On December 20, Congress approved, and sent for promulgation and publication, the bill that modifies the Labor Code on matters of reconciliation of personal, family and work life.

Main changes

The project introduces, among others, the following changes:

• Regarding workers who have personal care of a boy or girl under 14 years of age, or an adolescent under 18 years of age with a disability or in a situation of severe or moderate dependency:
• The employer, at the request of the worker, must grant him or her a holiday preferably during the vacation period defined by the Ministry of Education, over other workers who are not in that situation.

The worker must submit the request at least 30 days in advance.

• During the vacation period, and when the nature of their duties allows it and the company operates on a schedule that is compatible, these workers will have the right to request that the shifts or the distribution of the daily and weekly workday be temporarily modified.

The worker must present his proposal to the employer at least 30 days in advance. The employer must respond within the following 10 days, and may propose alternative formulas or reject, in which case he must prove the circumstances that justify his response.

The temporary modification must be recorded in an annex to the employment contract.

• Regarding workers, the personal care of a boy or girl under 14 years of age, or who is responsible for the care of a person with a disability or in a situation of severe or moderate dependency (whatever their age), and who do not receive remuneration for that activity:
• Employers must offer the worker that all or part of their daily or weekly shift can be carried out teleworking, to the extent that the nature of the functions allows it. The above will not apply to workers who have power to represent the employer, such as managers, assistant managers, agents or attorneys-in-fact.

The worker must submit a written request with the proposal to combine in-person work time and teleworking. The employer must respond within the following 16 days, and may propose alternative formulas or reject, in which case he must prove that the nature of the functions does not allow teleworking.

If accessing this modality, the worker may request its modification (with a minimum notice of 30 days). Likewise, due to a supervening cause, the worker and the employer (in the latter case, due to the fact that the worker's function is not compatible with teleworking), may unilaterally return to the originally agreed conditions, and must notify the other party with a minimum advance notice of 30 days.

The modification must be recorded in an annex to the employment contract.

• Trade union organizations may agree with their employer that during the vacation period defined by the Ministry of Education, these workers may request a temporary reduction in their working hours during all or part of that period.

Validity

The modifications will come into effect within a period of 30 days from their publication in the Official Gazette.