The increase in the minimum interprofessional salary and the reduction of the working day are two of the issues that are marking the rhythm of this beginning of the year in labor matters. And as usual when these types of changes occur, the first doubts begin to emerge by the workers who already enjoyed a day of less than 40 hours prior to the approval of these changes.
The Ministry of Labor has reached an agreement with the Ministry of Economy to approve the Reduction of the working day 37’5 hours by fast track. According to the latest published information, the final green light could arrive in the Council of Ministers next week, after many months of negotiations and statements by all the agencies involved.
Although the reduction of the day at 37’5 hours can be very good news for the worker, some companies already offered this option to their workforce since before the regulations were approved. In these cases, companies have to lower a certain percentage of their working day to match the descent to the rest of the companies or can they continue with their usual schedule?
If you already worked 37’5 hours, your day will not change
A few weeks ago we analyzed the same situation, but with the example of the rise of Minimum interprofessional salary. For all those people who charge the same or above the SMI, their salary will not change with the new climb. In the case of reducing the day, the situation is identical: in the event that you will work 37’5 hours per week, this measure will not affect you and your schedule will continue to be the same as you had already agreed with your company previously .
This is what article 44 of the Workers’ Statute says, which states that the Duration of the work day It will always be the one that is agreed in collective agreements or in the employment contract. Therefore, whenever the maximum day that the legal framework dictates, companies have total freedom to remain in those limits or inferiors, regardless of the changes that are applied.
A change that can affect enough workers occurs in those cases in which we have signed a part -time contract of 37’5 hours. In these cases, the contract will become full time with the corresponding salary stipulated by a full -time contract.
The entrance will not be soon
One of the most common doubts that have been repeated in recent days has to do with the definitive entry of this reduction. Although the proposal will be taken to the Council of Ministers to be held next Tuesday, there is still a long way to go until its final implementation.
In the event that the Council of Ministers approves, it will be the advisory and technical bodies that will be in charge of continuing with a process and, from there, the process could be extended to Ecuador from present 2025, when everything It could be ready for the corresponding parliamentary process.
The initial idea was that the reduction of the day entered into force throughout the present year, And the need to shorten the deadlines to the fullest has already been informed, but we will still have to wait a few months until its definitive landing.
