We invite you to read the publication of La Tercera where our partner, Jorge Arredondo, commented on the importance of the 76th day in the application of the Karin Law.
Recently, the so-called Karin Law came into force, which establishes a clear legal framework for the prevention and punishment of harassment and violence in the workplace in Chile.
The new regulation has two main focuses or guidelines: prevention and investigation. Prevention is based on the logic that the employer should deploy as many mitigation measures as possible and that he should inform his workers of the potential risks and dangers in these areas.
Karin Law: what happens on the 76th day and why is it so important?
On the other hand, the investigation focuses on how, after receiving the complaint, the employer adopts actions to investigate the occurrence or not of the facts and determine whether they were indeed actions of harassment, sexual harassment or violence in the workplace.
Jorge Arredondo, lead partner of Albagli Zaliasnik’s Labor Group (az), explains that prevention and investigation are regulated by law. What is not regulated is corporate governance. That is, how companies manage, implement, lead and make decisions when they receive a complaint. A process that is not easy, considering the number of decisions that an organization must make”.
Among the decisions that companies must make in the face of the new Karin Law is to define whether the investigation is carried out internally or whether it is referred to the Labor Inspectorate. If it is done internally, a decision must be made as to whether it is done by someone from the company.
Then, when entering more into the field of investigation, it is necessary to define whether the facts occurred within a period of time that allows the investigation to be carried out; whether the facts brought to its attention are work-related or non-work-related and to determine the measures of protection of those involved.
It is also necessary to establish whether in the decision of the measures of protection to be applied, for example, between two co-workers, the opinion of their boss is taken into consideration as to the effects that this determination entails, as well as to define whether the affected person requires early psychological care.
This is where “day 76″ comes into play. If the employer makes this investigation, it lasts 30 days and then the Labor Inspectorate reviews the findings in a range of 30 more days.
It then returns to the employer so that the employer, within 15 days, can take the administrative measures it deems necessary. Therefore, it is on the “day 76″ when companies will have to define what steps to follow after the investigation and how to manage the work environments. From this day 76 it is necessary to follow up to avoid impacts on the company such as productivity problems, talent retention and labor projection.
Jorge Arredondo emphasized that “it is essential that the organizations form a body, such as a Karin Law committee, which adopts all these decisions, based on clear policies established by their organizations. Above all, considering that, if the Labor Inspectorate is chosen to carry out the investigation, it could take as long as its administrative structure is able to resolve the overwhelming number of complaints that have been filed.
It is not unreasonable that in this scenario the process could take, for example, 10 months, as occurred in some cases of investigations for sexual harassmentcomplaints.
The expert concludes that “it is urgent that companies develop today an adequate institutional framework and governance so that poor management or management of expectations does not imply the continuity of a permanent situation of conflict.”
