Mexico: Reduction of the Work Week

In brief

On 3 March 2026, Mexico took a major step toward transforming the work environment. A constitutional amendment to Article 123, Section A, was enacted, stipulating a gradual reduction of the work week from 48 to 40 hours, as well as strengthening the right to at least one day off for every six days worked. The implementation will depend on subsequent amendments to the Federal Labor Law (FLL), which will be issued within the next 90 days.

This represents a structural change in the way employers will have to organize working hours, manage overtime, and administer their labor costs. Once fully implemented, this reform will force companies to reevaluate their work schedules, operating models, and compliance strategies ahead of time.

Recommended actions

Employers are advised to implement the following key actions:

• Employers must review current work schedules and determine the economic cost that this reform will represent for their operations over the next four years.
• Develop a phased implementation plan for the reduction of working hours, in coordination with the operations team. For example, companies must determine whether it will be necessary to implement another work shift to cover the 8 hours that will be reduced from the weekly working hours.
• Amend all employment related documents to align them with the reform and prepare for a possible inspection by the labor authority, such as job offers, individual employment agreements, collective bargaining agreements, and internal work regulations.
• Implement attendance controls or a system that allows employees to register the start and end of their work shifts. Currently, the initiative to reform the Federal Labor Law does not establish guidelines for such attendance controls, but it indicates that the labor authority will issue them before January 2027.
• Provide training to managers and supervisors to sensitize them to the importance of this reform, the risks of non-compliance, and that employees should only be asked to extend their working hours under extraordinary circumstances and not on a regular basis.
• Reassess the calculation of the quotation base salary used to determine social security contributions for overtime pay.
  
  

In more detail

The constitutional amendment establishes the following:

• The possibility of arranging working hours by mutual agreement is maintained.
• The work week may be up to forty hours and may be extended by up to twelve hours per week under extraordinary circumstances, with the employee being eligible to receive double pay for such overtime hours (“Double Overtime”).
• Overtime may be extended for up to four additional hours per week, which shall be paid at triple the normal rate (“Triple Overtime”).
• Double Overtime may not exceed four hours per day or be worked more than four times per week.
• The reduction in working hours shall not entail a reduction in wages or benefits.
• The reduction of the maximum work week will be implemented gradually, according to the following timetable:

Furthermore, the proposed amendment to the FLL is currently under discussion in Congress foresees:

• The obligation for employers to electronically register the start and end of each employee's shift, in compliance with the provisions issued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare.
• Phased implementation of overtime pay as follows:

According to the constitutional amendment and the initiative reform to the FLL, the prohibition to work more than four hours payable at a triple rate is now in effect.

Our labor and social security team can assist by assessing the impact this reform will have on your operations and its implementation.