Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Paid Educational Leave Convention, 1974 (No. 140) - Chile (Ratification: 1999)

Articles 2 to 6 of the Convention. Formulation and application of a policy designed to promote the granting of paid educational leave. Participation of the social partners. The Committee notes with interest the adoption on 18 July 2019 of Act No. 21.165 on the alternative partial working day for student workers introducing section 40 bis(E) into the Labour Code and amending other texts regulating related aspects. The Government indicates that the purpose of Act No. 21.165 is to resolve the principal regulatory barriers which make it difficult to hire young persons formally with an employment contract by, among other measures, enabling them to interrupt the working day to attend classes or to benefit from unpaid leave to sit their academic exams, thereby facilitating the reconciliation of work and studies. Social and student benefits are also maintained by not taking into consideration the remuneration received by these persons in the social registration of households. The Government indicates that this is also designed to anticipate the access of young persons to the labour market, thereby facilitating this type of relations between enterprises and students. Another of the objectives of Act No. 21.165 is to encourage young persons who are not in the education system or who are at risk of dropping out of it for economic reasons to be able to enter and remain in education. In this regard, the Government indicates that, according to the 2017 National Socio-economic Characteristics Survey (CASEN) of the Social Observatory, 6.2 per cent of young persons between the ages of 18 and 24 years who were working or seeking employment indicated that the main reason why they were not attending an educational establishment was due to economic considerations and 34.2 per cent said that it was due to work or the fact that they were seeking work.

The Committee notes that the partial working day established by Act No. 21.165 is only applicable to “student workers”. In accordance with section 40 bis(E) of the Labour Code, “student workers” are considered to be “any person between 18 and 24 years of age who is engaged in regular studies or in the process of qualifying in a vocational or technical university higher education institution recognized by the State or in establishments implementing levelling up study programmes”. Workers covered by the partial working day benefit from all the other workers’ rights set out in the Labour Code for full-time workers (section 40 bis(B), first indent). The second transitional section of Act No. 21.165 also provides that the Higher Labour Council, a tripartite body, shall prepare an annual report for the first three years when the Act is in force to evaluate the implementation and monitoring of its provisions, its impact on the academic results of student workers and the impact of this type of contract on young persons who are not students and on workers in general. Based on the evaluation, a decision will be taken on the continuation of the measure or the introduction of the necessary amendments to Act No. 21.165. In relation to the 2018 observations of the Single Central Organization of Workers of Chile (CUT-Chile), the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the evaluation of Act No. 21.165 is complex as its implementation is relatively recent and there is no official record of enterprises which apply the Act. However, the Government indicates that, based on the analysis undertaken by the Higher Labour Council, good progress is being made in the achievement of the objectives of Act No. 21.165 and it is adapted to the situation experienced by young persons in the country.

The Committee also notes the reference by the Government to the Bill to amend section 1 of the Skills and Employment Charter, which was approved by the Chamber of Deputies on 10 March 2020 and is currently undergoing its second constitutional reading. The Bill, among other measures, envisages allowing all currently accredited higher education institutions (technical training centres, universities and vocational institutes) to register modules as part of technical careers. These institutions must have a system for recognizing previous learning and for approving the skills of workers engaged in modular skills training with a view to preventing the financing of skills programmes that do not provide workers with new knowledge or skills. However, the Committee observes that the Government has not provided information on the number of workers benefiting from paid educational leave for vocational training, or for general, social or civic education. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing detailed and updated information on the formulation and application of policies and measures to promote, in collaboration with the social partners, the granting of paid educational leave for the specific objectives set out in Article 2 of the Convention. It also requests the Government to provide updated information on the impact of Act No. 21.165 on the exercise of the individual and collective rights of the persons concerned, and on the number of persons employed under the new contracts. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the situation with regard to the Bill to amend section 1 of the Skills and Employment Charter and to provide a copy of the Charter once it has been adopted. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to provide updated statistical data, disaggregated by sex and age, on workers who have benefited from paid educational leave for all levels of vocational training, and for general, social or civic education (Part V of the report form).

Article 2(c). Paid leave for trade union education. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the number of workers who benefited from leave for trade union education during the period covered by the report. The Government indicates that, between 2018 and 2020, a total of 1,503 women and 1,278 men workers participated in further training courses, in the New Leaders course and in Trade Union Leadership courses (EFSLS) within the framework of the Trade Union Training and Collaborative Labour Relations Fund. The Government also reports that, during the same period, 1,458 women workers participated in Women Leaders trade union training courses (EFSML). In 2020, four men participated in these courses as part of a pilot gender equity project for the inclusion of men in the EFSML. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing statistical data, disaggregated by sex, on the number of workers who have benefited from study leave for trade union education.