Limitations on hours and work days

The workday and work schedule are two essential elements that must be agreed upon and regulated from the outset of the employment relationship, with both parties needing to have clarity to avoid contractual breaches.

The workday refers to the number of hours that must be legally completed during the week in the performance of work. The ordinary workday is the usual one to which each worker is subject, while the extraordinary workday refers to the additional hours that may be necessary for the employee to work in certain situations to complete a task within the company.

On the other hand, the work schedule encompasses the distribution of service hours, including the time when the worker starts and finishes their duties.

For these reasons, the law establishes limits regarding the workday and work schedule. When establishing these, the following regulations must be respected:

• Ordinary Daytime Work Schedule: This is one where the total number of hours worked per week cannot exceed 48 hours, taking place between 5:00 AM and 7:00 PM, without exceeding 8 hours per day or a maximum of 10 hours per day if it is a cumulative schedule.

• Ordinary Night Work Schedule: This is one where the total number of hours worked per week cannot exceed 36 hours, occurring between 7:00 PM and 5:00 AM, thus limiting daily work to 6 hours.

• Ordinary Mixed Work Schedule: This involves working some hours during the ordinary daytime schedule and others during the night schedule. Since it falls under both categories, it is classified as mixed. In these cases, it cannot exceed 42 hours per week and 7 hours per day.

For a schedule to be considered mixed, night hours (from 7:00 PM to 5:00 AM) cannot exceed 3.5 hours; if this limit is exceeded, the schedule automatically becomes a night schedule.

• Extraordinary Work Schedule: This refers to work performed outside the previous limits. Extraordinary work, or "overtime" as it is commonly known, must be compensated at 50% more than the ordinary salary received by the worker.

It is not possible to compensate the payment for overtime with time off, as the law only establishes economic remuneration for it.

Similarly, extraordinary work has its limitations, as it is always motivated by a special and exceptional circumstance that justifies its execution. According to Article 140 of the Labor Code, the ordinary work hours combined with extraordinary hours cannot exceed 12 hours.

As can be seen, it is important for companies to correctly regulate and define work hours and schedules to avoid non-compliance with the established limits, which may lead to the necessity of paying overtime in the future.

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