This proposed legislation left the government in a febrile state through the summer months. Despite comments from some employers’ bodies’ representatives, on 02 September 2019 the Labor Commission of the Chamber of Deputies approved the draft legislation formulated by Communist Party parliament members that calls for a reduction in the working week from 45 hours down to 40 without any reduction in salary. The bill actually dates back to 2017, but after having been displaced, is now making a comeback as a viable alternative to the government’s proposal to create a 4-day working week while retaining the 45-hour legal working week. Although the draft legislation still has to pass through several stages before it can come into force, it has already served the purpose of forcing the executive to propose a reduction in working time down to 41 hours as well as launching a public debate across Chile on the issue.
In launching the government’s working time reform, Conservative President Sebastián Piñera most likely did not expect it to be derailed. In the name of flexibility and work-life balance, his draft legislation, launched in May 2019 (c.f. articles No. 11226 and No. 11116) sought to allow a 12-hour working day over a period of 4 days. The Chilean public however appeared to have different ideas and two surveys published at the start of August 2019 showed the between 60% and 70% of workers preferred
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