Some businesses, such as supermarkets, started to close early in Colombia Jair F. Coll/Bloomberg via Getty Images While Brazil is discussing changes to its working hours, neighboring countries in South America are concluding or beginning to implement laws approved in recent years that point in the same direction: working less. On July 15th, salaried workers in Colombia will start working for a maximum of 42 hours a week — a conclusion of the six-hour reduction made over five years, since the law was approved in 2021. Unlike Brazil, which is discussing a reduction from 44 to 40 hours along with the end of the 6x1 schedule, Colombia has not established the obligation to take at least two days off per week. But the reduction from 48 to 42 hours, approved in the right-wing government of former president Iván Duque (2018-2022), was added to the labor reform approved in 2025, already in the left-wing government of Gustavo Petro, which increased the minimum wage in the country by 23.7% and boosted workers' gains by extending the period considered for payment of nighttime additional. In addition to the two changes, Colombian business entities have reported difficulties for companies to maintain hiring plans and that adaptations were necessary, such as closing stores earlier and increasing automation of services. Even so, the job market scenario in the country is not scorched earth, far from it, economist Stefano Farné, director of the Labor Market and Social Security Observatory at Externado University, in Bogotá, explains to BBC News Brasil. "There is no doubt that unit costs per worker in Colombia have increased," says Farné, who participated in discussions in Congress in the country about the changes. "But what we observed is that there were no negative effects on the labor market. Furthermore, salaried employment in the private sector has continued to grow for many months." According to Farné, there has not yet been any "impact assessment" study in the country, this is using solid scientific methods, with comparative analysis and data processing. His opinion is based on the general perception of the job market in the country, which has shown resilience with an unemployment rate at a historic low. An analysis by Corficolombiana, one of the largest financial corporations in the country, showed that the reduction in working hours is boosting hiring in general. The estimate is that 787 thousand new workers were hired between 2022 and 2025 just to compensate for the decrease in hours worked. But the company points out that productivity has fallen, as the same volume of work is being distributed among more people. "If more people need to work to produce the same quantity, and each worker produces less per day, the economy becomes less efficient", says the Corficolombiana analysis. Fenalco (National Federation of Traders and Entrepreneurs), equivalent to a National Confederation of Commerce (CNC) in Brazil, produced a survey of 610 businesspeople, in 25 cities, to demonstrate the impact of increased labor costs in general. The survey shows that 51% of companies started to close earlier, reducing night-time operations, 25% accelerated the service automation process and 23% increased the prices of their products. The most affected sectors are those that operate extended hours, such as retail, bars, restaurants, hotels and private surveillance. "Many companies are already facing higher operating costs, which reduces their ability to expand operations and hire new staff. There is also an environment of uncertainty that leads businesspeople to act prudently," Fenalco told BBC News Brasil. The federation also states that 64% of interviewed businesspeople reduced the number of employees and that 80% changed their hiring plans for the future. The business class said it does not have consolidated figures for the year on company closures, but preliminary data shows a "reduction in the opening of new companies" in 2026. “Fortunately, Colombia continues to have great entrepreneurial capacity,” says Fenalco. Differences for Brazil: more flexibility and with a 6x1 scale Unions took to the streets to defend labor reform in Colombia JOAQUIN SARMIENTO/AFP via Getty Images According to professor Stefano Farné, comparing the Colombian case with that of Brazil is difficult, because the reduction in working hours in the Caribbean country was accompanied by other labor changes. Still, he points out, some international lessons can be useful. The first is the importance of gradualness, like the five years of adaptation in Colombia. "The recommendation is not to do it overnight, but little by little. This is good for anything in general", says the researcher. In Brazil, the proposal to reduce working hours from 44 hours a week to 40 hours would come into force in two stages. First, there would be a reduction to 42 hours, after 60 days. The 40-hour limit would be reached after another year. Economist Bruno Ottoni, professor at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Uerj), told BBC News Brasil that the time predicted for transition is short for companies to adapt. Farné also highlights that, in Colombia, the reduction in working hours was accompanied by flexibility in working hours and no mandatory two days of rest. Companies and workers were allowed to make agreements to work more one day and less the next, for example. With the reduction, Colombian law also began to allow business owners to choose the employee's weekly day off, with Saturday or Sunday no longer being preferred. This measure is considered especially positive for commercial companies, one of the sectors most affected by the changes. "It's a way of making the reduction in working hours more flexible. Therefore, we haven't had as many effects on the economy, because the drop in working hours has been compensated by other measures", says Farné. In Colombia, companies are no longer required to provide workers with an extra day off per semester on the so-called "family day". It is also no longer mandatory for larger companies to have two hours of cultural or training activities per week. Now on g1 The Chilean case In Chile, Gabriel Boric's left-wing government managed to approve a labor reform in 2023 which, among other things, stipulated the reduction of the maximum working day from 45 hours to 40 hours per week in the country. The transition began in 2024 and runs until 2028. But, even before this new change, the country was already studied internationally due to another reduction. In 2005, after four years of transition, Chileans eliminated the 48-hour day to a maximum of 45. "In general, empirical studies find that the effects of these reductions were very small and marginal. In other words, the effects tend to be negative, but they are small and not always statistically significant", says Farné, who participates in discussions at the International Labor Organization (ILO) on the topic. The study by Chilean economist Rafael Sanchéz also concluded that the reduction in the 2000s did not have "significant direct effects" on the Chilean labor market, either through the creation or reduction of vacancies — and that working hours became better paid, as there was no salary reduction. The researcher followed the trajectories of thousands of workers between 2002 and 2005 (pre- and post-reform), comparing the professional destiny of those directly affected by the new law with a group made up of employees who already worked hours close to the new limit. According to Sanchéz, Chilean companies used the transition period to adjust their production processes and redistribute tasks. This is seen as essential to avoid mass layoffs. In short, Chilean companies reacted by absorbing the increase in hourly costs without significantly reducing their workforce. Examples in America and many countries, especially in Europe, show that "working less is a trend that we cannot oppose", says Ferné. "This doesn't mean that South America has to follow European countries that already have 36-hour workdays and that's it. Let's take it easy, but this is a global path."