The reform to reduce the working day from 48 to 40 hours per week returns to flight in Mexico. Within the framework of the commemoration of May 1, President Claudia Sheinbaum has announced that from this week the work tables will begin for the implementation of this measure. “It cannot be done (the reduction) from one day to another, but the important thing is to see how we are going to do it and that it is an agreement that allows us to have better conditions for the obstacles,” the president said in the National Palace, in front of the main union leaders of the country. The objective of the federal government is to begin its implementation gradually until it reaches 40 hours in 2030.
The Secretary of labor, Marath Bolaños, added that the debate will involve entrepreneurs, unions and workers. “This historic change will be made through a process of social dialogue, in which all the people involved will be taken into account. It must be clear, reducing the hours of work does not reduce productivity or reduces the general value, what it does is dignify the existence of the workers returning hours of their lives and valuing the work they do week by week,” said Bolaños this Thursday in the National Palace. The reduction of the working day, which has raised the criticism of some voices in the business sector, was one of Sheinbaum’s campaign promises.
The initiative to reduce the work week in Mexico is not new, however, it has not been able to advance through the legislative channels. In October 2022, the initiative was presented by the deputy of Morena, Susana Prieto Terrazas. After weeks of lobby and debate for and against, the proposal was frozen. Now, in the current administration, the Legislative Power also did not bring its discussion in the ordinary periods of the Chamber of Deputies.
The specialist in labor issues, Manuel Fuentes, explains that with this first step, Mexico finally joins the South American current of being agreed to the reduction of the workday gradually. In Chile, for example, by 2028 they will be reaching the 40 -hour day, while in Colombia it is being agreed that it could be up to 42 hours and also gradually. However, Fuentes emphasizes that this announcement is still conditioned to a dialogue between those involved and, therefore, their landing in reality could be postponed until 2027 or 2028. “There is still a way to go. There is nothing defined with this announcement, only the dialogue table has begun and you have to wait for decisions,” he says.
The maximum number of hours that a person can work in Mexico, by law, is 48 hours per week, that is, a daily day of eight hours and a full day of rest, however, in practice there are workers who work more than 56 hours per week and there is no sanction for the employer. Thus, the reduction of the work week at 40 hours would imply ordering two mandatory rest days. “The patterns have resisted because if the initiative is implemented and working on a Saturday, the employer would have to pay his employee in a triple way and that is why the resistance is given,” adds Fuentes.
According to the most recent data of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mexico is one of the countries where people spend more time from their lives to their jobs: 2,226 hours worked a year, a higher figure with respect to Costa Rica, Chile, Israel or Russia. The last time a modification was made to the working day in Mexico was in 1917, more than a century ago.
