What you should know about the Workday Reduction 2024

11 July 2024 - As of July 15, 2024, the maximum legal workday will be reduced from 47 hours per week to 46 hours. Considering the importance of this for all employers, as well as the changes that will have to be made within the organizations to adjust their operations without affecting their workers, the following are the most important aspects that must be considered for its correct implementation.

What is the reduction of the working day?

Act 2101 of 2021 established a progressive reduction of the maximum legal working day from 48 hours per week to 42 hours. Such reduction would begin "after two (2) years from the effective date of the law". In accordance with the above, the Ministry of Labor in its Concept of August 08 2023, unified its criteria in this respect, stating that the reduction would be applied as follows:

Maximum legal working day	Validity
48 hours per week	Until July 14, 2023
47 hours per week	From July 15, 2023 to July 14, 2024
46 hours per week	From July 15, 2024 to July 14, 2025
44 hours per week	From July 15, 2025 to July 14, 2026
42 hours per week	From July 16, 2026 onwards

Regardless of the foregoing, employers may voluntarily implement in advance the 42-hour workweek, and therefore access the early exemption of the family day and the day for recreational, cultural, sports or training activities.

Regarding the maximum daily workday, the regulation did not provide anything in this respect, it only indicated that the 42-hour workweek may be distributed, by mutual agreement, in 5 or 6 days a week, always guaranteeing the rest day, therefore the maximum daily workday will depend on the way in which the workweek is distributed, respecting in any case the payment of supplementary work or overtime when applicable.

How should the reduction of the maximum legal working day be applied?

Act 2101 of 2021 does not say anything about it, but the Labor Ministry has repeatedly pointed out that it is not possible to comply with this regulation by extending the rest or meal time of workers, or the time used for active breaks, since the purpose of the rule is to provide more time to "enjoy with their families, get an education, rest or access to recreation" .

In this sense, the appropriate way to reduce the working day will correspond to the modification of the hours of entry and/or exit of the shifts or work schedules. However, each case must be evaluated to determine whether it is necessary to modify the employment contract or the Internal Work Regulations, since sometimes it is sufficient to simply notify the employee of the new work schedule by means of a communication.

Will the reduction in working hours affect workers' salaries and surcharges?

Article 4 of Act 2101 of 2021 expressly states that the reduction of the working day will not imply the reduction of the salary or benefit remuneration, nor of the value of the ordinary working hour. However, this has a direct implication in the calculation of the ordinary working hour, because although the salary is not reduced, the working hours in the month are reduced, which will go from 235 per month to 230.

Thus, the value of the ordinary hour and the overtime, night shift, and Sunday and holiday work surcharges will be affected as follows:

Hours and surcharges	Factor	Value (Factor 235 hours) *	Value (Factor 230 hours) *
Daytime Standard Time	1	$ 5.532	$ 5.652
Night surcharge	0,35	$ 1.936	$ 1.978
Daytime overtime	1,25	$ 6.915	$ 7.065
Night overtime	1,75	$ 9.681	$ 9.891
Sunday surcharge	0,75	$ 4.149	$ 4.239
Sunday night surcharge	1,10	$ 6.085	$ 6.217
Sunday overtime	2,00	$ 11.064	$ 11.304
Sunday evening overtime	2,5	$ 13.830	$ 14.130

* Values calculated according to the Minimum Legal Monthly Wage in Force (SMLMV) of 2024, which corresponds to COP $1.300.000

What will happen to the family day and the day for recreational activities?

Regarding the family day, it should be indicated that it must continue to be granted until the working day becomes 42 hours per week, until July 15, 2026, since only until this moment the exoneration brought by Law 2101 of 2021 will be applied. As for the working days for recreational, cultural, sports or training activities, this must be adjusted proportionally by mutual agreement between the employee and the employer until July 15, 2026, date on which the obligation to grant it will cease.

What happens in the case of surveillance companies and domestic service?

In these cases, the reduction of the working day will be applied as follows:

Surveillance companies: Act 2101 of 2021 is applicable to the private surveillance and security sector and, consequently, it must gradually reduce the working hours of its personnel. However, workers may continue to perform supplementary or overtime work under the terms of Act 1920 of 2018, i.e. up to a maximum of 4 hours of overtime per day (Ministry of Labor, Newsletter 079 of October 23, 2023).
Domestic service: This sector will also be subject to a proportional reduction of the working day, going from 60 hours per week to 52.5 (Constitutional Court, Ruling C-507/23).

What penalties can an employer be exposed to for not complying with these provisions?

Failure to comply with the provisions on labor matters, such as those related to the reduction of the working day, will empower the Ministry of Labor to impose sanctions from one (1) to 5.000 Minimum Legal Monthly Wages in force according to the seriousness of the infraction and while it subsists, and will be graduated according to the criteria indicated in Article 12 of Act 1610 of 2013.

Regulations: