kimanjome

Are you speaking as the EmployER or the EmployEE? If the first, we employers will have no option but to comply with the new law--unless we have an employee who wants to avoid the law. I don't see why any employee would want to, though, since the employer is paying the majority of the cost!

Yes, let me find the documents the seguro agent left with me. I was so astounded by the rate that I asked her multiple times and wrote it down, showed the numbers to her to verify it. She said that we, the employers, are supposed to pay both our (employer) share as well as the vast percentage of the employee contribution...which makes you wonder why they call it an employee contribution in the first place. About 2 years ago I communicated on this forum with Sondra Diaz, the attorney out of SMA. When I expressed my astonishment at the high employer contribution, she confirmed it. Not only that, but last year I learned that we are supposed to be paying vacation pay--which we do--but vacation pay, which increases every year based on service, is supposed to have a 25% bonus added to it. So if your maid makes 500 pesos a week, you are to pay 500 + 125 peso bonus to the vacation wages. And actually that number is low, because you really are supposed to pay them 6 days of pay the first year, which is more than weekly payment. ------- Okay, I am on Sondra's page; It is 20%. http://www.soniadiaz.mx/-employees.html (I will go back and correct my earlier numbers). There is no mention of it, but the employer also has to pay the state income tax (there is a small amount charged to the employee which varies by states, usually 1% to 3% of the salary. Now, Sondra's page is for full-time employees, which does not apply to our maids and gardeners at the present time. However, the currently in effect pilot program in Mexico City was developed as a result of the newly- enacted law. The problem is that these maids and gardeners may have full-time working hours, but they have multiple employers. So as to not make it cumbersome for either employer or employee, the pilot program was devised to assess each employer fairly. I believe it is being done on a pro-rata basis. Meaning, if the maid works for me 10 hours a week, and works for you 15 hours a week, we will both contribute the same percentage of the maid's wages towards IMSS, etc etc. But II will be contributing only 2/3 of what you are contributing--or you will be contributing 50% more of what I am contributing, depending upon how the numbers are run. In any event, we both will contribute on the maid's behalf. And even if she works only part-time, she will still be entitled to the same benefits as a full-time employee, but the numbers (like the pension amount) will vary based upon contribution amounts. Unlike in the US, where part-time employees are not entitled to the same benefits as part-time employers, this law is designed to cover all maids, whether they work only 20 hours a week or 45 hours a week. The goal is to equip all of them with IMSS coverage, and more.

Speaking of bananas, does anyone know where I can buy a Dwarf Cavendish? Or is there another type of banana / platano which doesn't get more than 5' tall (1.5 m) tall? Need it for a big pot to create some shade around the pool. When I lived in the Florida Keys I had some super Dwarf Cavendish, only grew to waist height but they were prolific in bearing fruit.

Thank you for the clarification. But you will notice that at the beginning of every year, prices of goods increase. CFE has raised its rates--any connection with a increase in employee wages at CFE? My point is, if wages rise, so, too, will the prices of goods and services. They must, for businesses to continue to operate at a profit. And that affects those employees, like my maid and gardener, who do not have contracts or are being paid minimum wage. Consequently, that affects you and me.

Again, in San Antonio--anyone else having the same problem? My landline portables all say "line in use" like a phone is off the hook, but none are, and all units are fully charged. Base station okay, as arew all cradles. My daughter just called me from Guad and said there is a message saying our landline is out of service.

Thanks for the heads up. I pay my maid and gardener vacation and Christmas aquinaldo, as dictated by law. I pay the maid's bus fare, as dictated by law (supposed to be paid, believe it or not). I let them have paid sick days, up to 5 a year. I have given them raises for the COLA due the first of the year, per my maid. She is wrong, and either telling a fib or ignorant. She is a solid worker but not a great worker. She is asking for too much, and I won't give anymore. I will be happy to pay IMSS if she wants to reduce her hours and pay by the amount I will pay IMSS. I don't see how this is going to work. In a previous post we were all discussing what we forecast to happen, and there will be a rise in 3rd party agencies who hire the maids and farm them out, taking a cut. So, wages (prices) will go up, because there will be a middleman. This is a little off-topic, but Mexican law states that every year there is a mandatory wage increase for (non-domestic) employees. Thus the average Mexican worker's wages go up after the first of the year. I've also noticed that retail prices go up shortly thereafter. So then the workers start complaining about higher prices! I've often wondered why the workers don't put 2 and 2 together.

