Employee Rights: Working Hours and Paid Leave Regulations

Employee Rights and Labor Regulations

Paid Leave Entitlements

Employees are entitled to paid leave for the following reasons:

• Marriage: 15 calendar days.
• Prenatal Testing and Preparation: Essential time required.
• Childbirth, Death, Accident, or Serious Illness of Relatives (up to 2nd degree): 2 days (4 days if travel is required).
• Transfer of Habitual Residence: 1 day.
• Unavoidable Public Duty and Essential Personal Time: Time legally determined.
• Union Representation: Time set by agreement or regulation.

Additional Permissions

Additional permissions include those for family reasons, attending examinations, or training. For every three months of worker displacement, 4 working days are granted to return to the former home. These permissions may be improved or extended by collective agreements.

Work-Life Balance and Reduced Hours

Measures to Reconcile Work and Family Life

• Breastfeeding (Child under 9 months): The mother or father (if both work) is entitled to 1 hour of absence from work.
• Premature or Hospitalized Children: The mother or father may be absent from work for 1 hour daily.

This absence time can be accumulated or taken as a reduction of up to 2 hours daily, with a proportional reduction in salary, if agreed upon.

Right to Reduce Working Time (Caring for Dependents)

Employees have the right to reduce their usual working time (between one-eighth and one-half) for the direct care of:

• A child under 8 years old, or a disabled person, due to legal guardianship.
• A family member up to the second degree of consanguinity or affinity who cannot care for themselves due to age, accident, or serious illness.

Victims of gender violence also have the right to reduced hours or flexible scheduling.

Vacation Rights

Vacations can be enjoyed on a different date, even if the calendar year to which they relate has ended, provided they coincide with suspension due to maternity, paternity, or foster care.

Defining the Working Day and Schedule

The working day is the number of hours (daily, weekly, or yearly) the worker provides services for which they were hired. If there are interruptions, it is considered a split working day; otherwise, it is a continuous working day.

The schedule is the distribution of working time and rest during the workday.

• Rigid Schedule: Time of entry and departure is fixed.
• Flexible Schedule: Allows a margin of freedom for entry and exit.

Maximum Working Hours and Limitations

The standard workday must not exceed 9 hours per day of actual work.

The maximum duration of the working week is 40 hours, calculated as an annual average.

Limitations for Minors

Minors may not work more than 8 hours per day of actual work.

Causes for Workday Reduction or Limitation

The working day may be limited or reduced due to:

• Theoretical and practical training in risk prevention.
• Part-time, relief, and retirement contracts.
• Licensing of 6 hours per week to search for a new job.
• Family reasons (as detailed above).