Flexible Working Hours Requested in Costa Rica

Industrialists are asking for inclusion in the Labour Code a 12 hour work day, and in cases in where the law permits, annualized hours.

Friday, July 18, 2014

From a statement issued by the Chamber of Industries (ICRC):

July 2014. In the view of the ICRC establishing additional rules for working time in Costa Rican legislation represents an excellent option for generating higher quality employment opportunities, while at the same time allowing firms to improve their production levels.

Juan Ramon Rivera, President of the ICRC, said that "the challenge of creating more employment opportunities must be accompanied by real and concrete measures to increase labor demand in the formal sector and encourage domestic and foreign investment in our country. It is also important to create opportunities for workers, for strong family relationships, better health, higher education opportunities and personal satisfaction; factors that enable them to achieve a better quality of life. "

This initiative (was) ... discussed with the Minister of Labour, Victor Morales, during the First Congress on Industrial Policy.

The proposal includes allowing the industrial sector have 12-hour days (For example: You work four days and rest three), which are those that use the maximum daily hours allowed by the Labor Code. It could be applied only by companies which are subject to cyclical variations in demand, affecting production and supply; or in those where processes must be continuous. In this situation overtime work would be banned and the constitutional limit of forty-eight hours a week would be respected.

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