Still down in lower SAT, also. I did go to the Telcel building in the plaza and it was packed. People waiting in line to get tickets to wait in line to see the reps. I thought for sur the issue would be solved by today but no such luck. Also this morning went to visit the local lady at the aborrotes store and she confirmed--through her local Mexican tag team--that it is still down everywhere in SAT and west to Black Coffee.

Thanks for the info, as here in San Antonio my internet (1.6 down, .3 up, at best) has at least been working reliably, until 3 days ago. Now it is 75% out of service....on top of Telcel being out or down to H+ for most of SAT, too. About a month ago there were a bunch of muchachos running cables outside my house (La Paz) into the direction of Riberas. My non-Spanish speaking husband ascertained that these are NEW cables for NEW upgrade of internet service. We jumped for joy, thinking it was Ilox. But we were told by Ilox it isn't (Sad face emoji). I am now thinking--hoping--this is actually upgraded cable wires and San Antonio might see some kind of improvement in the next few months????? One can only hope.

First part stating that the patron is required to pay seguro for the employee. http://sil.gobernacion.gob.mx/Archivos/Documentos/2018/11/asun_3775781_20181113_1541683290.pdf Edited: to list the particular articles of the (new) law saying the employer is responsible for the seguro payment https://mexico.justia.com/federales/leyes/ley-federal-del-trabajo/titulo-sexto/capitulo-xiii/ The actual law was passed December 5, 2018 and I am still searching for it.

I have been posting about this subject for over a year, as my housekeeper told me then she wanted IMSS and other coverage. I spoke with a Mexican seguro agent who gave me a lot of info about it. It will make you rethink whether you want a cleaning person at all! Here is some info: --Yes, it is a law. --Yes, part-time AND full-time domestics will have to be covered. --The employer--YOU--will be responsible for the vast majority of the coverage. --Under current Mexican law the employer's contribution is approximately 36% ABOVE the salary. Weekly salary 300 pesos? YOU will pay another 108 pesos, total 408 pesos. --The government understands that this new law is onerous and, if not easy to put into practice, the overwhelming majority of domestics will lose their jobs. So: --A pilot program to facilitate ease of use by employer--YOU--has been implemented in Mexico City. Some details include: 1) Making the domestic worker responsible for record-keeping and deposit of contributions. Very vague details, but it works something like this: YOU give the domestic the extra money, and she/he deposits it with a deposit slip, a receipt of which is returned to you, the employer, to show that the domestic is not pocketing the money. 2) The domestic also keeps track of all payments made on her/his behalf..probably in something like an old-fashioned savings passbook? (Many don't have internet or computers) 3) I believe the trial program amount (I read Spanish quite well but there are still some phrases that baffle me) requires the domestic to contribute 15% and the employer to contribute 15%,, which totals less than the employer's typical 36% IMSS contribution Again, this is my interpretation of what I have read and translated in the economics and business journals, so I might be off a bit. However, the gist of it is that yes, we will be affected. So will the domestics. I believe it will adversely affect them, especially in this area, as we are (based upon what I read in the journals) paying the domestic workers by a great deal more than is paid throughout other areas of Mexico. There was a range of wages paid to domestic workers throughout the nation, and this area was in the highest 10% of wages paid to domestic help. To put it in scale, a full-time barista at a Starbucks in downtown Guadalajara makes approximately 6000 pesos a month. This is for at least 40 hours a week. Break it down and that is less than 37.5 pesos an hour. Of course, Starbucks is also paying IMSS at 13.50 per hour, for a total wage of 50 pesos an hour. Another wage description someone recently posted that a doctor working full time (consultorio) at Farmacia Simillares makes a monthly salary of 11,900 pesos. That is less than what my domestic worker--who demands an annual increase every year, because it is a "mandatory law" (it isn't)--makes when she adds all her monthly clients together. Remember, your domestic is also entitled to bus fare to- and from- your home, as well as annual vacation pay, blah blah blah, regardless of how many hours he/she works for you. I don't know how this is going to pan out. It is reaching the tipping point of an unsubstainable economic policy. A doctor with a university degree earning less than a domestic worker who may or may not have completed secundaria? If anyone has any thoughts on this or more information, please post. Thanks!

Just posted elsewhere...still out in lower SAT and checked near SuperLake and walking west to Black Coffee....H+ but really it doesn't work. Near the TelCel in the plaza it is 4G. Daughter in Guad (there are reports the problem is regional) has tried calling all afternoon her cell to my landline and every call is poor and drops.

Still having issues here in lower SAT. Upper SAT near SuperLake also has it, going west towards Black Coffee. NOT surprisingly it bounced back up to 4G at the TelCel building in the plaza. Also, my daughter is in Guadalajara having problems.. Yesterday she called me using data, Skype, which I received on Tel MEX internet. It was fine. Today no matter how she calls--cell or Skype--to my landline, the connection is bad and the calls drop. So I think it is regional.

