A series of amendments to the Labor Code have come into force. The first amendment (effective July 15, 2021) will gradually reduce the duration of a “normal workweek” (excluding overtime) from 48 to 42 hours beginning two years after the effective date without any reduction in compensation or benefits for employees. The second amendment extends the existing family leave provisions (effective July 29, 2021), and the third introduces a new “remote working” contract of employment (effective August 3, 2021).
The majority of offices in Colombia (51% of surveyed firms) already observe a 40-hour workweek, but a substantial minority observe longer workweeks. Among companies with factories, a 48-hour workweek is the most common. Employers should review their working time policies and the operational and financial implications of the reduced normal workweek. In the same vein, only 12% of employers surveyed offer paternity leave in excess of statutory requirements, and even fewer (3%) offer parental leave. There is no statutory entitlement to parental leave in Colombia, but the introduction of shared maternity leave may encourage employers to provide it. The linkage of future potential increases in the duration of paternity leave to improvements in structural unemployment is somewhat unusual from a public policy perspective. Almost half of the workforce is currently engaged in informal employment (National Administrative Department of Statistics data), so there is clearly ample opportunity for bringing more workers into formal employment.