How is the reform of the working day in Mexico: how much it proposes to reduce and when it is voted

() — This April 25, the Commission of Constitutional Points He presented and approved the reform to reduce working hours, which would go from 48 to 40 weekly hours if approved in plenary.

The Constitutional Points Commission of the Chamber of Deputies approved the reform, presented by the Movimiento Ciudadano (MC) party, to reduce weekly working hours. With 27 votes in favor, 0 against, and 5 abstentions from the PAN, the possibility of going from 48 hours to 40 hours was discussed in the session.

The MC party proposed a modification in section A of article 123 of the political constitution, which would establish a 40-hour work week and two days off for every 5 days of work.

The reform poses a series of advantages, such as recovery from physical and mental exhaustion, the possibility of sharing more time with the family, a decrease in mental illness, among others, according to the Chamber of Deputies.

deferred voting

Despite having been approved in the commission of deputies, the support of the rest of the legislators is still needed to be implemented.

The coordinator of the deputies of the National Regeneration Movement (Morena), Ignacio Mier, clarified that the plenary vote will not take place until September, since there are not enough votes for this period that end on April 30.

“There will not (be) any constitutional reform because we no longer have time, and in addition to not giving us time, it has to be built around the opinion, while a constitutional reform requires two thirds, and that requires a consensus in the drafting of the opinion”, said Mier, referring to the reform of the working day.

Mexicans work long hours: is the reduction appropriate?

According to the International Labor Organization, the Latin American country with the highest average working hours is El Salvador, with 43.4 weekly hours. Mexico follows with 42.1 weekly hours. Meanwhile, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) indicates that Mexico is the member country of that group where employees work the most,above Costa Rica and South Korea.

Jorge Álvarez Máynez, deputy and member of Movimiento Ciudadano, said that in no other country in the world you work so many hours a year as in Mexico, for which he described the initiative as a great historical advance.

However, the business union Coparmex issued a statement against the project. Since, according to them, it would be a “severe and devastating” economic blow for companies that would have to hire more staff or pay more overtime.

A recent case in the implementation of similar labor reforms is that of Chile, where on April 11 a bill was approved that gradually reduces the working day to 40 hours per week. This is expected to be achieved within five years.

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