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First modification: 02/12/2026 - 18:01 Last modification: 02/12/2026 - 18:05

The presidential project to gradually reduce the weekly working day by eight hours from the current 48 received the endorsement of the Senate and now goes to the Chamber of Deputies, before its eventual presidential sanction.

Although the labor reform text approved by the Mexican Senate does not establish by law two mandatory days of rest, nor does it reduce the limit of 12 weekly overtime hours, it does maintain the essence of Claudia Sheinbaum's initiative to reduce the maximum working day to 40 hours per week.

Specifically, the proposal seeks to cut the work week by two hours per year between 2027 and 2030, with a direct impact expected for some 13.4 million workers, who should not see a reduction in their salaries, wages or benefits.

The debate in the Upper House overcame the resistance of unions and the opposition with a renewed version of a reform proposed years ago, which has fallen by the wayside several times due to lack of agreements between the ruling party and the opposition.

The initiative, which also prohibits minors from working overtime, was approved unanimously in general terms with 121 votes, and now goes to the Chamber of Deputies for its final debate.

"It is half justice because in Mexico 55% of the workers are informal, that is, this reform will not benefit more than half of the workers in Mexico at all," said the senator of the opposition National Action Party (PAN), Marko Cortés.

A Mexican labor market full of challenges

Together with Peru, Mexico is at the top of the ranking of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in terms of the longest working day among its 38 member states, with 2,193 hours per person per year.

It also has one of the lowest rates of labor productivity and the lowest salaries, with a dollar value of just over 20,000 a year, compared to 61,000 in the OECD and barely a fifth of the almost 95,000 that an employee earns a year in Luxembourg.

If the law is approved, the reform would come into force on May 1, and the first two-hour reduction would be implemented in January 2027, since 2026 will serve as an adaptation period for companies and workers.

With EFE and Reuters

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