Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159) - Mexico (Ratification: 2001)

The Committee takes note of the supplementary information provided by the Government in light of the decision adopted by the Governing Body at its 338th Session (June 2020). The Committee has examined the application of the Convention on the basis of the supplementary information received from the Government this year (see Article 3), as well as the information at its disposal in 2019.

The Committee also notes the observations of the International Confederation of Workers (CIT), the Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers (CROM), the Autonomous Confederation of Workers and Employees of Mexico (CATEM), the Confederation of Employers of the Mexican Republic (COPARMEX) and the Confederation of Industrial Chambers of the United States of Mexico (CONCAMIN), included in the Government’s 2019 report. The Committee further notes the observations of the Authentic Workers’ Confederation of the Republic of Mexico (CAT), which refer in general terms to the application of the Convention and were forwarded by the Government with its supplementary report, received in September 2020. Lastly, the Committee takes note of the Government's response to the 2015 observations of the Independent Trade Union of Men and Women Workers of the Government of the State of San Luis Potosí (SITTGE), which arrived too late to be examined.

Article 2 of the Convention. Implementation of vocational rehabilitation and employment policies for persons with disabilities. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments, the Government refers to the implementation of the National Programme of Work and Employment for Persons with Disabilities (PNTEPD) 2014–18. The Government indicates that PNTEPD working groups were set up and these met on 30 occasions between 2014 and June 2018. Their activities included the production of a catalogue of programmes and services for persons with disabilities, awareness-raising activities on their rights carried out by the National Human Rights Committee (CNDH) for government staff in the states of Guerrero and Tamaulipas, and the quantification of persons with disabilities in the federal public administration. The Government states that between July 2016 and June 2018 a total of 5,176 public servants with disabilities were working in the public sector (of these, 2,566 had a sensory disability, 2,255 had a physical disability, 297 had a mental disability and 58 had an intellectual disability). The Government adds that various policies and programmes implemented under the PNTEPD and their impact were evaluated by 32 state follow-up committees in meetings between September 2016 and June 2017 with a view to improving their scope in favour of persons with disabilities. Moreover, the Committee notes the promulgation on 20 July 2016 of the standard entitled: “Safety conditions for access to and performance of activities for workers with disabilities in workplaces” (NOM-034-STPS-2016). The new standard establishes a set of obligations for employers who hire persons with disabilities, such as: analysing whether the job is compatible with the worker’s disability; adapting workplaces with over 50 workers to include facilities that enable access for workers with disabilities; and carrying out the necessary adjustments to facilities, procedures and jobs.

The Committee also notes the formulation of the “Assessment of the situation of persons with disabilities in Mexico” by the Ministry of Social Development in May 2016, which, according to the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL), highlights the fact that in 2014 the poverty rate among persons with disabilities was 54.1 per cent, compared with a national general poverty rate of 46.2 per cent. Furthermore, the extreme poverty rate among persons with disabilities was 12.7 per cent, while it was 9.6 per cent for the country as a whole. In its observations, the CATEM points out that, according to information from the Impunidad Cero (zero impunity) organization, in 2017 only 39.1 per cent of persons with disabilities were in employment and these earned 66.5 per cent less than workers without disabilities. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing up-to-date, detailed information on the nature and impact of the measures taken or envisaged to promote employment opportunities for persons with disabilities, including mental or intellectual disabilities, in the open labour market, in both the public and private sectors.

Article 3. Promoting opportunities in the open labour market. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning the measures implemented to promote opportunities in the open labour market for persons with disabilities, and also their impact. Among other measures, the Government refers specifically to the implementation of the “Opening spaces” strategy, under which the National Employment Service (SNE) provides various services to promote the employability of persons with disabilities, such as job placement, training for work, and measures to promote training opportunities proposed by the education sector and enterprises. In its supplementary report, the Government indicates that, between July 2016 and June 2020, support was provided to 117,363 men and 72,668 women with disabilities, of whom 45,980 found employment. The SNE also conducted awareness-raising campaigns between January 2016 and December 2017, in which advice was provided for 2,493 employers, business chambers, civil society organizations and trade unions on the tax benefits granted to entities that hire persons with disabilities.

