Chilean Congress passes bill to reduce working week to 40 hours – DW – 04/12/2023

On Tuesday, the Chilean Congress approved the reduction of the work week from 45 to 40 hours over a period of five years.

This step paves the way for Chile To join ecuador and venezuela in latin america’s shortest working week.

The bill, which won overwhelming support by 127 votes in favor to only 14 against, comes at a time when countries around the world such as Britain and Spain are experimenting with more Reducing weekly working hours .

“This is a project that will greatly contribute to our quality of life,” Labor Minister Janet Jara said.

Left-wing Chilean President Gabriel Boric is expected to sign the bill into law.

Borik, who took office last year promising an ambitious agenda of social and economic reforms, has suffered several setbacks, including Voters who reject a new progressive constitution and a legislative defeat of a major tax bill.

But the workweek law is a small victory for an administration trying to wean the country away from the free-market constitution.

The longest working hours in the world

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Latin America as a region has the longest official working hours in the world.

The working week is 48 hours in Argentina, Mexico, Peru and Panama, and 44 hours in Brazil.

Meanwhile, in France, the work week is 35 hours — but workers in the country are among the most productive in the European Union and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

In the United Kingdom, as well as in Germany, the working week is generally around 40 hours and limited to a maximum of 48 hours.

Chile’s new law will prevent employers from cutting salaries due to the change, and will also allow workers to move in Four working days a week.

However, this measure does not apply to more than 27% of the workforce in the informal sector.

dh/fb (AFP, AP)