This article by Arturo Rivero was originally published by Lafuentelaboral on February 1, 2026.
The Mexican Senate proposal to pay overtime up to triple seeks to curb abuse of extended days; however, for thousands of Mexican workers, the problem is not just in how much overtime will be paid, but in how overtime hours are imposed.
“Here they don’t ask you if you want to stay. They tell you: either you stay or tomorrow you don’t come back”, Jose, a line operator in an industrial plant in the north of the country, relates. His shift officially ends at 5 p.m., but he often leaves after 10 p.m. Overtime is paid, when paid at all, as “support” or “bonus”, outside of payroll.
Like him, dozens of consulted workers agree on a pattern: overtime is not negotiated, it is ordered and refusing it usually results in veiled threats, shift changes, pay cuts or disguised firings.
The reform being discussed in the Senate of the Republic establishes that extraordinary work must be voluntary, with a limit of 12 hours per week and additional payments of up to 200% when these limits are exceeded. But in the workplace, a “voluntary” agreement is fragile.
“On paper it sounds good, but in practice the worker is alone in front of the boss,” says Ana, an administrative employee in a service company.
“If you say no, they call you conflictive. Nobody wants to be blacklisted,” he concludes.
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