Narayan AmmachchiLatin American countries are actively reducing working hours, citing changing lifestyles and pressure from the younger generation.
Forty-eight hours has historically been the standard in much of the region, but in the coming years this figure will be reduced to 40 hours.
“The 48-hour workweek has been in Mexican law for 106 years. It was about time that changed,” declared Mexican congressman Pedro Haces after tabling the legislative bill for changing the work hours.
Mexico wants to reduce the workweek from 48 hours to 40 hours by 2030. The reduction will happen gradually: 48 hours in 2026, 46 in 2027, 44 in 2028, 42 in 2029, and finally 40 hours in 2030. Lawmakers are still debating whether to include an official five-day workweek with two days off.
It is true that although the shorter work week has been established in North America a long time ago, Latin America was slow to adopt it.
Reports suggest that the continuous lobby by the International Labour Organisation might also have contributed to the change in the region.
In its 2025 report dedicated to Latin America, the ILO noted: “Time is a finite and irreplaceable resource. The way it is distributed between work, personal life and rest has a profound impact on health, productivity and social cohesion.”
When it comes to shorter work hours, Ecuador stands out. A 40-hour work week has been the norm in Ecuador since 1980. Recently, it added flexibility to the model. Workers and employers can strike deals to compress those hours — working 10 hours a day for four days, followed by three full days of rest.
The first Latin American country to follow in the footsteps of Ecuador was Venezuela, which established a 40-hour work week in 2012.
Similar to Mexico, Chile is reducing work hours gradually. In 2023, Congress passed a law to bring the workweek down from 45 to 40 hours. It dropped to 44 hours in 2024, will fall to 42 hours on April 26 this year, and will reach the full 40-hour target by 2028. Companies that adopt 40 hours early can switch to a 4×3 model — four days of work followed by three days of rest.
Colombia is also reducing hours step by step. The country used to have a 48-hour week. Law 2101, passed in 2021, started the reduction. The workweek is currently 44 hours, but from July 15, 2026, it will permanently drop to 42 hours (seven hours per day).
Industry analysts across the region have endorsed their full support to the changes.
“Shorter workweeks can improve productivity,” says Robert Bird, who teaches Business and employment law at the University of Connecticut, adding that this can even reshape Latin America’s competitiveness.
He pushes back against a long-held assumption—that more hours mean more output.
“When employees work longer hours, they may be physically present at the job for a longer period of time, but may not necessarily be more productive. Presence is not the same as productivity,” Bird argued.
“Long commutes to work and back, which is not uncommon in large Latin American cities, only make the problem worse. Furthermore, workers stuck with long shifts are prone to making greater mistakes. This can be a life-threatening problem in industries such as transportation, security, and healthcare where full attention is essential.”
The special case of Brazil
Brazil presents a more complex picture. Officially, the country follows a 44-hour workweek, typically spread over six days. In practice, many workers still operate on six-day schedules. The government supports reducing this to 40 hours, but the debate is moving even further.
There is growing discussion around cutting the workweek to 36 hours. Pilot programs are already being tested by companies in different parts of the country.
In Central America, the pace of change is slower. The standard workweek remains higher — around 44 hours — in countries such as Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Costa Rica. Still, there are adjustments within the system. Night shifts are shorter, usually lasting six to seven hours. In some cases, workers are paid for 48 hours even if they work only 44.
Costa Rica is now exploring a more radical model. Lawmakers are debating a 4×3 system built around 12-hour shifts — four intense workdays followed by three days of rest.
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