[Chile] Congress approves bill reducing working week to 40 hours

In Chile, legislators have overwhelmingly passed a bill reducing the working week in the country from 45 to 40 hours, Al Jazeera reports.

The move aims to improve the quality of life and rights of workers in the South American nation.

The measure reportedly passed the lower house of Chile’s Congress on April 11 by a margin of 127 to 14 after being anonymously approved by the Senate several weeks previously. 

Chile’s left-wing President Gabriel Boric is expected to sign the bill into law, he praised it as a “pro-family project that aims at the good living of all” in a Twitter post.

“This is a project that will contribute enormously to our quality of life,” Labor Minister Jeannette Jara said. “Yes, changes can be made to advance workers’ rights.”

The bill represents a legislative win for President Boric, who won election on a platform promising to improve workers' rights, combat inequality and promote social justice.

The new law incrementally lowers the work week over the course of five years until the country reaches 40 hours, the standard in many industrialised nations.

Latin America reportedly has some of the longest work weeks in the world, with 48-hour work weeks in countries such as Peru, Argentina, Mexico and Panama and 44 hours in Brazil. The South American nation of Ecuador, however, already has a 40-hour work week.

Longer work weeks also do not necessarily lead to enhanced productivity: France has a 35 hour work week and has among the most productive workers of all the countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Other countries have also experimented with shortened work weeks; one of the largest 4-day week trials concluded in the UK earlier this year.

The trial involved 61 companies, it found that four-day work weeks led to decreased stress for workers and had little impact on revenue. The vast majority of the 61 companies decided to continue the practice after the conclusion of the trial.

Chile’s new bill reportedly prevents businesses from reducing salaries because of the change and allows workers to switch to a four-day work week. It does not, however, apply to informal sectors of Chile’s economy, which make up more than a quarter of the country’s workforce, according to the news agency AFP.

Source: Al Jazeera

(Link via original reporting)

In Chile, legislators have overwhelmingly passed a bill reducing the working week in the country from 45 to 40 hours, Al Jazeera reports.

The move aims to improve the quality of life and rights of workers in the South American nation.

The measure reportedly passed the lower house of Chile’s Congress on April 11 by a margin of 127 to 14 after being anonymously approved by the Senate several weeks previously. 

Chile’s left-wing President Gabriel Boric is expected to sign the bill into law, he praised it as a “pro-family project that aims at the good living of all” in a Twitter post.

“This is a project that will contribute enormously to our quality of life,” Labor Minister Jeannette Jara said. “Yes, changes can be made to advance workers’ rights.”

The bill represents a legislative win for President Boric, who won election on a platform promising to improve workers' rights, combat inequality and promote social justice.

The new law incrementally lowers the work week over the course of five years until the country reaches 40 hours, the standard in many industrialised nations.

Latin America reportedly has some of the longest work weeks in the world, with 48-hour work weeks in countries such as Peru, Argentina, Mexico and Panama and 44 hours in Brazil. The South American nation of Ecuador, however, already has a 40-hour work week.

Longer work weeks also do not necessarily lead to enhanced productivity: France has a 35 hour work week and has among the most productive workers of all the countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Other countries have also experimented with shortened work weeks; one of the largest 4-day week trials concluded in the UK earlier this year.

The trial involved 61 companies, it found that four-day work weeks led to decreased stress for workers and had little impact on revenue. The vast majority of the 61 companies decided to continue the practice after the conclusion of the trial.

Chile’s new bill reportedly prevents businesses from reducing salaries because of the change and allows workers to switch to a four-day work week. It does not, however, apply to informal sectors of Chile’s economy, which make up more than a quarter of the country’s workforce, according to the news agency AFP.

Source: Al Jazeera

(Link via original reporting)