MEXICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Mauricio Moreno Rey, Anahí Serrano, Erick Sastré and Karla Fajardo, Cannizzo, Ortiz y Asociados, S.C.
The lack of a written labour agreement does not pre - vent the employee from exercising their rights derived from the applicable labour provisions and from the services rendered and shall not be interpreted as the lack of existence of a labour relationship, as this for - mality is considered the responsibility of the employer. 1.3 Working Hours Although the employer and the employee may agree on the duration of the workday, in no case may it exceed the legal limits. The legal limits are: (i) for a day shift – ie, between 6am and 8pm, eight hours per day; (ii) for a night shift – ie, between 8pm and 6am, seven hours per day; and (iii) for a mixed shift – ie, which includes both day and night shifts, limited to seven and a half hours per day, provided that the night period is less than three and a half hours. Additionally, during the continuous workday, the employee must be granted a period of rest of at least half an hour, and if the employee cannot leave the place where they render their services during rest or meal hours, the corresponding time will be counted as effective time of the workday. Regarding overtime, the law provides that the workday may be extended in extraordinary circumstances, but by no more than three hours per day and three times in a week. These hours of extraordinary work must be paid 100% more than the salary corresponding to the hours of the ordinary workday. If the extraordi - nary work exceeds nine hours per week, the employer must pay 200% more than the salary corresponding to the hours of the ordinary workday, without prejudice to the applicable sanctions for doing so. Although there is no specific regulation for part-time contracts, according to the law, the employee and the employer may freely allocate the working hours and they may do so in a way that allows the employee to rest on Saturday afternoon, or any equivalent modal - ity. Furthermore, following a reform to Article 21, Section IV of the General Law for Preventing, Sanctioning, and Eradicating Crimes in Human Trafficking and for the
Protection and Assistance of Victims of These Crimes, which came into effect on 7 June 2024, significant changes shall apply to labour relations. Per the reform, the concept of labour exploitation is expanded to include not only hazardous and unhealthy conditions, disproportionate workloads, and/or wages below the minimum wage but also workdays that exceed those established by the Federal Labour Law. Per this modi - fication, workdays that exceed 48 hours per week, plus the overtime hours established by the Federal Labour Law, or that exceed the maximum workday established conventionally in contracts, will be sub - ject to severe sanctions for being considered labour exploitation, regardless of whether workers agree and even if they are properly paid for excess hours. This new regulation has determined that a workday involving labour exploitation will be punished with a prison sentence of three to ten years, as well as fines ranging from MXN565,700 to MXN5,657,000. When the individuals affected are members of Indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities, the punishment can range from four to 12 years of imprisonment and fines ranging from MXN791,980 to MXN7,919,800. Employ - ers shall require precise control of working hours to avoid exceeding the limit and becoming subject to such sanctions. 1.4 Compensation In Mexico, the minimum wage ( salario mínimo ) is the minimum guaranteed amount that an employee is entitled to receive in cash for services rendered in a workday. The minimum wages in Mexico are determined by the National Minimum Wages Commission ( Comisión Nacional de los Salarios Mínimos ) (made up of rep - resentatives of employees, employers and the gov - ernment), whose most recent resolution was issued on 19 December 2024 and published in the Official Federal Gazette. This resolution outlines (i) general minimum wages (applicable to all employees in spe - cific geographic areas, regardless of the industry, profession, trade, or specialised roles) and (ii) profes - sional minimum wages (which apply to employees in specific sectors or occupations within certain geo - graphic areas). Mexico is divided into two geographic zones for the purpose of determining these minimum wages: (i) the Northern Border Free Zone ( Zona Libre
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