SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Three companies in Tijuana have lowered their employees’ work weeks from 48 to 40 hours in anticipation of a new labor law in Mexico.
Mexico’s Congress has been considering the change since 2022 and is reportedly on the verge of shortening the work week for workers in Mexico.
The law would also give employees two mandated days off during the week.
Obdulia Rodríguez, president of the Human Resources Association in Tijuana, said industries need to be prepared.
“We have been monitoring the progress and have been creating different scenarios,” she said. “Right now, we have a Plan A and Plan B should this new law take effect.”.
She went on to say employees who work fewer hours are reporting a better quality of life.
“Other companies are already looking into lowering their work weeks, more and more are considering this move,” she said.
Congresswoman Susana Prieto Terrazas, from Juarez, who in 2019 was arrested for organizing maquiladora workers demanding higher wages, first introduced the idea.
The shorter work week would require a change to Mexico’s Constitution.
A final vote was due last month, but it was postponed for a few weeks.
Several prominent business owners including Carlos Slim, one of the richest men in the world, have come out against the change saying that the fewer hours people work, the less money they’ll make.
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