The Minister Spokesperson for the Government, Camila Vallejo, hugs the leader of the Labor Ministry, Jeannette Jara, accompanied by other ministers in Congress after the approval of the 40-hour bill. Chilean Ministry of Labor
The project to reduce the working day in Chile from 45 to 40 weekly hours only needs the signature of President Gabriel Boric to become law.
Congress has widely approved the initiative on Tuesday after six years of discussion in which the Executive, unions and the business sector participated.
The application of the reform to the Labor Code will be gradual and its full implementation will have a maximum period of up to five years, in 2029. The regulations, to which several modifications were applied in the legislative process, will directly benefit about 4 .7 million employees, out of an active population of almost double.
"After many years adding support and dialogue, today we can finally celebrate the approval of this project that reduces the working day, a pro-family project that aims at the good living of all," President Boric celebrated.
The joy of the ruling party was also evident in the Chamber of Deputies.
“This is good news for politics.
Today he showed that he can rise to the challenges posed by the people of Chile”, said the government spokesperson, Camila Vallejo, moved to tears.
Vallejo, a communist militant, presented the bill when she was a deputy in 2017. During her campaign, Boric promised to push the initiative forward.
The Minister of Labor, Jeannete Jara, led the negotiations with the opposition and with the different business sectors affected, where several modifications were made to achieve a transversal agreement.
“It is a great day for the people who travel in the micros [buses] and leave their children asleep because they leave very early in the morning or return very late.
This is a project that will contribute enormously to our quality of life,” said Jara, also a communist.
The reduction of the ordinary working day will go from 45 to 44 hours in the first year of publication of the law, to 42 hours in the third year and to 40 in the fifth year.
These are maximum deadlines, but an employer can anticipate.
In June of last year, the Ministry of Labor created the 40-hour seal, a certification that recognizes companies that already apply reduced working hours.
More than 500 -especially small and medium-sized ones- have obtained it.
With this law, which is expected to be promulgated on May 1, on the occasion of International Workers' Day, Chile will join Ecuador as the only two countries in Latin America to achieve 40 hours of work per week, the average of the countries members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Until now, the South American country was the third with the most hours in the organization, only behind Colombia and Mexico, where the law establishes 48 hours.
The Colombian government of Gustavo Petro presented a labor reform that includes reducing the working day to 42 hours -gradually, one hour less per year-.
Latin America is one of the regions with the longest working hours: Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala and Venezuela work by law between 42 to 45 hours a week, while Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, In addition to the aforementioned Mexico and Colombia, 48 hours, according to figures from the International Labor Organization (ILO), reports AFP.
In the discussion of the project, the Government yielded to several points related to labor flexibility.
Future legislation, for example, allows that once companies implement 40 hours they can, in agreement with the workers, implement four days of work (10 hours a day) with three days off.
Also compensate overtime for up to five holidays and special days for those who work in mining, transport or at sea.
On the option that the modifications encourage employees to look for a second job instead of prioritizing rest, Minister Jara stated: "Not only do we have to advance in reducing the working day, but also in improving the salary distribution of the workers and workers”.
The regulations include co-responsibility measures, which aim to reconcile work, personal and family life, with what is expected, particularly for women, to expand employment possibilities and with greater stability.
It contemplates time bands that allow differentiated entry and exit to work, adaptable in a window of up to two hours.
This time may be used by mothers or fathers with sons or daughters under 12 years of age, and also by the person in charge of their personal care.
It also establishes the direct support of the Labor Directorate and the National Training and Employment Service (SENCE) to micro, small and medium-sized companies for the implementation of the 40 hours.
Subscribe here to the EL PAÍS America newsletter and receive all the latest news in the region.