Overview
- The Comisión Permanente approved the dictamen in a second vote on Friday with 16 votes in favor, 1 against and 6 abstentions, but the text is not yet law until it is formally promulgated.
- The rule covers public and private sector workers whose official day of rest for their confession falls on Saturday and requires workers to notify their employer at the start of employment and supply a constancia from their religious authority.
- Hours not worked on Saturday are compensable and must be recovered either within ten natural days after the absence or at another time set by the employer, and the measure does not create a new paid holiday.
- The Executive branch, through the Ministerio de Trabajo y Promoción del Empleo, will have 60 calendar days from the law’s entry into force to issue regulations that detail how employers must implement the rule.
- Legal experts have flagged constitutional and operational risks, noting the law may treat religions differently, fails to spell out exceptions for essential services such as hospitals and emergency responders, and could force businesses with heavy Saturday activity to reorganize shifts.