Chile’s Senate has approved a bill to reduce the maximum legal working week from 45 to 40 hours. According to local media, the reform was passed unanimously by the attendance of 45 senators in a plenary session held on the 22nd of March. If the bill is also passed by the lower house, it will become law, and the government aims to implement it from May 1, Labor Day.
This would be the first reduction in legal working hours since 2005 when the limit was reduced from 48 to 45 hours. Chile would become the second country in Latin America, after Ecuador, to establish a 40-hour working week by law. The spokesperson for Chile’s government, Camila Vallejo, stated that the bill aims to harmonize working hours and rest time.
To minimize confusion, the implementation of the reform will be gradual. The maximum legal working hours will be reduced to 44 hours after one year, 42 hours after three years, and finally to 40 hours after five years. It will also be possible to work up to 10 hours a day, allowing a schedule of four working days followed by three rest days when the legal working week is 40 hours.
The reform includes provisions for adjustments to the schedules of parents or guardians with children under 12, as well as compensation for overtime work. It also opens the possibility of regular employment for occupations that have struggled to guarantee working hours, such as domestic workers and cabin crew. Private security guards and sailors will be guaranteed a 40-hour working week. Additionally, the reform includes changes to overtime pay, recognition of holidays for work beyond a maximum of six consecutive days, and the abolition of the 60-hour working week for hotel employees.
The bill is scheduled to be discussed in the lower house next month. The government believes that it will be passed smoothly, given the prevailing atmosphere of broad agreement. Minister of Labor Heraldo Munoz said, “We will start a dialogue with lawmakers next week, so that they can vote on the bill in the first week of April.” President Gabriel Boric expressed his support for the reform on his social media platform, stating, “We continue to work towards a better Chile.”