4-Day Work Week: Can I Move to Peru After This Proposal? | Labor Productivity | Workload | Working Hours | Working day | Overtime | informal | Spreadsheet | Economy

In the Latin American panorama, the plan to reduce work week After four days it started getting stronger. For example, last year, it was announced that Brazil would test it. However, the question is whether Peru will be ready to start this shortened week. First, you need to review the initial data.

In Peru, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO), in its statistics on working hours (up to January 11, 2024), the average weekly workload reaches 43.1 hours. Also, it is mentioned that 32% workers More than 49 hours per week, than other countries in the region.

What's more, if we only take data from the National Institute of Statistics and Information, Metropolitan Lima (Here) of a total of 5.4 million workers in the first quarter, 1.7 million worked more than 50 hours per week. 157,700 of them work more than 80 hours.

The current labor law in Peru establishes a working day of eight hours per day or 48 hours per week. Any change to this scheme would require legislative changes to harmonize the interests of employers and employees, as well as ensure that workers' rights and working conditions are not affected.

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Can Peru have a shorter work week?

George Toyama, partner at Winatya & Toyama, He pointed to high informality in the Peruvian labor market as a significant obstacle. “In Peru, the great informality prevents such measures from being widely implemented. Among the workers in the public regime, only a small fraction enjoy all labor benefits.He explained, pointing out that most workers are in micro businesses or the informal sector.

Brian Avalos, Payet, Ray, Kawi, Perez, Abogados Labor Area Partner Admits that informality is a break. Also, remember that working hours in Peru routinely exceed the legally established 48 hours per week, although official measurements suggest an average of 43 hours among formal workers.

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What is required?

Regarding the impact on productivity and Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Did you? was clear: “The workforce in Peru is mostly in services, business and non-processing agriculture. Reducing working hours without improving productivity can significantly reduce income..

Did you? He recommended a more structured approach before considering radical changes to the workday. “First we have to work hard on standardization and integration of technology”, advised that. He suggested that instead of trying to replicate the models of other countries, policies should be adapted to the Peruvian reality. According to him, reducing working hours should focus more on reducing working hours per day than days of the week.

For its part, Avalos, complains that more than 80% of companies do not keep attendance records due to lack of adequate monitoring and inefficiency in tracking working hours, especially in systems such as teleworking. It notes that judicial processes relating to the recognition of working hours are cumbersome and disadvantageous to the worker due to lack of proper records.

It concludes that while shorter working days would theoretically increase productivity and efficiency, Peru must first address and overcome challenges such as informality and non-compliance with existing labor standards. Before considering reduced hours, it is essential to establish a strong and effective regulatory compliance policy.

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About the author

Attorney at the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences. Currently, he holds the position of editor in the economics section at Diario Gestión.

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