Chile: Chilean legislators have passed a bill reducing the country’s work week from 45 to 40 hours as part of improving the quality of life and rights of workers in the South American nation.

The bill was passed by the lower house of Chile’s Congress by a margin of 127 to 14 after being anonymously approved by the Senate several weeks ago.

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

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

The bill is widely viewed as a legislative win for Mr. Boric, who won election on a left-wing 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, however, 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.

Several studies have found that longer work weeks do not necessarily mean enhanced productivity. France has a 35-hour work week and has some of the most productive workers of all the countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Other countries have also experimented with shortened work weeks, with one of the largest trials concluding in 2023 in the United Kingdom. The trial, which included 61 companies, found that four-day work weeks led to decreased stress for workers and had little impact on revenue.

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