Mexico's 40-Hour Workweek: 2027-2030 Schedule and Payroll Cost

Mexico's maximum workweek starts dropping from 48 to 40 hours between 2027 and 2030, and each step raises the hourly rate and the cost of every overtime hour even though the monthly salary does not change. A company that keeps the same shift schedule ends up paying overtime hours that did not exist before, without having budgeted for them.

In Soulbit Academy we explain Latin American payroll from the finance side of a growing company. This guide recalculates the hourly rate and the cost of overtime at each step of Mexico's 40-hour workweek, with examples to budget 2027. If your company also pays remote staff connected to Mexico, that payroll has its own guide in payroll for remote workers in Mexico. Colombia is going through a similar workweek reduction over the same years; the comparison for a company with teams in both countries is in Colombia and Mexico's workweek reduction: what changes for cross-border teams.

Mexico's 40-hour workweek: the 2027-2030 schedule

Mexico's maximum workweek drops from 48 to 40 hours in four steps, each taking effect on January 1, between 2027 and 2030. The reform to the Federal Labor Law that sets this schedule was published in the Official Gazette (DOF) on May 1, 2026, following an earlier constitutional reform to Article 123 that enabled the change.

The schedule moves in four two-hour steps. On January 1, 2027 the maximum drops to 46 weekly hours. The 2028 step reaches 44, the 2029 step reaches 42, and the 2030 step closes at 40, as confirmed by Mexico's Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) in its official FAQ on the reform. Each step applies from that date, with no additional grace period for employers.

Table 1 applies each step to an assumed monthly salary of 20,000 Mexican pesos. It converts weekly hours into equivalent monthly hours and shows how the ordinary hourly rate rises without touching the salary.

In effect from January 1	Maximum weekly hours	Equivalent monthly hours	Ordinary hourly rate (assumed salary of 20,000)
Through December 31, 2026	48	208.0	96.15
From January 1, 2027	46	199.3	100.33
From January 1, 2028	44	190.7	104.90
From January 1, 2029	42	182.0	109.89
From January 1, 2030	40	173.3	115.38

The effect is purely arithmetic and does not depend on any company decision: the same salary is spread across fewer hours, so each hour is worth more. From 2026 to 2030 the ordinary hourly rate rises 20%, the same proportion by which the weekly schedule drops, from 48 to 40 hours. Specialized media also report a new requirement to electronically log each worker's start and end time starting in 2027, available to labor authorities on request; confirm the exact scope of that requirement with local counsel before choosing a time-tracking system.

How to recalculate the hourly rate at each step

The ordinary hourly rate is the monthly salary divided by the monthly hours of the schedule, and that divisor drops at each step of the reform. The formula is salary divided by equivalent monthly hours, and equivalent monthly hours are weekly hours multiplied by 52 and divided by 12.

With 46 weekly hours from 2027, the calculation is 46 times 52 divided by 12, which gives 199.3 hours a month. The same 20,000-peso salary, previously divided by 208 hours, is now divided by 199.3, and the hourly rate rises from 96.15 to 100.33 pesos. The difference looks small per worker, but it multiplies across the whole headcount and every overtime hour billed from that date.

This 52-divided-by-12 method is one of several used by payroll systems in Mexico. Some calculate the daily salary by dividing by 30 first, then divide that by the agreed daily hours. The result changes little between methods, but confirm with your payroll provider which one applies before you reconfigure the system, because a difference in method compounds across thousands of overtime hours a year.

Does the new divisor change the fixed monthly salary?

No. The monthly salary stays the same, because the reform bars reducing it due to the shorter schedule. What changes is the value that salary represents per hour, which is the base for calculating overtime, sick leave pay, vacation pay, and future severance. An outdated divisor underpays every one of those items without anyone noticing until an audit or a labor claim.

Double and triple overtime pay in Mexico: what the Federal Labor Law says

Mexico's Federal Labor Law pays the first overtime hours of the week at double the ordinary wage and any time beyond that limit at triple, under Articles 66 through 68 of the law. The limit in force today is nine weekly overtime hours paid at double, and the law does not require any worker to render overtime beyond that cap.

The calculation has two steps. First, the ordinary hourly rate using the divisor that matches the current step in Table 1. Second, that rate is multiplied by two for overtime within the weekly cap, and by three for any hours beyond it. The calculation base changes every January 1 even though the surcharge percentage does not.

The text of the law we consulted sets the cap on overtime paid at double at nine weekly hours. Several industry sources expect that cap to rise alongside the shorter schedule, but we did not find that schedule in the official text: confirm it with your labor counsel before reconfiguring payroll, because it directly affects how many hours are paid at double versus triple.

How many overtime hours can an employee work per week in Mexico?

Today, the Federal Labor Law allows a maximum of nine weekly overtime hours paid at double; any time beyond that limit is paid at triple and remains subject to whatever overtime cap the labor authority sets. The law also bars workers under 18 from rendering overtime. Verify the cap in force at each step with your counsel before scheduling shifts.

