The Mexican Senate unanimously approved a constitutional reform on March 11 that seeks to impose a salary ceiling on public sector pensions. If enacted, the measure will restrict retirement payments that currently reach as high as one million pesos per month.
The initiative targets what critics call "golden pensions." Should the bill pass the Chamber of Deputies and secure approval from at least 17 local legislatures, it will retroactively set a pension cap of approximately 67,000 pesos. While the government will not seek to recover past payments, the new limit will apply to all subsequent disbursements once the reform takes effect.
Scrutinizing the Pemex legacy
Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) sits at the center of the debate due to its historically generous retirement contracts. According to current collective bargaining agreements, high-ranking trust-based personnel who serve for 40 years or more are entitled to 100% of the average salary earned during their final year of service.
For top-level officials, the pension calculation is even more favorable. The current contract stipulates that their retirement income is based on 100% of their final salary and guaranteed compensation. For those hired before December 31, 2015, who have not transitioned to individual savings accounts, eligibility begins at age 65 with 30 years of service, provided they met specific benchmarks by August 2021.
Data from the 2025 list of Mexico’s 500 most important companies shows that Pemex and its subsidiaries employ 129,198 people. The proposed reform does not affect voluntary contributions to individual retirement savings accounts, but it enforces the principle that no public servant may earn a salary equal to or greater than their direct superior.
Under the new rules, the sum of a public servant's earnings from multiple roles may not exceed half of the President’s total remuneration. As of March 24, the legislative proposal awaits discussion in the Chamber of Deputies. Once the lower house debates the bill, it will return to the desk of President Claudia Sheinbaum for her signature and final publication in the Official Gazette of the Federation.