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The Federal Executive Power presents an initiative to Congress to change the working week to 40 hours

12 December 2025

The Senate Republic of Mexico building Latin-American Tower skyscraper in Mexico City flag

The Labor and Social Welfare Office in collaboration with President Claudia Sheinbaum, publishes the main points of the project of reform regarding the gradual reduction of the workweek in Mexico from 48 to 40 hours and the increase in the minimum wage for the year 2026.

On December 3rd, 2025, during President Claudia Sheinbaum's morning press conference, Marath Baruch Bolaños López, Secretary of the Labor and Social Welfare Ministry, presented the key points of the proposed reform initiative to gradually reduce the maximum workweek in Mexico from 48 to 40 hours and increase the minimum wage by 2026.

Reduction of the workweek to 40 hours:

A 40-hour workweek will be established within the Federal Labor Law and the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States.
The reduction in the workweek may not entail a reduction in wages or social security benefits for employees.
The proposed project will indicate that the total number of regular and overtime hours worked in a day may not exceed 12 hours.
Likewise, the possibility of working 9 to 12 hours of overtime per week on a voluntary basis will be established for employees. Furthermore, the project will implement a maximum limit of 4 triple hours of overtime. However, the reform will prohibit minors from working overtime.
Employers will be required to use electronic records to monitor compliance with working hours. It is important to mention that the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare will issue the necessary guidelines for the proper compliance with electronic records.
In theory, the workweek reform would be effective on May 1st, 2026, and it would be gradually implemented, with a reduction of two hours per year effective on January 1st of each year. Consequently, the reduction would be carried out as follows:

Date	Weekly Working Hours
May 1st, 2026	Effective date and transition period
January 1st, 2027	46
January 1st, 2028	44
January 1st, 2029	42
January 1st, 2030	40

Minimum wage increases for 2026:

As of January 1st, 2026, the general and professional minimum wage will increase gong from $278.80 pesos in 2025 to $315.04 pesos in 2026. Likewise, the minimum wage for the Northern Border Free Zone will increase from $419.88 pesos in 2025 to $440.87 pesos in 2026.

Likewise, on December 3rd, 2025, President Claudia Sheinbaum presented to the Senate a Decree Project by which the provisions related to the workweek within the Federal Labor Law will be amended. It is important to mention that among the transitional articles of the Decree Project, it was specified that the duration of overtime will also be gradually consolidated as follows:

Date	Overtime Hours
January 1st, 2026	9
January 1st, 2027	9
January 1st, 2028	10
January 1st, 2029	11
January 1st, 2030	12

On the other hand, the Decree Project stated that the employer's obligation to electronically record their workers' workweek will come into effect on January 1st, 2027.

In the coming weeks, we will be monitoring the discussion and approval by Mexico's Congress on the current reform to the Federal Labor Law.

At Hogan Lovells, we are ready to assist you.

Authored by Mary Carmen Fuertes, Hugo Hernández Ojeda, José Pablo Sáenz and Juan Pablo Vazquez.