The Government also indicates that over 59 million pesos were invested in 372 productive projects for organizations in the social sector of the economy or which involved persons with disabilities through the “Programme to promote the social economy” implemented by the National Institute for the Social Economy (INAES). Furthermore, the Government indicates that, between January 2016 and November 2018, a total of 1,712 workplaces received the Gilberto Rincón Gallardo inclusive enterprise award, which is given to workplaces that apply labour practices involving equal opportunities and the inclusion of persons in vulnerable situations, such as persons with disabilities. Moreover, CATEM and COPARMEX refer to the implementation of tax incentives for companies that hire persons with disabilities, such as a 100 per cent deduction of income tax for those persons. In its observations, CROM asserts that joint measures should be taken by the social partners and the Government to promote the inclusion of workers with disabilities in workplaces. CONCAMIN indicates in its observations that there is a need to continue implementing programmes to enable the placement of persons with disabilities in jobs, and also to introduce incentives for companies that hire persons with disabilities. Lastly, the Committee notes that the Government has not included any information in its report on the application of the quota system in practice. Nor has the Government provided the requested statistical information on the participation of persons with disabilities in the open labour market. The Committee therefore requests the Government to continue sending up-to-date, detailed information on the impact of measures taken to promote the vocational rehabilitation of persons with disabilities in terms of creating job opportunities for such persons in the open labour market. The Committee also once again requests the Government to provide up-to-date information on the application of the quota system and its impact. Moreover, it once again requests the Government to provide statistical information on the participation of persons with disabilities in the labour market, disaggregated by sex, level of education and type of disability.

Article 4. Effective equality of opportunity and treatment. The Committee notes with interest the adoption on 12 July 2018 of the Decree amending, adding and abrogating various provisions of the General Act for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities. The Decree introduces section 4(1), which provides that persons with disabilities enjoy all of the rights established under the Mexican legal system, without any distinction as to ethnic or national origin; gender, age or stature; economic, social or health status; religion, opinion, civil status, sexual preference, pregnancy, political identity, language, migration status; or any other characteristics. The stated purpose of the anti-discrimination measures is to prevent a person with a disability from being treated directly or indirectly in a less favourable manner than a person without a disability in a comparable situation. However, the Committee notes that the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESC), in its concluding observations of 17 April 2018, expressed concern at the persistent discrimination faced by specific groups and the fact that there no appropriate policies to combat the multiple discrimination faced by certain groups, such as indigenous women with disabilities (E/C.12/MEX/CO/5-6, paragraph 18). Furthermore, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in its concluding observations of 25 July 2018, expressed concern at the limited access to the formal labour market for migrant, indigenous and Afro-Mexican women and women with disabilities (CEDAW/C/MEX/CO/9, paragraph 39(e)). The Committee also notes that CATEM states that, according to the Impunidad Cero organization, men with disabilities have twice as many possibilities of securing employment as women with disabilities. The Committee requests the Government to provide up-to-date, detailed information on the measures taken or contemplated to ensure effective equality of treatment between workers with disabilities, including those from indigenous communities, and other workers. The Committee also requests the Government to provide detailed information on the impact of such measures.

Article 8. Services in rural areas and remote communities. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on employment and vocational guidance and training services proposed to persons with disabilities, including those proposed by the SNE to persons living in rural areas and remote communities.

COVID-19. In the context of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Committee recalls the extensive guidance provided by international labour standards. In this regard, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation, 2017 (No. 205), which constitutes a guide for the formulation and implementation of measures in areas such as education, vocational training and rehabilitation, and employment to provide an effective response to the profound socio-economic effects of the pandemic. By way of example, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to Paragraph 7(h) of Recommendation No. 205, which provides that in taking measures on employment and decent work in response to crisis situations, Members should take into account the need to pay special attention to population groups and individuals who have been made particularly vulnerable by the crisis, including, but not limited to, persons with disabilities. The Committee requests the Government to provide up-to-date information in its next report on the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic on the implementation of vocational rehabilitation and employment policies and programmes for persons with disabilities.