On December 23, 2020, the Youth Building the Future Program (the Program) was published in the Federal Official Gazette through the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS). It is a Program that links people between 18 and 29 years old, who do not study and do not work, with companies, workshops, institutions or businesses where they can develop or strengthen work habits and technical skills to increase their possibilities of employability to future.

During the training, for up to one year, the young people receive a monthly support of $4,310.00 pesos, which was increased to $5,258.13 pesos as of January 1, 2022 (the Training Scholarship). The Training Scholarship is awarded by the STPS up to 12 times individually, through a banking instrument, to the apprentices of the Program. The amount will be delivered equally, for both men and women without distinction, throughout the country.

As part of the implementation of the Program, training must be provided through a Work Center registered with the Program itself. Such training is aimed at the acquisition or strengthening of technical skills and work habits, in accordance with the registered Training Plan, for a maximum period of twelve (12) months.

The apprentices are also granted medical insurance, at no cost to the employer, of benefits in kind by the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) during the period in which they are linked to their training in the Program, for insurance coverage in the branches of illness, maternity and occupational hazards.

The procedure is very simple and is done through digital forms. Interested Work Centers may obtain the forms through the Digital Platform jovenesconstruzandoelfuturo.stps.gob.mx, or in offices and with personnel authorized by the STPS. The foregoing, in the understanding that the fictitious refusal will proceed to the applications presented in the absence of a response from the authority, in all cases.

The will on the part of the Work Center to enroll in the Program will be expressed with the issuance of the registration folio that is issued by electronic acknowledgment of receipt, and the Agreement through which the enrollment of the Work Center will be formalized, will begin its validity once the Work Center complies with the corresponding requirements and documentation.

The STPS, undertakes during the term of the Agreement, among other actions, to the following:

1. Request to the interested young people, the necessary documents to prove their identity in order to be incorporated into the Program.

2. Ensure the delivery of the Training Grant directly to the apprentices linked to the Program.

3. Manage and operate the Program’s Digital Platform, which contains mechanisms to protect the information contained therein.

3. Promote the pertinent steps to incorporate apprentices linked to the Program into the mandatory IMSS regime, during the period of their training.

The Program can be terminated at any time, if, among others, the following causes of separation of the apprentices arise:

1. Be a beneficiary of another social program that grants educational scholarships;

2. Failure to comply with the schedules and activities of the Training Plan;

3. Failure to comply with the requirements established in the Digital Platform to accredit the training;

4. Appear in a drunken state or under the influence of psychoactive substances at the Work Center; or

5. Attack against the Work Center or its staff, as well as any other apprentice.

The advantage for the Work Center to join the Program is that it can obtain the “Badge of Work Center with Social Commitment”. This document is issued by the STPS to the Work Centers that participate in the Program, and train apprentices for at least twelve (12) months, in recognition of their voluntary work. The Badge could constitute a leverage for the Work Center that obtains it, in the event of a labor inspection by the STPS, as it will be considered a Work Center with social commitment. Furthermore, the Program does not imply a cost to the employer; participants are covered by the IMSS; and once the training process is completed, personnel who have acquired the knowledge and training satisfactorily at the discretion of the Work Center could be hire.

At Trejo Gutiérrez Abogados, we have a group of experts in labor matters with more than 20 years in the market. Please do not hesitate to contact us, we will be glad to provide the personalized legal advice that you require, including legal advice regarding the Youth Building the Future Program.