INEGI's employment survey (ENOE) counted 13,925,890 people working more than 48 hours a week in the second quarter of 2026, 23.2% of the 60.0 million at work. On 1 Jan 2027, the legal working week starts falling from 48 hours to 40, two hours a year until 2030.
People at work by hours worked a week, Apr-Jun 2026
Millions of people, and share of everyone at work
What the survey shows
The largest group, 28.8 million people or 48.0%, worked between 35 and 48 hours a week. Another 15.3 million, 25.4% by our arithmetic, worked fewer than 35 hours, and 1.4 million were temporarily away from a job they kept; 0.7 million didn't say. On average, people worked 41.5 hours a week in Apr-Jun 2026, according to INEGI.
The group working more than 48 hours was 365,599 people smaller than a year earlier, 2.6% fewer, by our arithmetic. The 35-to-48-hour group grew by 754,369.
What the reform says
The decree published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 3 Mar 2026 amended Article 123 of the Constitution: the working week will be 40 hours, on the terms the law sets. A transitional article sets the path, from 1 Jan of each year: 48 hours in 2026, 46 in 2027, 44 in 2028, 42 in 2029 and 40 in 2030. Another says the cut can't reduce wages, salaries or benefits.
The same decree caps overtime at 12 hours a week, spread over up to four hours a day on no more than four days, paid at 100% more than ordinary hours. Overtime beyond that cap is paid at 200% more, and workers under 18 can't work overtime. The change took effect on publication, and Congress had 90 days to amend the secondary laws.
What the bands can't tell
The survey's bands don't line up with the new limits. It doesn't report how many people work between 46 and 48 hours, the group the first step reaches in Jan. What it does show is that nearly one person in four at work already puts in more than 48 hours, the current legal week. The count includes the self-employed, whom that limit doesn't govern, but it suggests the reform's reach will depend as much on how the law is applied as on the new numbers.
INEGI publishes the third-quarter 2026 survey on 25 Nov 2026. The long record: why-mexico.com.
Sources
- INEGI, ENOE, second quarter of 2026 (bulletin 503/26), 25 Aug 2026
- Diario Oficial de la Federación, decree reducing the working week (Article 123), 3 Mar 2026
- INEGI, 2026 release calendar, 3 Nov 2026
- Wikipedia, Working time (context), 3 Nov 2026
Figures checked at their original sources on 3 Nov 2026. See an error? Corrections.