Remote teams in other cities and time zones

The typical problem

A meeting at 9:00 in Mexico City is 7:00 in Tijuana. If that person starts their day there, their workday begins at 7:00, not at 9:00.

How to organize it

• Set each person's schedule in their local time.
• Schedule meetings within the overlap of working hours.
• Check who starts earlier or finishes later because of meetings.

Different minimum wage

In the Northern Border Free Zone the minimum wage is higher. The place where the person provides the service is what counts.

The reform in one minute

The reform has two parts. On March 3, 2026, article 123 of the Constitution was amended to set the 40-hour workweek. On May 1, 2026, the Federal Labor Law was amended, which is where the detail is.

• The maximum working week drops from 48 to 40 hours, two hours per year, between 2027 and 2030.
• Overtime has a weekly cap: it is paid at double time up to the cap and at triple time for up to 4 more hours.
• Each company must electronically record the start and end time of each person's workday.
• Not keeping that record is fined 250 to 5,000 UMA.
• Salary and benefits cannot go down because of the reduction in hours.

What remains pending are the STPS general rules, which will define who the record applies to and what exceptions there will be. They take effect on January 1, 2027.

Decree published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on May 1, 2026, second and fourth transitory provisions, and article 68 of the LFT. Each change applies from January 1.

Common mistakes

• Assuming that someone who is not in the office has no workday.
• Requiring people to come by the office just to record.
• Recording the shift time and not the real time.
• Confusing being reachable with working.
• Over-monitoring instead of recording properly.

What to do now

1. List who works outside the office and under which arrangement.
2. Define for each arrangement where the workday begins and where it ends.
3. Put it in writing and explain it to the team.
4. Have each person record from their phone, wherever they are.
5. Review late clock-outs and long days every week.

Related terms

Minimum wage in Mexico: how much it is and how it is used. The minimum wage is the least a person can receive for a workday.

Mixed shift: what it is and how long it lasts. A mixed shift combines day and night hours, as long as the night hours are less than three and a half.

What is RESICO. RESICO is the Simplified Trust Regime (Régimen Simplificado de Confianza), a tax regime with reduced income tax rates for individuals and companies with income below certain limits.

Frequently asked questions

Legal basis and sources