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The Labor Code of Chile entitles employees to an annual leave of 15 days with full salary after a full year of service with their employer. The leave time adds up to 21 consecutive days (including weekends) or a total of three weeks. Fixed-term employees who provide continuous services to the same employer by virtue of two or more contracts that exceed one year are also entitled to the same annual leave.

Employees with over ten years of experience receive one extra day of annual leave for every three years of service beyond ten years. The annual leave can be broken into segments, with one of the parts being at least ten days. If an employee has two consecutive periods of vacations lined up, the employer must instruct the employee to take a minimum of 15 days off from work before the end of the year.

The Chilean Labor Code entitles employees to 8 days of unpaid sickness leave if they have worked for less than 6 months. Employees who have worked more than 6 months but less than a year are entitled to 15 days of unpaid sick leave. Employees who have worked 12 months or more are entitled to 30 days of unpaid sick leave.

The labor code of Chile entitles female employees to a maternity leave of 6 weeks before delivery and 12 weeks after delivery. The benefits for this leave is paid by social insurance. To qualify for maternity benefits from social insurance or mandatory private insurance, employees must have at least 6 months of contributions, including at least three months of contributions in the last 6 months.

There is a maternal subsidy for women without a valid employment contract, paid by the Social Security Superintendence.

The labor code of Chile provides a paid paternity leave of 5 days to employees, which can be used continuously or distributed within the first month of the birth of child. The leave is to be paid by the employer. Employees who adopt a child younger than 6 months are also entitled to paternity leave.

If the mother died during childbirth or during the period of maternity leave after it, remaining leave is transferred to the father or to whomever custody of the minor was granted

Pension

The Social Security Institute of Chile mandates the legal age of retirement at 65 years. The monthly pension for retired members is calculated as 50% of the average monthly salary of the employee for the last five years before retirement, increased by 1% for every 50 weeks of insurance in excess of 500 weeks. This pension is limited to a maximum of 70% of the average monthly salary of the employee for the last five years before retirement. The source of funds for old-age pensions is the contribution made by employees equal to 10% of their monthly wages.

There is a monthly universal old-age benefit for persons who are not eligible to receive a pension in any pension system, have reached the age of 65 years, and have stayed in Chile for at least 20 years (4 out of last 5 years).

Effective September 1, 2022, social security coverage and employment protections will extend to those employed by digital platforms, and those employees will be classified as either formal employees or self-employed. The extended protections allow employees of digital platforms to access old-age, disability, and survivor pensions as well as health insurance and other social security benefits.

Dependents/Survivors Benefits

The Social Security Institute provides survivor benefits to the spouse, children, and parents of the deceased insured person. The widow is entitled to receive 50% of the pension that the deceased would have been eligible to if they were permanently disabled for one year prior to death. The pension is 60% if there are no common children. The benefit is paid for life if the widow is disabled or has reached the age of 65 years at the time of death of the insured person. All legitimate, natural or adopted children of the deceased, below age 15 are eligible for a monthly pension equal to 15% of the deceased’s average monthly salary. The pension is 11% of the deceased person's average monthly salary for partially disabled children under 24 years. If there are no other survivors, the benefit amount for the deceased person's parents is 36% of their average monthly salary, and it is 30% if there are dependent children. The fund is sourced by contributions made by employees in the amount of 1.53% of their monthly wage.

Invalidity Benefits

The Social Security Institute of Chile is responsible for providing life and disability insurance. In order to be eligible for disability pension, the following conditions must be fulfilled:

• They must be declared absolute or partial disabled. If the employee is unable to procure an income equal to at least 30% of the usual salary earned by a healthy worker in similar conditions, he/she is declared as absolutely disabled. If the person is able to earn more than 30%, but less than 60% of the remuneration earned by a healthy worker in similar conditions, he/she is declared to be partially disabled.
• They must have at least 50 weeks of insurance
• They must be below the age of 65 years at the time of beginning of disability

Monthly pension for absolute disabled persons is 50% of the average monthly salary of employees for the last five years before retirement, increased by 1% for every 50 weeks of insurance in excess of 500 weeks. Source of funds same as those for retirement.

The legal working age is 18 years in Chile. Those below 18 years and above 15 years can be employed in light work with consent from parents. The working hours of minors under 18 years of age cannot exceed 30 hours per week, distributed over a maximum of 6 hours per day during the school year and up to 8 hours per day during the interruption of the school year and during the vacation period.