The Second Chamber of Mexico’s Supreme Court recently decided that for purposes of an offer of reinstatement of work to return to ajob with a full day work schedule, in the context of a labor lawsuit, such offer of reinstatement would be considered to be made in goodfaith if it includes a one-half hour lunch break. Based on the provisions of Article 63 of the Federal Labor Law, the court’s decisiontook into account that the inclusion of such rest period in the work day is a minimum condition recognized by the worker, and that itshould be formally included in the work day. As a result, an employee is entitled to regular pay during such break. In this sense,despite the common perception that an employee working a full day shift is required to work eight hours, with the employer granting ahalf-hour rest break for a total of eight hours thirty minutes, such perception is not correct. The court held that Article 63 of the FederalLabor Law provides a minimum half hour rest break, which must be within the eight hour shift, so that in reality the employee worksseven hours thirty minutes, with a minimum half hour break, which is included in the computation of the full work day. Thus, if anemployee works the half hour instead of taking the break, such half hour of work should be treated as overtime. In addition, the courtconfirmed that employees may take their lunch break either on-site or off-site, at their discretion.
