Chile embarks on a workweek reduction, aiming for 40 hours by 2028

In Chile, the weekly working hours have been reduced from 45 to 44. This marks the first phase in a five-year plan to reduce the workweek to 40 hours by 2028, as reported by "La Tercera" newspaper in Santiago, the capital.

"Five or six years ago, this seemed impossible... During a press briefing, the country is advancing and has made progress owing to the workers' pressure," stated government spokeswoman Camila Vallejo.

Vallejo, who served as a communist party deputy in 2017, was one of the initiators of this legislation. The bill was passed by parliament in 2023, six years after its submission.

The government has announced that reducing working hours will be reduced by shortening one workday by an hour. This approach did not sit well with the business community, which had proposed that the hour be distributed as an additional 12 minutes per day, potentially extending the lunch break.

Before this change, the 45-hour workweek in Chile ranked among the longest for countries within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), where a 40-hour workweek is more common.

Although the official regulations previously supported a 45-hour workweek, Chileans generally averaged less working time. Early 2023 data revealed that the average Chilean worker was clocking in about 36.8 hours per week, placing it among the lower averages in the region, as reported by the BBC.