One of the great myths that revolve around the implementation of the 40 -hour work weekis that guaranteeing more rights for workers means put productivity at risk of companies. One of the main objectives of the proposal is to have healthier and more productive workers.
From the moment the gradual reduction of the day in Mexicoan intense debate of the benefits and possible risks that could bring with them have been created.
The debate has been filed both by institutional channels, as they are The forums for 40 hours carried out by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS); As by non -institutional ways, be they social networks, conventional media, among others.
It is interesting to hear the different opinions and views that have been poured around the subject, but it attracts my attention to listen and read some positions that alert about a imminent loss of competitiveness and productivity of our companies.
Among the main arguments that support this position are that Mexico is not ready for a change in this magnitude, that countries where initiatives have been approved in this area are developed nations or to reduce the work week Increase formality or underemployment.
How true are the alerts?
For those who say that Mexico is not yet ready to legislate on this issue, remember that we have a 90 -year delay Since we signed the agreement about 40 hours of the ILO in 1935, and we have more than a century, since the promulgation of the 1917 Constitution, without touching the working day.
As I mentioned In an anterior columnColombia, Chile, Cuba and Ecuador have shorter days than ours, despite being smaller and less dynamic economies.
Now, the Relationship of informality with the reduction of the work week It is another myth. In Mexico there are already companies that have voluntarily adopted the 40 -hour work week, without sacrificing the jobs they generate, or their productivity. Two clear examples are Walmex and BBB Foods Inc.
It would be equally interesting to identify other companies with local scope that this Reconfiguration of the work weekbeing Querétaro one of the states where companies that already meet this measure have been located.
Which leads us to think that, although the 40 -hour work week represents a great change that must be accompanied by a comprehensive strategy that it considers Gradual, flexibility, trainingdifferences between sectors and regions, is also a viable proposal in economic terms and above all necessary in the field of social and labor justice.
Now that we exposed some myths, What are the realities of this proposal? These are some of the most important:
- Positive effects on health and life of workers: In 2021, WHO and ILO announced that prolonged working hours cause about 745,000 deaths a year in the world, derived from stroke and ischemic heart disease, which represents a third of total work related to work. That is why shorter working hours can help us improve workers’ health and reduce these alarming figures.
- Well implemented, can promote the productivity of companies and the national economy: We must take as reference the success cases in the world. In 2022 a world trial was carried out in which more than 200 companies that reduced the employee week of their employees at 4 days, in exchange for committing to deliver 100% of their usual work. The results were extremely interesting. In the United Kingdom, of the 61 companies that participated, 51% decided to permanently maintain such policy; And in Iceland, the result of the experiment led the unions to negotiate new work patterns, and now 86% of the workforce of that country works less hours for the same salary.
- Will reduce costs related to diseases and accidents at work: The Pan American Health Organization indicates that there is scientific evidence that the prevention strategy, coupled with healthy lifestyles, reduces health costs and increase productivity, since healthy people are more productive at work. In our country, the IMSS spends 94,000 million pesos on three diseases: diabetes, hypertension and renal failure, which are largely preventable. In the words of the same institute, “the productive work plant suffers various diseases and this costs the economy of the country millions of pesos in days of absenteeism and work presentism.” Without a doubt, preventing diseases is less expensive than treating them, both for the government and for companies and workers.
For all this, the debate about 40 -hour work week You should not focus on choosing between well -being or productivity, when it has already been shown that it is possible to have both. What corresponds to those who represent the voice of others is to bring the dialogue in a serious and responsible way to public spaces, to combat misinformation and sensitize employers, workers and society in general, about the importance of its coordinated implementation.
We must not fear the big changes, when they are accompanied by dialogue, mutual agreements, responsible mechanismsand above all, when they pursue a clear benefit to the population.
The greatness of Mexico rests in its workforce.
*Maiella Gómez Maldonado She is a federal deputy of the Parliamentary Group of Morena and president of the Work and Social Security Commission of the Chamber of Deputies.
