The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, asked the Parliament of his country to process so “urgent“a bill to reduce the working day to 40 hours per week.
The proposal has been stalled for years and Boric announced a series of modifications to the initiative, such as the gradualness.
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“This is a pro-family project, which aims to live well, and I have no doubt that these improvements are essential means to bring us closer to a new Chile that is fairer and more inclusive.“, said the progressive president in an act in the presidential palace La Moneda.
Among the novelties that the Government will incorporate into the project is the gradual reduction in hours in a period of five years, which will allowthe different companies, according to their reality, adapt to this new dayBoric explained.
“There are companies that have gone ahead and have shown that sometimes a law is not required to advance in a better quality of life, but also the disposition and social dialogue“, Added the ruler about what was one of his great campaign promises.
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The initiative, which has great citizen support and the approval of business employers, proposes an initial reduction from 45 to 44 working hours per week during the first year of the law’s validity.
The second reduction will be up to 42 hours from the third year, while the goal of 40 hours will be reached in the fifth year.
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The initial project was presented in 2017 by the communist party (one of the political formations with which Boric governs), but has faced various complications since then.
“I think it is time to fulfill (the promise) not only because many of us who promote this project are in the Government, but because I see many more people present, from different sectors“, indicated the official spokeswoman, Camila Vallejo, who was one of the promoters of the project five years ago when she was a deputy.
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Another of the changes announced was the reduction from 30 to 27 hours per week of the part-time and the establishment in the Labor Code of an article “that allows deferred entry and exit“for workers who take care of minors up to 12 years of age.
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EFE
