The evidentiary value that labor authorities grant to resignation letters within a labor litigation has changed.
Previously, it was sufficient to prove that the signature on the resignation letter corresponded to the employee. If the employee denied it, an external expert in the field determined whether it corresponded to the employee or not. A positive result was sufficient to prove the will to terminate the labor relationship.
The new criteria requires the company to demonstrate that the signature was obtained in an autonomous, voluntary, free, and spontaneous manner without any influence, deceit, or intimidation (e.g., physical, emotional, economic, or other) by the company or its representatives.
The Courts’ criteria is that it is not plausible that a worker who is not formed as a lawyer might draft a resignation letter in the same fashion as a lawyer would (e.g., cross references to articles of law and other legal terms), undermining the validity of the resignation letter.
In cases of pregnant or nursing women, authorities are bound to protect them, deeming that these persons are vulnerable. The criteria in these cases is that it is not credible that a pregnant or nursing woman would want to leave her job, as she requires medical attention from Social Security services and economic resources to afford childbirth costs.
In view of these changes, we suggest you to get in touch with our labor & employment lawyers to create new protocols to that complies with the new criteria and mitigates potential risks.
Práctica Laboral y Seguridad Social
Javier Canseco / javier.canseco@ecrubio.com
Ana María Becerra / ana.becerra@ecrubio.com
Perla Arreola / perla.arreola@ecrubio.com
Roberto Álvarez Malo / roberto.alvarezmalo@ecrubio.com
Isaac Corral / isaac.corral@ecrubio.com
Rogelio Sánchez / rogelio.sanchez@ecrubio.com