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(CNN Spanish) - After several days of intense debate, the Labor Commission of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile dispatched this Tuesday the bill that seeks to reduce the maximum workday from 45 to 40 hours per week.
The initiative - promoted by the communist deputy Camila Vallejo - states that the current Chilean labor regime "does not allow workers to develop a family life or have free time to educate or entertain." The legislator considers that reducing the day becomes something fundamental to "adjust to the new times."
The proposal has received several criticisms from the Chilean government and also from the business sectors, who complain that all the effects that this measure could have on workers working with flexible schedules and those with variable income are not being considered responsibly.
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The president of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, had previously pointed out that this project "is unconstitutional because it means public spending." According to the president, a parliamentarian "can not generate public spending, because then nobody would take care of the balances."
From the executive they do not rule out going to the Constitutional Court to stop the initiative. The Government also works to promote its own project that reduces the working day from a maximum of 45 to 41 hours per week, based on the flexibility of the schedule and allowing the worker to agree on how he can distribute his hours.
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The Labor Commission had already approved on Monday the central axis of the deputy Vallejo project, while on Tuesday the last article of the initiative was approved, which states that workers' wages cannot be reduced despite the decrease in hours worked.
However, Chilean deputy Karol Cariola, another of the promoters of this project, had also recognized that there are no studies on what this measure will mean for the country. According to the legislator it is unknown “how many companies in particular are going to close or how many companies are going to be opened, or how many jobs are going to be closed or are going to be opened”.
Now the initiative will go to the chamber of the Chamber of Deputies, where it should be discussed and continue with its processing.
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