I. Mandatory Seating Breaks
What is it About?
An amendment to Articles 132, 133, 422, 423, and an addition of Section XVII to Article 133 of the Federal Labor Law (“FLL”). This amendment imposes a new obligation to employers, requiring them to provide backed chairs for employees to rest during their workday (this amendment is popularly known as Seat Law).
Who does it Affect?
This amendment focuses on workers in services, commerce, and similar sectors, with potential equivalent application to the manufacturing industry where employees stand for a large portion of their workday.
Employers are required to provide the sufficient number of chairs for employees to rest when their duties allow it, and to grant them sitting breaks periodically during their workday.
What are the Penalties for Non-Compliance?
The initiative proposes the addition of Article 1000- Bis to the FLL, establishing a fine of 250 to 2,500 times the UMA [1] (currently between $27,142.50 and $271,425.00 MXN) for employers who fail to comply with the obligations related to the mandatory seating breaks.
When will it become Effective?
This amendment will become effective 180 days after its publication in the Federal Official Gazette (“DOF“), and employers will have twelve months thereafter to adapt to this new regulation.
The initiative has already been approved by Congress, and its publication is expected shortly.
II. Working Hours Reduction
What is it About?
The proposed amendment is at the constitutional level, seeking to amend Section IV of Subsection A and Section II of Subsection B of Article 123 of the Mexican Federal Constitution (“MFC”) to establish that for every five days of work, employees are entitled to two days of paid rest.
It is important to note that current regulations allow six-day workweeks with one paid rest day, or any equivalent arrangement, and even allows exceeding the daily maximum hours to adjust the weekly schedule to grant the employee with two days of rest per week, without reducing the total hours worked by an employee during a week.
The main objective of this initiative is to reduce the workweek as follows:
|
Shift Type |
Current Maximum | Proposed Maximum |
|
Day Shift |
48 hours per week |
40 hours per week |
| Mixed Shift |
45 hours per week |
37.5 hours per week |
|
Night Shift |
42 hours per week |
35 hours per week |
What to Expect?
The new administration has announced, that one of its goals is to put this workday reduction on the agenda. Therefore, it is expected that Congress will address this issue during the remainder of the current regular session period (ending on November 30th, 2024) or in the first regular session period of the coming year.
To this day, the “Morena”, “Movimiento Ciudadano”, and “Partido del Trabajo” political parties have submitted initiatives to achieve this reduction.
How will it be Implemented?
A progressive implementation depending on company size might be implemented:
|
Company Size |
Implementation Period |
|
Microbusinesses |
Three and a half years |
|
Small Businesses |
Two years |
|
Medium Businesses |
One and a half years |
|
Large Businesses |
Six Months |
How to Prepare?
We consider it important to analyze the impact of this amendment on each company, reviewing both individual and collective employment contracts, if applicable, to assess the potential impact on productivity and, if necessary, the need to implement an additional shift to maintain current production levels.
Alongside this preliminary analysis, we suggest conducting a financial simulation to measure the economic impact of compliance with this reform.
[1] Unit of Measurement and Updating.
