Our Labor Group Director, Jocelyn Aros, spoke with LexLatin to discuss the implications and challenges that the Comprehensive Law on Older Adults will bring in the labor sphere.
The aging of the Chilean population has already begun to have an impact on the labor market. The Comprehensive Law on Older Adults and the Promotion of Dignified, Active, and Healthy Aging (Law No. 21,822) incorporates a special provision into the Labor Code for those aged 60 and older, in response to a demographic reality that, according to the 2024 Census, already accounts for 1 in 5 people in the country.
The law will take effect on June 1, 2027, giving companies less than a year to adapt their contracts, internal regulations, and human resources policies.
Although the reform is causing uncertainty in the private sector, the experts consulted agree that its effects will depend on how it is implemented in each company. For her part, Jocelyn Aros, director of the Labor Group at az, explains that the new legal framework operates on the principle of voluntariness.
“Law No. 21,822 establishes a special, voluntary, and protective regime for workers aged 60 or older. This change does not mean that those who reach that age will automatically have their contracts changed. In this regard, those who already have a current employment relationship will retain their existing terms and conditions, unless the employer and employee agree to adopt this new regulation,” she states.
Among the new provisions, Aros mentions the requirement that job duties be compatible with the older worker’s physical condition and abilities, in connection with the employer’s duty of care, as established in Article 184 of the Labor Code; as well as the possibility of agreeing on flexible work schedules or self-selected hours, the contractual suspension of the contract without loss of seniority or rights, and the option to take proportional vacation time in advance and in installments starting from the seventh month of service.
“The challenge for companies today will be to design mechanisms that allow these tools to be applied without turning them into a form of job insecurity or an undue incentive for older workers to alter their working conditions. Thus, it will be particularly important to reach agreements with workers, precisely define the rules governing work hours and attendance, review job positions from an occupational safety and health perspective, and train workers to prevent age from becoming—explicitly or implicitly—a criterion for exclusion, especially given workers’ fundamental rights,” he explains.
Chile as a Model for Latin America
With one-fifth of its population in the older adult age group, Chile is not alone in facing this demographic challenge, and the four experts share the view that Law No. 21,822 will be closely watched throughout the region. Espinoza placed the law within a broader human rights framework.
“The new law is one of the first comprehensive pieces of legislation in the region that translates the Inter-American Convention on the Protection of the Human Rights of Older Persons into specific labor regulations with operational mechanisms,” she states.
The Peruvian case, cited by Swett as an example, is the focus of many of the comparisons. According to Swett, Peru faces an even more advanced aging population than Chile, but has only Law No. 30,490, which generally recognizes the right to decent work and protection against age discrimination, without a specific labor chapter equivalent to Chile’s.
“A notable contrast with Chile is that, in Peru, the employment relationship automatically terminates upon reaching age 70—a rule that has been widely questioned as a potential violation of the right to equality and access to work. Chile, on the other hand, has chosen to make employment conditions more flexible without imposing an age limit,” she concludes.
In Colombia, Law 2040 of 2020 has created a reputation seal for companies that hire older workers without pensions, without amending the Substantive Labor Code.
In Ecuador, a reform passed in May 2025 has established mandatory hiring quotas and penalties—a “results-based” approach—in contrast to Chile’s optional contractual flexibility.
Outside the region, Japan has an employment rate of 25.2% for people aged 65 and older, supported by its law on employment stabilization for older adults.
On the other side of the world, in the European Union, the Employment Equality Directive prohibits age discrimination, and several countries have adopted part-time work arrangements and phased retirement programs.
“It is common for such legislation to create a kind of legislative momentum among the different countries in the region. In general, these countries share the same legal and social roots, so it would not be at all surprising if, in the near future, we see other countries adopting similar legislation,” Raby explains.
For Aros, the central contribution of the Chilean law lies in its approach to old age.
“Its main contribution is addressing old age from a comprehensive perspective of rights, autonomy, and inclusion—and not solely from the standpoint of health or social security aspects, as is often the case,” she concludes.
With nearly a year to go before the law takes effect, the challenge posed by the four experts is to move toward more flexible and inclusive labor relations for older workers, without this progress giving rise to new forms of job insecurity or ultimately discouraging their hiring.
Source: LexLatin, July 10.
