Recently, the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court of Mexico issued legal decision by contradiction titled: “Termination of Employment Agreements. The parties are not required to appear before the competent Labor Board in order to ratify such.” In this legal decision, the Second Chamber states that pursuant to an interpretation of labor provisions relative to employment termination agreements, it is concluded that it is not required that an employer and employee ratify the corresponding agreement before the Labor Board, since this ratification is optional and does not imply that the employee loses the opportunity to file an action for nullity through the corresponding labor proceeding. Furthermore, the option to ratify the agreement should not be understood as an obligation that makes the termination of the employment relationship between the parties more onerous.
Notwithstanding the above, the need to ratify a labor agreement should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, considering that ratification decreases the likelihood that an employee may file a claim for nullity, because ratifying such termination agreements classifies such as res judicata. In addition, it is advisable to obtain the employee’s written resignation and signature of a settlement agreement with the employer
