This year, legislative changes in labor matters will come into effect, requiring adaptation processes and strategic management within companies. To face this challenge, we have prepared the following summary of the main laws to keep in mind to successfully navigate 2024:
Labor Inclusion Law. Decree N°36
When? January 2024 (electronic communication)
Content of the Law:
- Modifies the period to calculate the total number of workers, considering the 12 months prior to October 31 of the previous year.
- Changes the requirement for the average quota of workers with disabilities throughout the year, not just in months when the company employs 100 or more workers.
- Establishes new requirements to access alternative compliance measures.
- Obligation to establish a labor inclusion policy.
Law on Reconciliation of Personal, Family, and Work Life (21.645):
When? From January 29, 2024
Content of the Law:
- Establishes the right to remote work for workers caring for children under 14 years old, or persons with disabilities or in severe or moderate dependency situations.
- Grants preferential rights to use legal holidays during school vacation periods and the right to request temporary adjustments to the shift system.
Law to Reduce Working Hours to 40 Hours
When? From April 2024, the first modifications will take effect.
Content of the Law:
- Reduces the workweek to 44 hours.
- Restricts the application scope of the exclusion of working hours limitations.
- Provides flexible entry and exit times for parents of children up to 12 years old.
- Gradual distribution of working hours based on weekly averages (cycles).
- Allows compensating overtime with additional vacation days.
Increase in Minimum Wage (Law 21578)
When? July 1, 2024
Content of the Law:
- The minimum monthly wage in Chile will increase to $500,000.
Law Against Sexual Harassment, Workplace Harassment, and Violence at Work (Law 21643)
When? From August 1, 2024
Content of the Law:
- Obliges companies to incorporate a protocol for the prevention of workplace, sexual harassment, and gender-based violence in the Internal Order, Hygiene, and Safety Regulations (RIOHS), with assistance from mutual insurance companies.
- Companies not required to have a RIOHS must inform about the prevention protocol and investigation procedures in this matter.
- Companies must also inform employees biannually about the channels for reporting breaches related to the prevention, investigation, and sanctioning of sexual harassment, workplace harassment, and violence at work.
Notable Legislative Bills
- Bill N°13240-13 (November 14, 2019): Proposes modifying the Labor Code regarding worker participation in company profits, eliminating the cap of 4.75 minimum monthly wages as stipulated in Article 50 of the Labor Code.
- Status: Second constitutional procedure before the Senate. Last movement on September 7, 2021.
- Bill N°15244-13 (August 3, 2022): Aims to protect employment against mass layoffs, establishing a mandatory prior consultation process.
- Status: First constitutional procedure before the Senate. Last movement on May 9, 2023.
- Bill N°16007-13 (June 7, 2023): Seeks to improve the right to childcare by establishing a compensatory sum if a worker with a child under two years old opts not to use a daycare facility. The amount must be equivalent to the cost of childcare.
- Status: First constitutional procedure before the Senate. Last movement on June 13, 2023.
- Bill N°16047-13 (June 20, 2023): Proposes establishing a one-day-per-semester calendar leave for personal errands.
- Status: First constitutional procedure before the Chamber of Deputies. Last movement on July 3, 2023.
- Bill N°16509-06 (January 3, 2024): Seeks to remove the legal holiday status of days when elections and plebiscites are held.
- Status: First constitutional procedure before the Senate. Last movement on January 3, 2024.