Thanks, I just looked at the sample will for an expat living in Canada but having assets in the USA, and it shows this: "I, Mr. John Peter Smith, residing in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, being of sound and disposing mind and memory, do hereby make and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament with respect to the disposition of only that property owned by me at the time of my death and situate in the United States of America, and I declare that I have prepared a separate Will disposing of all my other assets...." I thought the word situate minus the "d" was a typo, but no, it is a valid legal term. Anyway, as I go through the template and feed my information in (I bought the service for $39.95) I will see how it prints out. My husband is a retired attorney and if he sees any issues he will let me know. Will update on this board with an FYI if I find anything odd.

Okay, I am online using a site called ExpatWills.com and preparing a will for assets in the USA. Question: the template is asking for my address. I am assuming that means where I live now in Mexico, correct? Even though my assets are in the US, I vote in the US, my mailing address is in the US, and I am here only on a Temporary Visa ("the 5-year plan"). So, how would I know where in the US this will should be probated? What state? Where I used to live and still have ties, or where my mail is sent?

What a heckuva tech day, everything is so messed up over here in lower SAT. My cell phone usually has 4G in our house (La Paz). Now I am lucky if I can get H+, most of the day it has been showing only an E and there is no way I can get online. Lucky if I can even get email. Has anyone else had similar troubles?

Over here in San Antonio my internet service continues to die out every few minutes, and I have to go unplug the modem, plug it back in, hop on my computer and russssssh to get anything I need finshed before the internet dies on me again. Rinse, repeat. I have cleaned my computer cache, reset the DNS on my computers, and unplugged my Netgear extender. Things speed up...for a few minutes. Then whoosh, the internet stops working. My modem shows a signal and all lights flashing (or not flashing) as they are supposed to. This is affecting all 5 computers and 3 users in our house. I am thinking that I need to reset the modem. Or, what? Thanks for your help!

Thank you, Spencer. You have really helped clarify.

Clarification: we want a separate will for the US. We do NOT need a Mexican will. The only asset here is our house, and we already have written arrangements for that written into the deed, at the time we closed. Under Mexican law the house goes to the surviving spouse, and then, should the surviving spouse die, the house defualts to the name of the heir written into the deed. We want to cover our US assets ONLY and we want to do a will for the US.

Even though I live in Mexico I have assets in the US and a (kind of, at my parents' home) permanent address in Florida How do I prepare a Will for my US assets while I am here in Mexico? On the signing of the Will it asks for my address, can I use my current location in Mexico? Will the US Consulate notary want it to have my US address--which is not where I will be when having the Will witnessed and the US Consulate notary is located at the time of the Will signing and notarization, ie, Ajijic? I am assuming the US Consulate Notary can do this, correct? Or if not, do I use a Mexican Notario? I'm not the first to be in this situation. What have others done?

My CFE bill read the same as yours for the same period. Will be interesting to see what these new bills bring. Perhaps Newfhugger can tell us what his previous 2 bills showed in the reverse, lower right corner? Really, really want to hear from a Solar company rep who has spoken with a CFE official about what is going on.

Does anyone know of a large solar panel installation company in another area that can confirm this new CFE policy, if it actually exists? I do know that a rate change went into effect a few months ago: the DAC rate went down, the Basic rate went up, and the Middle Tier was eliminated, or something like that. But I did not see anything about CFE eliminating all solar credits after a year. And, when would CFE determine the year start/end date?

Thanks for the reminder--we have no real estate, only bank and investment accounts, so will go through and check all of them.

Is this a new CFE policy? I have had solar for 2 years and I was told the credits "dumped" at the end of the calendar year. But then I read? heard? recently that CFE had changed the policy so the credits would be rolled over on a fiscal basis, no longer the caledar year but some other year, like March 1 to February 28, or some odd time. This, along with the new rate increase and elimination of the middle tier. Surely there is someone on this forum who knows more about what is going on with CFE and if this, indeed, a new policy..

My will and that of my husband are 20 years' old. We've been told that wills have to be updated every 10 years or in the US to valid. Wondering if a Mexican will 1) prepared by a notario 2) is valid in US for US assets? Because we are Permanente it makes sense to do the wills here in Mexico, right? Or can we get a US lawyer to prepare them remotely? Not heading back to the US anytime soon.

RE: Chapala PLUS:v The buses to/from Chapala leave every 30 minutes, while the ones to/from Ajijic leave every hour. So you have twice as many Chapala buses as Ajijic.