Mexico’s 40-Hour Workweek Amendment Reaches Its Final Stage: Key Insights

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Quick Hits

• The standard workweek in Mexico will decrease from forty-eight to forty hours, by two hours per year starting in 2027.
• A six-day schedule remains permissible.
• Noncompliance carries fines up to $586,550.00 Mexican pesos ($33,517.39 USD), with potential criminal implications under labor exploitation statutes.

The FLL amendment details what the Constitution provides and establishes additional employer obligations to support the gradual reduction of the workweek.

Key Changes Under the Federal Labor Law Amendment

Reduced weekly hours. The standard workweek will decrease to forty hours by 2030. The working week will reduce gradually by two hours per year to harmonize FLL with the constitutional amendment published on March 3, 2026. The schedule is the following:

• 2026: forty-eight hours
• 2027: forty-six hours
• 2028: forty-four hours
• 2029: forty-two hours
• 2030: forty hours

Rest days. Although the reduction to forty hours may suggest a five-day workweek with two rest days, the amendment preserves the right of employees and employers to schedule weekly hours by mutual agreement.

This means that a six-day schedule is still permissible, provided the weekly total does not exceed the applicable cap and the daily maximum (daily shift of eight hours, night shift of seven hours, and mixed shift of seven-and-a-half hours) is respected.

Overtime restructured. Overtime will be capped at twelve hours per week by 2030. These twelve hours may be spread over a maximum of four days per week, with no more than four hours of overtime worked on any single day (the four-day and four-hour limits are independent caps, not a multiplier). If an employee works beyond the twelve-hour weekly limit, the law requires the employer to pay those additional hours at 200 percent more than the regular hourly wage. Even at this rate, an employee may work no more than four additional hours.

Minors are prohibited from working overtime.

It is worth noting that the reform simultaneously reduces the standard workweek and expands the permitted overtime from nine to twelve hours, according to the following:

• 2026: nine extra hours
• 2027: nine extra hours
• 2028: ten extra hours
• 2029: eleven extra hours
• 2030: twelve extra hours

Electronic time tracking. The amendment requires employers to implement electronic time tracking for hours worked by each employee. The statutory deadline is January 1, 2027, but implementation is subject to criteria and guidelines to be issued by the STPS, which have not yet been released.

Noncompliance will range from MXN $29,327.50 to $586,550.00 (approximately USD $1,675.87 to $33,517.39).

No sector-specific exceptions. One aspect of the reform that has generated considerable discussion is the absence of transitional regimes for specific industries, something that recent reforms in other Latin American jurisdictions have included.

What Employers Must Take Into Account

Even though some obligations under this amendment depend on action by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social (STPS)), employers may want to consider the following factors when preparing for when the amendment becomes fully enforceable.

• The amendment establishes a fine of 250 to 5,000 Units of Measure and Update (UMAs), which is equivalent to MXN $29,327.50 to $586,550.00 (USD $1,675.87 to $33,517.39), for employers that fail to comply with the provisions regarding overtime payment and work shift scheduling.
• Failure to comply with overtime limits and the payment of overtime may have criminal implications, as this is directly related to the latest reforms regarding the Human Trafficking Law.
• Mandatory electronic time tracking creates a documentary trail, and increased STPS inspection authority combined with the explicit linkage to anti-exploitation statutes means overtime noncompliance could escalate beyond a labor dispute into a criminal matter; however, this is still pending, and STPS needs to issue its regulations. To avoid noncompliance with the provisions of the amendment regarding the scheduling of the workweek, employers may want to ensure that they have sufficient evidence to demonstrate that they have agreed upon this with their employees.
• Employers that fail to comply with electronic time tracking requirements can be subject to a fine of 250 to 5,000 UMAs, which is equivalent to MXN $29,327.50 to $586,550.00 ($1,675.87 to $33,517.39 USD).

Preparing for Implementation

Given the reform’s gradual implementation, employers may want to approach implementation as a gradual compliance program rather than a one-time adjustment. In our experience, the areas below are where early action tends to be most beneficial:

First, and perhaps most urgently, employers may want to review and update internal work regulations (reglamento interior de trabajo), employment contracts, and overtime policies. Employers may want to ensure that any agreed-upon scheduling of weekly hours  is documented in writing, as the amendment places the burden of proof directly on employers.

Second, employers may also want to conduct internal diagnostics of actual hours worked in order to determine the actual steps that need to be taken.

Third, timekeeping systems capable of recording entry/exit times, ordinary and overtime hours, rest periods, and holidays, with data retention and auditability, are likely to be needed and may have a practical impact on data privacy notices.

Fourth, budgeting for each phase of the reduction, including overtime differentials, additional headcount requirements, and social security contribution increases, is another area that deserves attention early.

And finally, employers may want to conduct periodic reviews of shift structures, staffing, and compensation budgets as annual two-hour reductions continue through 2030 and overtime caps expand in parallel.

Ogletree Deakins’ Mexico City office will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Cross-Border and Wage and Hour blogs as additional information becomes available.

Pietro Straulino-Rodríguez is the managing partner of the Mexico City office of Ogletree Deakins.

Natalia Merino Moreno is an associate in the Mexico City office of Ogletree Deakins.

María José Bladinieres is a law clerk in the Mexico City office of Ogletree Deakins.

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