Iván Duque promulgates a law that reduces working hours in Colombia

On June 17, Congress said “yes” to the bill that aims to reduce Colombians from 48 hours a week to 42 hours. This initiative to reduce working time has been implemented in October 2019 former President Álvaro Uribe, who at the time was Senator of the Democratic Center.

As a next step, President Iván Duque signed the text on Friday, which is why it now becomes the law of the Republic. Senator María del Rosario Guerra celebrated the news.

“The reduction of the working day is already the Law of the Republic, a great step forward which should translate into greater productivity and better living conditions for workers. I congratulate former President Uribe, author of this initiative “the MP wrote on Twitter.

This is how the new business day will apply

It should be noted that this reduction in hours will be done gradually, without reducing workers’ wages. Over the next two years, the weekly working day will increase to 47 hours; from the third year of the entry into force of the law, it will increase to 46 hours; From the fourth year, the working day will be 42 hours per week.

The approved text amends article 161 of the Labor Code, which will read as follows:

Article 161: The maximum duration of the the regular workday is forty-two (42) hours per week, which can be distributed, by mutual agreement, between the employer and the worker, in 5 or 6 days per week, always guaranteeing the day of rest, with the following exceptions:

– In particularly unhealthy or dangerous jobs, the government can order the reduction of the working day in accordance with the relevant decisions.

– The maximum duration of the working day of adolescents authorized to work will be subject to the following rules; adolescents over 15 and under 17 can only work a maximum of six hours a day and thirty hours a week and until 6 in the afternoon. 2. Adolescents over seventeen (17) years old can only work a maximum of eight hours per day and 40 hours per week and until 8 o’clock in the evening.

– The employer and the worker may agree, temporarily or indefinitely, to organize successive work teams, which allow the company or sections of it to operate without interruption during all days of the week, as long as the respective team does not exceed six (6) hours per day and thirty-six (36) per week. In this case, there will be no increase at night or that provided for work on Sundays or public holidays, but the worker will receive the salary corresponding to the ordinary working day, always respecting the legal or conventional minimum. and will be entitled to a paid day of rest.

– The employer and the worker can agree that the forty-two (42) hours are worked according to flexible daily working hours, spread over a maximum of six days per week with a compulsory day of rest, which may coincide with Sunday. Thus, the number of daily working hours can be distributed variably over the respective week, with a minimum of four (4) continuous hours and a maximum of nine (9) hours per day without any increase for overtime. . , when the number of working hours does not exceed the average of forty-two (42) hours per week during the Ordinary Day. In accordance with article 160 of the Labor Code.

The law is clear that the employer cannot even with the consent of the worker, hire him for the performance of two shifts on the same day, except in supervisory, leadership, trust or management tasks.

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