Mexico approves Bill cutting workweek to 40 hours by 2030
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With more than 2,226 work hours per person per year, Mexico has the worst work-life balance in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
PHOTO: REUTERS
MEXICO CITY – Mexico has approved a Bill to gradually reduce the workweek from 48 to 40 hours, although the reform, expected to be implemented from 2027, increases weekly overtime and maintains only one rest day for every six worked.
With more than 2,226 work hours per person per year, Latin America’s second-largest economy has the worst work-life balance in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The country, where around 55 per cent of workers are employed in the informal sector, also has the lowest labour productivity and the lowest wages among the group’s 38 member states.
The Chamber of Deputies approved the general outline of the Bill late on Feb 24 with the support of all 469 present in the 500-member Congress; none voted against. Deputies then went on to discuss the law’s particular terms, approving them with 411 votes in favour.
The opposition had strongly criticised the reform during 10 hours of debate. The ruling party hailed its approval, which follows years of back-and-forth with business owners.
“Productivity is not measured by exhaustion. It is built with dignity,” said ruling-party representative Pedro Haces, who also serves as the secretary-general of the Autonomous Confederation of Workers and Employees of Mexico.
Opposition says there is no real reduction in working week
The opposition argued that the Bill does not represent a real reduction of the workweek because it increases weekly overtime to 12 hours from nine and does not include a mandatory two days of rest for every five worked.
“The idea of the reform is not bad, but it is incomplete and was done in a rush,” said Mr Alex Dominguez, a lawmaker from the opposition PRI party.
The reform won general approval earlier in February in the Senate, where the ruling Morena party holds a strong majority.
“After more than 100 years without changes, Mexico will gradually phase out the 48-hour workweek,” the Ministry of Labour said on X in the early hours of Feb 25.
President Claudia Sheinbaum introduced the proposal in December; it aims to reduce the workweek by two hours per year until 2030, benefiting some 13.4 million workers.
If the law is endorsed by more than half of Mexico’s state legislatures, as is expected, the first two-hour reduction would be implemented in January 2027. REUTERS
