Chile: New legal regulations related to working remotely

As from 1 April 2020, Law N°21.220 entered into force in Chile (the ‘Law’), providing legal protection to employees who work from home or from places different from the employer´s premises.

The main content of Law N°21.220 is as follows:

• For purposes of the Law, “remote work” means services provided from home or places different from the employer´s premises. Likewise, “telecommuting work” means services provided through technological or communications tools, where those services are reported through those tools.
• Employees performing, as described below, are entitled to all the labour rights established in the Labour Code of Chile.
• Employees are allowed to access the employer´s facilities to participate in any collective activity.
• The employer must inform the employees about the existence of unions formed in the company.
• Employees can freely decide from where to render the services, when that is possible according to the features of such services.
• These employees are normally exempt from a fixed labour schedule and therefore not entitled to overtime. However, employees must take 12 continuous hours “disconnected” in a period of 24 hours.
• The employer must provide the work tools and afford the functioning costs. Employees cannot be forced to use their own items.
• Employers must provide all necessary information related to labour accidents and professional diseases in order to implement safe work conditions.

Cariola Díez Pérez-Cotapos attorneys are available to assist you with these and other workplace issues. For more information on these articles or any other issues involving labour and employment matters in Chile, please contact Ricardo Tisi (Partner) of Cariola Díez Pérez-Cotapos at rtisi@cariola.cl or visit www.cariola.cl.

For more information please contact Joseph Granato, Communications Manager at L&E Global at joseph.granato@leglobal.org.