The Chilean Labor Authority (Dirección del trabajo) has issued two rulings (Ruling No. 252/20 and Ruling No. 253/21, both dated April 16, 2026) establishing new guidelines on exemption from the limitation of working hours and the implementation of the gradual reduction of the workweek to 42 hours, which will take effect on April 26, 2026. The key points of both pronouncements are detailed below:
1. Exemption from the Limitation of Working Hours (Article 22, Paragraph 2)
Ruling No. 252/20 revises previous criteria, clarifying the scope of the concept of “immediate superior supervision” and the impact of technology on the determination of working hours.
A. Distinction Between Subordination and Immediate Superior Supervision
A clear distinction is established between these concepts, providing highly useful criteria for determining when an employee may be exempt from the limitation of working hours.
• Subordination and Dependence: It is an essential element of the employment contract and is evidenced by the employee being subject to instructions, internal regulations, and the employer’s disciplinary authority. An employee may be fully subordinated but exempt from the limitation of working hours.
• Immediate Superior Supervision: This concept refers to the employer exercising direct and functional control over the manner and timing in which the work is performed. Its absence is what allows exemption from the limitation of working hours under Article 22, paragraph 2.
B. Impact of Technological Tools
The ruling clarifies that the mere existence of technology does not automatically alter the working-hours regime:
• Availability vs. Use: The possibility of installing tracking platforms or GPS does not amount to the effective exercise of immediate superior supervision.
• Nature of the Control: For technology to impede exemption from working hours, it must be used to direct, correct, or verify the manner and timing of the services rendered, and not merely to measure results or sporadic reports.
• Insufficiency of Reports: The reporting of results, even if periodic, does not constitute immediate superior supervision.
C. Classification Criteria (case-by-case analysis)
The determination of when exemption from working hours applies must be assessed on a case-by-case basis according to the principle of primacy of reality. The determining factors include:
2. Reduction of Ordinary Working Hours from 44 to 42 Hours (Law No. 21,561)
Ruling No. 253/21 provides guidelines on how the new stage of the reduction in working hours, which comes into effect on April 26, 2026, must be implemented:
A. Priority of Agreement Between the Parties
The law gives priority to reducing working hours by mutual agreement between the employer and the employees (or their trade union organizations).
Proof of lack of agreement: There are no rigid formalities to prove that no agreement was reached. The employer must demonstrate, through “reasonable evidence,” that there were real instances of interaction and negotiation.
B. Supplementary Rule: Unilateral Implementation by the Employer
In the absence of an agreement, the employer must apply the reduction at the end of the daily workday. The ruling, based on Law No. 21,755, establishes parameters of complete and operational units of time in order to avoid excessive fragmentation into daily minutes.
C. Validity of Prior Agreements
• Exhaustion of effects: Agreements reached for the first stage of reduction (from 45 to 44 hours) are deemed exhausted for this new stage.
• New negotiation: Unless the wording of the original agreement provides otherwise, a new agreement is required for the 44-to-42-hour stage. Otherwise, the legal supplementary rule of complete units applies.
D. Employees with a Workweek of Less Than 44 Hours
For those who already have a workweek of less than 44 hours but more than 42, in absence of an agreement, the necessary reduction must be applied as follows:
• No more than 1 hour of reduction may be concentrated on one day (for 5-day schedules) or 50 minutes (for 6-day schedules).
• Any remainder must be distributed on a different day without accumulation.