PunchChile Overtime Rules: The 42-Hour Week, the 50% Premium, and the Attendance Record (2026)
Chile Overtime Rules: The 42-Hour Week, the 50% Premium, and the Attendance Record (2026)
The short answer: Chile's ordinary working week is 42 hours, in force since 26 April 2026 under Ley 21.561, the "Ley de 40 Horas". It drops to 40 hours on 26 April 2028. Hours past the ordinary week are overtime and pay a premium of at least 50%. Overtime is capped at 2 hours a day, needs a written pact that lasts no more than three months, and is only for temporary needs. Hours worked with the employer's knowledge are owed as overtime even with no pact. And every employer must keep a record of attendance and hours worked. Punch builds that record one punch at a time.
Our guides to Colombia's 42-hour week, Mexico's road to a 40-hour week and Brazil's 44-hour week cover the same movement across Latin America. Chile is two steps into its own, with one to go. Here is how it works for a small crew.
The 42-Hour Week
Ley 21.561 was published on 26 April 2023 and cuts the ordinary week in three steps:
- 44 hours from 26 April 2024
- 42 hours from 26 April 2026
- 40 hours from 26 April 2028
Pay does not go down with the hours. The law is explicit that the reduction cannot lower wages.
Two daily limits sit beside the weekly one. Under article 28 of the Código del Trabajo, the ordinary day can never exceed 10 hours, and the week is spread over five or six days. Overtime is counted on top of that.
Employer and worker may also agree in writing to average the week over cycles of up to four weeks, under article 22 bis. No single week in the cycle may carry more than 45 ordinary hours. A crew with a heavy week and a light week can balance the two without overtime, but only if the agreement is in writing and the hours of every week are on the record.
The law also narrowed who sits outside the hours limit. Only managers with general powers of administration, and people who work with no immediate supervision because of the nature of the job, are excluded. Almost everyone on a small crew is inside the limit, and inside the record.
The 50% Premium, and How to Calculate It
Under article 32, overtime pays a premium of at least 50% over the ordinary hour. It is a floor. A contract or a collective agreement can pay more.
The Dirección del Trabajo publishes the method for a worker on a monthly salary. Divide the monthly salary by 30, multiply by 28, and divide by the ordinary hours in four weeks. With a 42-hour week that is 168 hours. Then multiply by 1.5.
The shortcut is a single factor. For a 42-hour week, multiply the monthly salary by 0.0083333. The Dirección del Trabajo's own example: a salary of CLP 800,000 gives an ordinary hour of CLP 4,444 and an overtime hour of CLP 6,667.
The factor is the detail that changed in April. At 44 hours it was 0.0079545. The same salary now buys fewer ordinary hours, so each overtime hour costs more. A payroll sheet still carrying the old factor underpays every overtime hour.
At the minimum wage the numbers are these. The ingreso mínimo mensual has been CLP 553,553 since 1 May 2026 for workers aged 18 to 65. At 42 hours, an ordinary hour is worth about CLP 3,075 and an overtime hour about CLP 4,613.
The Limits: 2 Hours a Day, a Written Pact, Three Months
Chile treats overtime as an exception, and the Código puts three fences around it:
- No more than 2 hours a day. Article 31 sets the cap, and only for work that does not harm the worker's health.
- Only for temporary needs. Overtime may be agreed to meet temporary needs or situations of the business. It is not a way to run a permanent longer week.
- A written pact of no more than three months. The agreement must be in writing and can last up to three months. The parties can renew it.
The fences do not protect an employer who skips them. Hours worked past the agreed schedule with the employer's knowledge count as overtime even when no pact exists. Working overtime with no pact is an infraction, and the hours are still owed with the premium.
So the pact decides whether you can be fined. The record decides what you owe.
Ley 21.561 added one alternative to cash. The parties may agree in writing to compensate overtime with extra holiday time: an hour and a half of holiday for each overtime hour, up to five working days a year. Either way, someone has to count the overtime hours first.
The Attendance Record Is Not Optional
Article 33 of the Código del Trabajo obliges every employer to keep a record of attendance and of the hours worked, so that ordinary and overtime hours can be checked. The Dirección del Trabajo describes it as an attendance book or a time clock, and it sets the conditions that electronic systems must meet. If you run an electronic system, check it against the Dirección del Trabajo's current requirements with your adviser.
The inspectorate enforces it. Fines under article 506 scale with the size of the business: from 1 to 5 UTM for a micro business, 1 to 10 UTM for a small one, 2 to 40 UTM for a medium one, and 3 to 60 UTM for a large one. In 2026 Chilean labour courts upheld fines against employers whose records were incomplete, including one for showing only part of the days worked. The courts' standard was plain: the record has to be complete and reliable.
A paper book filled in on Friday from memory is neither. And without a record, the 42 hours, the 2 hours and the 50% have nothing to be measured against.
How Punch Handles Chilean Working Time
Punch is built for the hours every rule above depends on.
A Chile preset, in pesos. Choose Chile at signup and Punch applies its Código del Trabajo preset: hours past 42 in a week at 1.5x, hours past 10 in a day at 1.5x, in CLP. If your contracts set a shorter week or a higher premium, set your own thresholds and rates under Custom in Org Settings.
Exact start and end times. Your team punches in, punches out for lunch, and punches out at the end of the day from their phone. Every shift carries its start and end to the minute. Every later change a manager makes is kept beside the original punch.
Hours by person, week and job site. Each punch belongs to a named worker and a job site. Reports roll up per person, so the hours past 42, and the days that ran long, are a glance. That is the count a written pact, a holiday-time agreement or a four-week cycle needs.
In Spanish. Punch runs in Spanish on the phone and on the web, so the person punching in reads the same words as the person approving the hours. Our guide to bilingual time tracking for Spanish-speaking crews covers why that matters.
A job-site geofence, not a camera. Punch-in can be limited to a geofence around the site. There is no photo at punch and no facial recognition.
Approvals before payroll. Managers approve hours one by one or bulk approve a whole pay period, then export the report as a spreadsheet for your accountant or payroll provider.
No signal, no gap. Punches made on a remote site or in a basement sync when the phone reconnects. A shared iPad in kiosk mode, with a PIN for each worker, covers a kitchen door or a workshop gate.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many hours is the working week in Chile?
42 hours, since 26 April 2026. It was 45 until April 2024 and 44 until April 2026. It becomes 40 on 26 April 2028. Salaries were not reduced.
What is the overtime rate in Chile?
At least a 50% premium over the ordinary hour. For a monthly salary on a 42-hour week, multiply the salary by 0.0083333 to get the value of one overtime hour.
How much overtime is allowed?
No more than 2 hours a day, only for temporary needs, under a written pact of up to three months that can be renewed.
What if overtime was worked with no written pact?
It is still owed. Hours worked past the schedule with the employer's knowledge are overtime. The missing pact is a separate infraction.
Can overtime be paid with time off?
Yes, by written agreement: an hour and a half of extra holiday for each overtime hour, up to five working days a year.
Do I have to keep an attendance record?
Yes. Article 33 requires every employer to record attendance and hours worked. An incomplete record can be fined.
Keep a Chilean Record That Holds Up
Chilean working time turns on a handful of lines: 42 hours a week, 10 ordinary hours a day, 2 overtime hours a day, a 50% premium, and a pact that expires in three months. In April 2028 the first line moves again. Every one of them is measured against the hours your crew actually worked.
Punch records every punch in, punch out and lunch, applies the Chile preset or your own rates, rolls up the week, and exports approved hours for payroll. Pricing is flat per workspace, with no per-user line item, and every plan includes every feature. The 14-day free trial starts on signup, no credit card required.
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