Chile: Employees with disabilities minimum quota

In 2018, Law No. 21,015 came into effect. Under it, any company that has 100 or more employees has to hire or keep hired, within the total of its employees, at least 1% of employees (i) with disabilities, or; (ii) assignees of an invalidity pension, regardless of the pension system (hereinafter “people with disabilities”). This quota is determined on a yearly basis and informed annually to the Department of Labor.

The law provides alternative options to comply with this obligation either by (i) executing services agreements with other companies (contractors) that have to comply with the hiring quota, or else (ii) making money donations to foundations’ projects aimed to train, rehabilitate and promote hiring people with disabilities. Either of these options must be chosen if the direct hiring quota is impossible to fulfill (although employers are not required to found them until 2020).

The Department of Labor has determined that in the event that the company partially complies with the 1% contract required by law, the difference can be complemented by any of the alternative means of compliance mentioned above. The foregoing is based on the interpretation that said alternative measures of compliance can supply part of the obligation as well as its whole.

Lastly, it is important to say that this law also provides that companies with 200 or more employees must fulfill the minimum hiring quota (or any alternative measure) as of April 1, 2018, whereas companies between 100 and up to 199 employees, are legally bound to fulfill the hiring quota as from April 1, 2019.