On September 22, 2026, the Labour and Social Security Commission of Chile's Chamber of Deputies opened the segundo trámite, the second legislative stage, on the Sala Cuna Universal bill (Boletín 14782-13), moving the draft one step closer to amending the Código del Trabajo. The Senate approved the bill in the first stage, so the Chamber of Deputies now acts as the reviewing chamber. The commission resumed on September 23, 2026, hearing the head of the unemployment insurance administrator.
The bill extends the workplace daycare right (sala cuna) to male and independent workers and creates a solidarity fund to finance childcare, replacing the century-old model that places the obligation solely on employers with female staff. Labour minister Tomás Rau, women's minister Judith Marín, and undersecretary of early childhood education María Cristina Tupper presented the government's case to the commission. (Ministerio del Trabajo y Previsión Social)
What does the Sala Cuna Universal bill change in the Labour Code?
The reform rewrites the daycare obligations in the Código del Trabajo. Today, Article 203 requires employers with 20 or more female workers to maintain a sala cuna for children under two, an obligation that does not apply to male employees or independent contractors. The bill equalizes access: working mothers, working fathers, and the independent workers it specifies would all hold the right to daycare. A new fondo solidario de sala cuna would finance the benefit collectively rather than leaving each employer to fund a room alone.
Minister Rau framed the current rule as a barrier of more than 109 years that operates as a tax on hiring women, because the cost falls only on firms that employ women. The stated policy goal is to remove that hiring disincentive and extend coverage to children whose mothers are currently outside the system, including the children of independent workers.
Who has to prepare, and is there a compliance deadline?
There is no immediate obligation. The bill has just entered committee review in the Chamber of Deputies and must still pass a floor vote, return to the Senate for a third stage if amendments are made, receive presidential sanction, and be published in the Diario Oficial before it takes effect. Enactment is a 2027 prospect at the earliest.
The audience that should track it now is narrow but material: Chilean employers currently subject to sala cuna duties, namely those with 20 or more female workers, plus HR and labour-compliance leads, payroll and finance teams who would administer any solidarity-fund contribution, independent workers gaining a new right, and the unions and advisory firms that lobby or brief on labour reform. For these groups, the value of monitoring now is early sight of the contribution rate, the scope of independent workers covered, and any transition rules.
How would the solidarity fund work, and does it touch unemployment insurance?
The most contested design question is funding. Minister Rau told the commission directly that the bill does not draw on the Seguro de Cesantía, the unemployment insurance administered by the AFC. He cited the actuarial report's finding that the insurance funds are sustainable for at least 10 years: the individual accounts hold about US$11 billion and the solidarity fund about US$4 billion, totaling roughly US$15 billion, and those sums are not touched. The commission heard this on September 23 from AFC president María Paz Hidalgo.
What the bill does propose is a dedicated sala cuna solidarity fund with its own financing, the details of which remain subject to committee amendments. Employers should treat the contribution mechanism as the key open variable.
| Stage | Chamber | Status |
|---|---|---|
| First stage (primer trámite) | Senate | Approved |
| Second stage (segundo trámite) | Chamber of Deputies | Committee discussion began Sep 22, 2026 |
| Floor vote and third stage | Deputies, then Senate | Pending |
| Sanction and Diario Oficial | President | Pending |
Continuous, per-jurisdiction real-time monitoring surfaces a legislative step like this the moment the ministry publishes it, before the floor vote reshapes employer obligations.
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What to do next
- Confirm whether your workforce triggers the current 20-female-worker threshold, and model the expanded scope if male and independent workers become entitled.
- Track the committee's definition of the solidarity-fund contribution rate, the single variable most likely to change your cost base.
- Brief HR, payroll, and finance teams now, and flag any transition rules the committee introduces for employers already running a sala cuna.
The bill is still draft law, not enacted obligation. Obsidian will track its path through the Chamber of Deputies and the subsequent Senate stage as it advances.
