To guarantee that the workers of Mexico have decent breaks during their work days, the deputy presented her modification to article 69 of the Federal Labor Law (LFT ), which indicates the minimum rest days to which a worker has access, where it currently states that at least one day a week is for rest.
“Article 69.- For every six days of work, the worker will enjoy at least one day of rest, with full salary”
In the Prieto proposal, it is indicated that every worker must have two days off for every five worked. That is, in a period of one week (seven days), whoever executes an task or provides a service for an employer must rest for at least two days, which will have a positive impact on their quality of life.
She also pointed out that, in Mexico, working hours and the lack of days off have negative repercussions on employees, such as job stress, anxiety, and lower job and life satisfaction. Reducing working hours can improve the work-life balance of employees, increasing their quality and satisfaction.
During her explanatory statement, the federal legislator pointed out that, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD ), in 2020 a comparison between countries and their accumulated working hours in a year was published, where it was revealed that Mexicans work 2,124 hours a year, while the average annual hours worked in OEC.
That data is sharpened when compared with nations such as Germany, the Netherlands or Norway where they work 1,371, 1,419 and 1,424 hours per year, respectively.
Another point that she considered, which addresses a particular context in Mexico, was that the working class has to travel for hours to get to their workplaces. It is estimated that they spend an average of 264 hours a year in traffic, which is equivalent to 20 days of their lives.
She added that, in the long term, this initiative is expected to have a positive impact on the health of the working class, as it could be a factor that reduces stress and the diseases that derive from it, such as anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders, as well as changing habits in smoking, alcohol abuse, irregular diet, and lack of exercise.
The initiative was sent to the Labor and Social Welfare Commission for its ruling.
Morena is the majority party in the Chamber of Deputies, so that party alone has the powers to approve this initiative, since, as it is a modification to a law and not to the Constitution, it only requires a simple majority vote.
It could, therefore, be expected that, before the end of the LXV Legislature (2024), workers in Mexico who currently work six days a week with one day off can go to five days a week with two days off without their pay being reduced as a result.