What Mexico's 40-hour workweek costs in overtime: the 2027 example

The reform's first real cost lands on January 1, 2027, when the legal maximum drops from 48 to 46 weekly hours. A company that keeps its 48-hour schedule without adjusting it turns two weekly hours per worker into overtime, paid at double because they fall within the nine-hour cap the Federal Labor Law sets today.

Table 2 compares the cost of keeping a 48-hour schedule against the new 46-hour maximum, with an assumed monthly salary of 20,000 pesos and the double surcharge that applies to those two hours.

Item (assumed salary of 20,000)	Before (48 h, through 2026)	After (46 h, from 2027)	Change
Ordinary hourly rate	96.15	100.33	+4.3%
Equivalent monthly hours	208.0	199.3	-4.2%
A worker whose schedule is adjusted to 46 hours	0	0	No change
A worker who stays at 48 h: 2 weekly hours become overtime (8.7 a month)	0	1,739	New cost
Ten workers with that same pattern	0	17,391	New cost

The cost comes from two weekly hours, equal to 8.7 hours a month per worker. Paid at double using the 2027 hourly rate, that is roughly 1,739 pesos a month per person, and 17,391 pesos for ten workers with the same pattern, before benefits. Sustained across a full year, that same pattern for ten workers adds up to roughly 208,696 pesos before benefits, just from the two hours nobody adjusted.

The cost grows at every following step, because the legal maximum keeps dropping even if the company changes nothing. A company that never adjusts its schedule and stays at 48 hours once the maximum reaches 40 in 2030 would accumulate eight weekly overtime hours, about 34.7 a month, close to 8,000 pesos a month per worker before benefits, as long as those hours still fall within whatever overtime cap is in force at that point.

What happens if a company does not adjust shifts to the new maximum?

The cost repeats every month as long as the schedule stays unadjusted, and grows at every following step because the legal maximum keeps dropping. These are this article's own assumptions, not figures from Soulbit or any real company, and your own number depends on your actual shifts and base salary.

How to recalculate shifts and schedules before each step

Recalculating shift schedules before each January 1 keeps overtime hours from showing up as a surprise in the following month's payroll. Six steps cover what usually goes wrong at a company with 10 to 100 employees.

1. Identify which teams currently work the full legal maximum, 48 weekly hours, and which already sit below that limit.
2. Calculate how many weekly hours each team must cut at the next step, without touching anyone's monthly salary.
3. Decide whether to cut hours per day or per workday; both approaches comply, as long as the weekly average does not exceed the new maximum.
4. Update the hourly rate in the payroll system with the divisor for the current step, effective the matching January 1.
5. Review shifts that today only trigger occasional overtime; with a lower weekly maximum, those same hours can turn into recurring overtime.
6. Document the calculation method you used, because a later overtime dispute gets resolved by the record, not by memory of who worked which shift.

Budgeting 2027: what HR and finance should include

The 2027 budget needs to add two separate effects of the reform: the rise in the hourly rate across all payroll, and the new cost of hours that turn into overtime if shifts are not adjusted in time.

The first effect does not cost extra money by itself, because the monthly salary does not change; it affects calculations that start from the hourly rate, such as severance, sick leave pay, and occasional overtime. The second effect is a new, recurring cost, and depends on how many teams keep the previous schedule instead of adjusting it.

How do you budget the effect without waiting for year-end close?

Multiply the number of workers who will stay on the previous schedule by the monthly cost of their new overtime hours, using Table 2 as a reference. Ten workers in that pattern add roughly 17,391 pesos a month before benefits; your own figure should come from your actual shifts, not from this assumption.

Mexico's year-end close already requires provisioning other payroll items, such as profit sharing; the full calendar is in profit sharing (PTU) in Mexico: an employer's guide. Adding the 2027 workweek effect there avoids an extra surprise when finance sets next year's assumptions during the 2026 budget close.

What Soulbit does today for Mexican payroll, and what it does not

Soulbit does not calculate overtime, surcharges, or benefits, and does not run payroll in Mexico. That calculation stays with the employer, its accountant, or its payroll software, and Soulbit does not provide labor, tax, or accounting advice.

What Soulbit delivers today is the step after that calculation, and only in stablecoins. With Soulbit Salaries, a company holds a balance in USDC and USDT and disburses payroll that has already been calculated, in a batch or on a recurring schedule, with institutional custody, upfront KYB, and ongoing AML and KYT monitoring.

Soulbit does not have a local banking rail in Mexico today: it does not disburse directly in Mexican pesos to a bank account in the country. A company that pays in pesos still handles that leg through its bank or traditional payroll provider, and can use Soulbit for the stablecoin leg of its operation, for example staff paid in digital dollars or cross-border payments leaving Mexico. The mobile apps are not available yet.