging and other
facilities. The employer may also
credit toward the minimum wage a portion
of the tips employees receive from
customers or from a tip-pool arrangement.
Minimum Wage Areas
Mexico:
Geographical Area A
Baja California and Baja California
Sur: all counties in the states.
Chihuahua: Guadalupe, Praxedis G,
Juárez, and Guerrero.
Distrito Federal: Acapulco de Juárez,
Atizpan de Zaragoza, Coalcalco de
Berriozábal, and Cuautitlán.
Sonora: Agua Prieta, General Plutarco
Elías Calles, Cananea, Puerto Peñasco,
Nogales, San Luis Río Colorado,
and San Cruz.
Tamaulipas: Camargo, Miguel Alemán,
Guerrero, Nuevo Laredo, Gustavo
Díaz Ordaz, Reynosa, Matamoros,
San Fernando, Mier, and Valle Hermoso.
Veracruz: Agua Dulce, Ixhuatlán
del Sureste, Coatzacoalcos, Minatitlán,
Cosoleacaque, Moloacán, las Choapas,
and Nanchital de Lázaro Cárdenas
del Rio.
Geographical Area B
Jalisco: Guadalajara, Tlaquepaque,
El Salto, Tonalá, Tlajomulco de
Zuñiga, and Zapopan.
Nuevo Leon: Apodaca, Guadalupe,
San Pedro Garza García, San Nicolás
de los Garza, Escobedo, and Santa
Catarina.
Sonora: Altar, Imuris, Atil, Magdalena,
Bácum, Navojoa, Benjamín Hill, Opodepe,
Caborca, Oquitoa, Cajeme, San Ignacio
Río Muerto, Pitiquito, Carbó, La
Colorada, San Miguel de Horcasitas,
Cucurpe, Santa Ana, Empalme, Sáric,
Etchojoa, Suaqui Grande, Guaymas,
Trincheras, Hermosillo, Tubutama,
and Huatabampo.
Tamaulipas: Aldama, González, Altamira,
El Mante, Antiguo Morelos, Nuevo
Morelos, Ciudad Madero,Ocampo, Tampico,
Gómez Farías, and Xicoténcatl.
Veracruz: Coatzintla, Tuxpan, and
Poza Rica de Hidalgo.
Geographical Area C
All counties in the states of:
| Aguascalientes |
Oaxaca |
| Campeche |
Puebla |
| Coahuila |
Querétaro |
| Colima |
Quintana Roo |
| Chiapas |
San Luis Potosí |
| Durango |
Sinaloa |
| Guanajuato |
Tabasco |
| Hidalgo |
Tlaxcala |
| Michoacán |
Yucatán |
| Morelos |
Zacatecas |
| Nayarit |
|
In addition, all counties in the
states of Chihuahua, Guerrero, Jalisco,
México, Nuevo león, Sonora, Tamaulipas
and Veracruz not included in areas
A and B.
Occupational Injury
Any accident or disease to which
workers are exposed in the course
of employment or as a consequence
of their work.
Permanent Partial Disability for
Reasons Related to Work
Mexico: Reduction of a person’s ability
to work for reasons related to work.
United States: any disability that
makes a person unable to perform any
substantial gainful work. Social Security
usually permits a partially disabled
person to earn up to about $500 per
month before considering that the
person is doing gainful work (and
reducing his or her disability benefit).
Permanent Total Disability for
Reasons Related to work
The loss of a person’s skills or
ability to work that renders him or
her incapable of doing any work for
the rest of his or her life.
Public Holidays
Canada: New Year’s Day, January 1;
Good Friday; Victoria Day, May 24;
Canada Day, July 1; Labor Day; Thanksgiving
Day; Christmas Day, December 25; Boxing
Day, December 26.
Mexico: New Year’s Day, January 1;
Constitution Day, February 5; Benito
Juárez Birthday, March 21; Labor Day,
May 1; Independence Day, September
16; Revolution Day, November 20; Christmas
Day, December 25, and the first of
December every six years when the
new administration takes office.
Unites States: New Year’s Day, January
1; Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January
6; Washington’s Birthday, February
15; Memorial Day, May 31; Independence
Day, July 4; Labor Day; Columbus Day,
October 12; Veterans’ Day, November
11; Thanksgiving Day; Christmas Day,
December 25.
Qualifying Children for Tax Credits
Canada: All children under age 18.
United States: A taxpayer’s son,
daughter, adopted child, grandchild,
stepchild, or eligible foster child
under age 19, or under age 24 and
a full-time student, or any age and
permanently and totally disabled.
The child must live for more than
half the year with the person who
applies for the tax credit.
Severance Pay
Payment to an employee or former
employee in connection with the recipient’s
termination of employment.
Severe and Prolonged Disability
Canada: A severe and prolonged disability
which prevents a worker from working
regularly.
Temporary Disability
Loss of faculties or skills rendering
a person either partially or totally
unable to perform his or her work
for a certain time.
Workers’ Profit-sharing
Mexico: Federal Labor Law (LFT) mandates
that all workers shall participate
in the profits of the enterprise where
they work at a percentage fixed by
the Comisión Nacional para la Participación
de los Trabajadores en las Utilidades
de las Empresas (National Committee
for Workers’ Profit-sharing in Enterprises).
Enterprises’ profit means the taxable
revenue.
Workweek
Mexico: Both employee and employer
fix the duration of hours of work,
which cannot be higher than the maximum
fixed by law. The maximum daily hours
of work are: eight hours for day work,
seven for night work and seven-and-a-half
for working mixed hours. The LFT mandates
that for each six days of work, workers
will have a day of rest with full
pay.
United States: A fixed and regularly
recurring period of 168 hours comprising
seven consecutive 24-hour periods.
The workweek need not coincide with
the calendar week and can start on
any day at any hour the employer finds
convenient.
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