Chile and Colombia plan to reduce working hours

Santiago de Chile- Several countries in the Americas, notably Chile and Colombia, are considering legal reform extension of the working daywhich in some places like Mexico reaches a grueling nine or ten hours a day.

Especially in large capitals, where the majority of the population is concentratedwhere eight or nine working hours are added to one or two for eating, and usually another two for traveling to the workplace and returning home.

Add to that the need for at least six hours of sleep, as recommended by health experts, and the result is a yes for American workers There are barely six hours left to help children with homework, share with partners, go to the supermarket, cook, go to the cinema or any other personal or leisure activity.

It is a significant and representative case Mexicoone of the countries in the world where more hours are worked annually, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

According to their data, Mexicans work 2124 hours a yearabove Costa Rica (1,913), Russia (1,874) and Japan (1,598).

A similar number in Colombia, Brazil, Peru and Argentinawhere, like Mexico, the working day is 48 hours a week and there is usually only one day off, usually Sunday.

The low wages, inflation and the general economic crisis mean that many have to balance two occupations and many others fall into the black market, where experts agree that “Latin America has become the new China.”

While the trend of rationalizing schedules and shortening working hours is spreading across Europe, reactions in American countries are different: only Chile and the US seem to be working decisively in the same direction.

Last week, The Finance Committee of the Chilean Senate approved a pioneering project in the region that seeks to reduce the working week to 40 hours, an initiative presented by the Communist Party in 2017 and which will be voted on in a plenary session this week.

The project, which It has great support from citizens and business associations after a long dialogue process, it is gradual: it considers an initial reduction from 45 to 44 working hours per week during the first year of the law.

The second reduction, which is considered from the third year, will be up to 42 hours, while the goal is 40 hours will be achieved in the fifth year of validity.