Mexico overtime pay changes under 40-hour workweek reform starting January 2027, Digi Mart USA News (Mexico): Starting in January 2027, a constitutional reform and amendments to the Federal Labor Law in Mexico will change the rules for calculating, paying and monitoring overtime, known as horas extras. Under the new framework, overtime will begin at hour 41 of the weekly schedule, instead of after 48 hours.
The measure is part of a gradual reduction of the ordinary workweek. The weekly limit will fall by two hours each year, to 46 hours in 2027, 44 in 2028, 42 in 2029, and reaching 40 hours per week in 2030.
The new framework will also expand the number of overtime hours paid at double the regular salary, an additional 100 percent. Until now, that rate applied to a maximum of nine overtime hours per week.
From 2027, workers will be paid double for up to 12 overtime hours per week.
For the first time in Mexican labor law, the reform sets an absolute maximum for combined working time. No employee may work more than 56 hours per week in total, which includes 40 ordinary hours and a maximum of 16 overtime hours.
The reform also includes a protection for people under 18 years of age, who may not work overtime at any workplace in the country. The legislation expressly prohibits employers from reducing salaries, benefits or acquired rights on the grounds of applying the new schedule or paying overtime.
Working overtime will remain a voluntary decision for the worker.
Companies will be required to implement an electronic record of working hours under rules set by the Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social (STPS). The tool will allow authorities to cross-check information with the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social and the Servicio de Administración Tributaria.
Companies that fail to issue the electronic record may face fines of between $29,327 and $586,550 pesos, equivalent to 250 and 5,000 Units of Measurement and Update (UMA).
The weekly cap on authorized overtime will be adjusted gradually as the ordinary workweek is reduced. As the reform takes effect, workers and employers should review the working-hours record, the number of overtime hours worked and the corresponding pay, as well as the limits on weekly distribution and the rules protecting wages, benefits and acquired rights.
