On February 21, 2025, the Official Gazette of the Federation published the “Decree amending, adding to, and repealing various provisions of the Law of the National Workers' Housing Fund Institute (“LINFONAVIT”) and the Federal Labor Law, regarding social housing,” These modifications came into force on February 22, 2025. (https://www.dof.gob.mx/nota_detalle.php?codigo=5749909&fecha=21/02/2025#gsc.tab=0)
Among the key aspects, the reform modifies INFONAVIT's powers, strengthening the oversight and supervision of the resource management and control bodies, allowing it to provide social housing and construct housing through a subsidiary construction company.
In addition, the employer's obligation to deduct employee benefits from INFONAVIT credits in the event of absences or disabilities has been modified.
Prior to the publication of the decree, employers' obligations to pay contributions to INFONAVIT, as well as to deduct salaries to repay loans granted to workers, were suspended due to absences or incapacity.
The aforementioned reform modified the penultimate paragraph of Article 29 of the LINFONAVIT (National Institute of Social Security), establishing that the employer's obligation to deduct salaries to cover loans granted by INFONAVIT, as contemplated in Section III of the aforementioned article, will not be suspended due to employee absences or incapacity, in accordance with the Social Security Law.
Initially, there was a debate about whether this employer obligation translated into an obligation for employers to pay or finance their employees' INFONAVIT loans during periods of absence or disability.
However, we believe that the amendment to the aforementioned article should not be interpreted as requiring employers to pay, from their own resources, workers' claims during absences or disabilities. Although the employer's obligation to make deductions will not be suspended, this requirement consists of withholding and entering the deductions into the salary, and compliance with this requirement is therefore subject to the workers actually earning a salary.
Therefore, regardless of whether an employee has any absences or disabilities during the reported two-month period, if they earned a salary for some days of the same, the employer must deduct the entire fee or fixed amount notified by INFONAVIT, through the deduction withholding notice, without making any proportional adjustment based on the days they worked and those they did not work during that period.
In this sense, if during the two-month period the employee did not generate any salary, the employer must report, through the employer clarifications provided in the INFONAVIT business portal under cause 360 ("“Worker with a high discount factor, does not earn minimum wage and does not cover the amount of amortization”), the impossibility of making discounts.
This interpretation is confirmed by the criteria published by the INFONAVIT Large Contributor Assistance Management, and available through the INFONAVIT business portal, which states that the employer will have no obligation to cover amounts that could not be deducted.
INFONAVIT is in the process of determining the deadline it will give employers to comply with this new obligation. Therefore, we suggest continually reviewing the Institute's statements in order to make changes to payroll systems and comply with this new guideline.
Of course, if INFONAVIT changes its position to the detriment of employers, they may file an indirect amparo lawsuit against the amendment to the aforementioned article, when the new provision materializes in an impact on the employer.
