On June 4, 2019 a Decree was published in the Official Federal Gazette, to be in effect by June 5, 2019, whereby several provisions of the Social Security Law, the State Workers´ Security, and Social Services Institute Law (ISSSTE for its acronym in Spanish), and the Federal Labor Law, are modified. The purpose is to ensure that employees who are enrolled at the Mexican Social Security Institute or at the ISSSTE, and who have children up to 16 years of age diagnosed with cancer, are entitled to a leave of absence to take care of their children at the critical periods of treatment or hospitalization, as well as the treatment aimed to reduce pain and palliative care of advanced cancer.
For this purpose, the corresponding health institute shall issue a certificate evidencing the oncologic illness and the duration of the treatment for the knowledge of the employer. The insured parent (only one of them) who has the parental rights and who has custody and care of the minor, shall request issuance of the leave of absence from the respective Institute that will be valid for a period between 1 to 28 days. This leave of absence may be issued as many times as necessary during a maximum period of up to 3 years, but without exceeding the maximum number of 364 days in total, and not necessarily issued on a continuous basis.
The parent who requests such leave of absence will be entitled to a subsidy by the corresponding Institute, equal to 60% of the employee´s last consolidated salary which has been reported, when s/he has been enrolled for at least 30 weeks in the preceding 12 months from the date of diagnosis, or else, has been enrolled at least during the 52 weeks prior to the date in which the leave of absence was issued. During the leave, the employment relationship will be suspended, so the employer's obligation to pay the salary is suspended.
The leave of absence granted to insured parents will cease: a) when the minor does not require hospitalization or medical rest during the critical periods of the treatment; b) in case of the minor´s death; c) when the minor turns 16 years of age; or d) when the parent who is insured is hired by a new employer.
The official publication in Spanish can be accessed directly at this link.