Labor Laws: Working Hours, Overtime, and Rest Periods
Ordinary Working Day for Urban Public Transportation Drivers and Attendants
Article 26: Urban passenger services are generally public transport services that allow users to travel up and down the streets or roads in a particular city or populated area. The parties may agree on a system through a day of work based on shifts and must meet the following rules:
- Each turn cannot exceed 8 hours.
- An uninterrupted rest period of 10 hours between shifts must be given.
- The driver must not drive more than 4 continuous hours.
Staff Working in Hotels, Restaurants, and Clubs
Personnel working in hotels, restaurants, and clubs are a category of workers who cannot apply the limiting hours of paragraph 1, Article 22 (45 hours per week). However, they are not exempt from limitations:
- The maximum duration is a 12-hour daily routine, which includes one hour of rest attributable to it (in practice, they can only work eleven hours).
- This cannot be distributed in more than five days a week.
- These workers cannot agree on overtime.
Treatment of Rest During the Day
The long rest during the day should be a minimum of one hour, while it is, in any case, attributable to the ordinary working day.
Distribution of the Weekly Workday
The parties can distribute the agreed workday as they see fit, with two important limitations:
- The maximum weekly benefit established in the first paragraph of Article 22 may not be distributed in more than six nor less than five days.
- In no case may the ordinary workday exceed ten hours per day, without prejudice to the final paragraph of Article 38.
Overtime Concept
Overtime means the time that exceeds the legal maximum or the contractually agreed upon, if less. The legislator specifies that overtime is one that exceeds the maximum legal or contractually agreed, whichever is less. In other words, overtime hours are those that exceed 45 hours or less if a day in excess has been agreed upon. For example, if a 20-hour workweek has been agreed upon, overtime is any time in excess of that amount.
How to Pay Overtime
Overtime is paid with a surcharge of fifty percent of the agreed salary for the ordinary workday and should be settled and paid together with the ordinary remuneration of the term.
System for Controlling the Extraordinary Day
The same system used to control the normal workday must be applied for the control of overtime, which may consist of a staff attendance book or a time clock with a registration card.
Rest During the Workday
The workday is divided into two parts, leaving between them at least half an hour for collation. This interim period is not considered work when computing the length of the workday.
Weekly Rest
Article 35 of the Labor Code provides that Sundays and holidays declared by law will be off, except for activities authorized by law to work on those days, which are referred to in Article 38.
Weekly Rest for Companies Excepted from Sunday Rest
Sunday rest is excluded for workers who work in the following activities:
- Tasks to repair damage caused by force majeure, provided that the repair is urgent.
- On-farm labor or services that require continuity due to the nature of their processes, for technical reasons, the needs that they meet, or to avoid significant harm to public interest or industry.
Labor Contracts with Part-Time Work
A contract with part-time work means that a workday has been agreed upon that does not exceed two-thirds of the normal working hours in Article 22 of the Labor Code (48 hours).