Mexico City (May 11, 2023).- In the country, around 9 million people work more than 5 days a week in the formal sector, so the eventual approval of the reform to make a 2-day break mandatory days will have a great impact on the population.
As of the fourth quarter of 2022, 32.4 million people worked between 6 and 7 days both formally and informally, according to the National Occupation and Employment Survey (ENOE).
“There would be a little more than 9 million workers who can benefit from the reduction in working hours,” estimated Héctor Márquez, president of AMECH.
This reform was waiting to be discussed in the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies and it is probable that it will be taken up again in the next period of sessions, which begins in September.
Calculations by the Mexican Association of Human Capital Companies (AMECH) indicate that there are around 9 million people affiliated with the IMSS who work more than five days a week.
He added that, although in Mexico this reduction in the work week is barely being discussed, in other countries the four-day week already operates.
“The English are already experimenting with four-day weeks, they came up with a model they call 100-80-100, where companies warn that they will keep employees 100 percent of their income and they will only work 80 percent of the time.” time, that is, instead of 5 days, only four.
“But in exchange the worker has to give 100 percent productivity, what he used to do in a week, now it will be in four days,” he explained.
Márquez said that the application of this model resulted in England and now there are other countries that are in the process of adapting it, such as Spain, Belgium, Iceland, and it already works in some companies in Canada and the United States.
“This initiative contributes to the issue of decent work, the issue is global and there are countries where it is a fact that they are working four days,” said Márquez.
The other side of the coin, he considered, is that this reform will have a cost for certain companies such as restaurants, hotels, bars, commerce and construction, because the companies will have to replace staff who are resting.
In this sense, Diego García Saucedo, a labor lawyer, opined that there will be workers for whom it will not suit them, because they depend on tips, more than on a salary.
“The ones that are not going to benefit are the waiters, who work on weekends because they are strong for the restaurant sector. Many work six days, but they work six hours a week. In addition, the bulk of their work is tips and they go after that income,” he said.
