Chilean Parliament approves reducing the working day to 40 hours a week

The Chilean Congress on Tuesday approved a law gradually reducing the working week from 45 to 40 hours, which is expected to be signed into law by President Gabriel Boric before May 1.

The project, which was one of the president’s campaign promises, took six years to be processed in Congress and will need another five years to reach full force.

The initiative, which has great citizen support and the approval of both unions and business employers, was approved by almost all parties with political representation and makes Chili in the second country in the region, after Ecuadorin setting the working day at 40 hours per week.

The initiative was approved by 127 upvotes, 14 against and three abstentions. In the Senate, where she had been stuck for four years, she was unanimously accepted three weeks ago. The deputies had already voted for it in 2019.

The project proposes an initial reduction from 45 to 44 working hours a week during the first year of the law, while the second reduction will be up to 42 hours from the third year and the goal of 40 hours will be reached in the fifth.

Tuesday’s vote in the lower house was to accept modifications introduced by the senators.

The Minister of Labor, Jeannette Jara, recalled that this is the second time that Chile has reduced its weekly working hours: the first was in 2005, when it was reduced from 48 to 45 hours. “Yes, changes can be made to advance workers’ rights”, he declared after the vote.

Ana Camayo, a 54-year-old manicurist who works in a department store, told The Associated Press that “the law is fantastic for more than 30 women who have children” alluding to his work colleagues and receptionists. He added that the additional free time will be spent with his family.

The reactivation of the initiative, presented by communist deputies in 2017, occurred after some 200 roundtable sessions between workers and employers of large, medium and small companies and the government.

Opposition deputy Ximena Ossandón recalled when approving the project that it was her political sector that introduced labor flexibility to the initiative and advocated that it be expanded to other sectors, such as public officials and the Armed Forces.

His official counterpart Emilia Schneider indicated that the regulations seek that “we stop living to work” and that there are “more rested and happy” workers, which can influence greater productivity.

With information from AP and EFE