Chile: Adoption of Measures to facilitate Employees with Disabilities

Law No. 21,275 requires the adoption of measures to facilitate the labour inclusion of employees with disabilities. The following is a summary of the main guidelines of these regulations (the Law), published on 21 October 2020 in the Official Gazette.

Objective

The Law amends the Labour Code, incorporating the new article 157 quater, in order to strengthen the existing legislation on Labor Inclusion.

Incorporation of an expert in the field of Inclusion

The legal amendment provides that at least one of the employees performing human resources functions in companies with 100 or more employees must have specific knowledge in matters that promote the Labor Inclusion of persons with disabilities.

It will be understood that employees who have a certification in this respect, granted by the National System of Certification of Labour Competencies, have this knowledge.

Promotion of inclusion policies

The above-mentioned companies must promote within themselves policies on matters of inclusion, which will be reported annually to the Labour Department, in accordance with the Regulations of the Ministry of Labour on the subject. They must also prepare and execute annual training programs for their personnel, with the purpose of providing them with tools for an effective Labor Inclusion within the company.

The activities carried out during the working day or outside of it must consider the rules on equal opportunities and social inclusion of individuals with disabilities referred to in Law No. 20,422 (on equal opportunities and social inclusion of persons with disabilities), as well as the general principles contained in the other regulations in force on the subject.

Validity of the law

This legal reform will come into effect on 1 November 2022.

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