The Federal Labor Law already establishes that work shifts cannot exceed 48 hours per week, however, many workplaces actually exceed, by far, this limit.
The reform to the General Law to Prevent, Sanction, and Eradicate Crimes Related to Human Trafficking and for the Protection and Assistance to the Victims of these Crimes became effective in June 2024, considering as labor exploitation the workdays that exceed the legal limit.
Thus, labor exploitation will be present when the 48 weekly hours and overtime hours, which cannot exceed three hours per day and nine hours per week, are surpassed.
In the context of the intention to reduce the workweek from 48 to 40 hours, and considering that the federal government has established this as a gradual process towards 2030, what can companies that are not even within the range currently set by the law do?
Three strategic steps to reduce the workweek
Based on the experience of Blanya Correal Sarmiento, an international consultant and expert in the development of labor and organizational transformation models, after last year’s reform on human trafficking, evidence will show that many companies had integrated double overtime hours into their workday, or even triple.
Therefore, she considers that companies in Mexico that, at this point, still have workweeks exceeding 48 hours should establish a strategic path towards its reduction, especially considering this 2030 outlook.
She affirms that they should primarily focus on three specific steps:
1. Regularization and basic compliance
The first is related to regularization and basic compliance, in other words, adjusting these maximum hours. She comments that, firstly, a diagnosis on the actual workweek must be conducted.
Then, how are all the issues of internal regulations, labor agreements, collective agreements, and operational practices connected, especially, for example, in the calculation of vacations and the management of holidays? “I believe this is the first step. It must be urgently done this year”.
2. Optimization of workdays and productivity
The second step is optimizing workdays, and, above all, maximizing productivity. How can productivity be maximized first to avoid thinking about increasing the workforce or changing shifts?
“This point pertains to the currently low availability of people in Mexico to fill vacant positions. Many companies are actually struggling to find people with the right profiles. And, above all, to the extent that the demand is higher, access to this talent becomes more costly and difficult.
She warns that this is a key factor, and a second element is operational optimization, and this is where automation comes in.
She adds that using artificial intelligence systems and digitalization, in all possible cases, will greatly assist companies, because it is definitely an easier way and means to achieve the same productivity without the need to increase the number of employees.
Blanya Correal Sarmiento states that, for this second point, it is also necessary to integrate flexible schemas, staggered shifts, including shared work arrangements.
“And this, of course, will bring about the need to develop the ability to manage this shift flexibility among the leaders, especially at the mid-level operational management”.
Luis Peña, lead partner of People Advisory Services (PAS) at EY Mexico, concurs, as he states that the labor reform represents an opportunity to move from mere time management to a management system.
Therefore, he states that the only way to achieve the same results in fewer hours must not be to hire more people because, ultimately, productivity would be lost.
“If six people are required to produce 100 units of a product, and when the reform becomes effective, the company hires one more person, the question will be whether the company is more or less productive. The answer is that it is not the answer we are seeking,” he explains.
And indeed, he adds, if we are paying overtime, “we will have to aim at the well-being of our collaborators, we will have many more burnt-out people. Thus, it is definitely not the way.”
3. Consolidation of workdays
The third point is the consolidation of those workdays and, above all, making this a sustainable culture.
“For example, I have experience negotiating collective agreements based on productivity, where we truly encourage that the time workers spend within the organization to be effective time, a time that can actually be capitalized and we’re not struggling,” states Blanya Correal Sarmiento.
For Luis Peña, although there are companies that will face challenges, those companies where individuals are linked to a machine, to a truck, it is one-to-one, and, therefore, if they need to operate a certain machine 24 hours and they face such reduction, it is quite significant, thus, they will surely have to look for another person.
However, even under this system, organizations must become aware of those areas in which they can automate tasks and invest more in technology.
