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Entrepreneur's finances
Reduction of working hours 2026: what changes for your company
The reduction of working hours 2026 The workweek will be capped at 42 hours starting July 15, 2026, the final step in Law 2101 of 2021. Salary will not decrease: hours worked beyond 42 hours will now be considered overtime. Your company must adjust shifts, payroll, and contracts before that date.
If you have employees with work contracts in Colombia, this change directly affects you. It's not a recommendation or a future goal: it's a legal obligation with a deadline. And the most confusing part for business owners isn't how many hours, but what to do about salaries and the people who are already working 46 or 47 hours a week.
The essentials
- From the July 15, 2026 The maximum ordinary working hours are 42 hours per week.
- Salary and benefits remain the same; no one earns less for working fewer hours.
- Hours above 42 are paid as overtime, with a surcharge.
- You can spread the 42 hours over 5 or 6 days, always leaving at least one day of rest.
- Failure to adapt working hours exposes your company to penalties of up to 5,000 minimum wages.
Reduction of working hours 2026: what Law 2101 says
Law 2101 of 2021 mandated a gradual reduction of the workweek from 48 to 42 hours, without affecting salaries. The final phase begins on July 15, 2026: from that date forward, 42 hours will be the legal maximum for the standard workweek. The full text of the Article 3 of Law 2101 in the Public Service Regulatory Manager It details each annual step.
This applies to workers governed by the Substantive Labor Code, that is, most private sector employees. Managerial, supervisory, and confidential positions are exempt from the workday limit, just as was the case with the 48-hour workweek.
How the gradual reduction turned out between 2023 and 2026
The reduction wasn't immediate. It started with one hour in 2023 and ended with two hours in 2026. This is the complete timeline established by law, useful if you want to check where your company stood each year:
| From | Maximum weekly working hours | Yearly reduction |
|---|---|---|
| Before 2023 | 48 hours | Starting point |
| July 15, 2023 | 47 hours | -1 hour |
| July 15, 2024 | 46 hours | -1 hour |
| July 15, 2025 | 44 hours | -2 hours |
| July 15, 2026 | 42 hours | -2 hours (final stretch) |
If your business has been operating on a 44-hour workweek for the past year, the remaining adjustment is only two hours. But many employers continue to schedule 46- or 48-hour shifts out of habit, and that's where the difference is greater.
What changes in practice for your company
The change is fundamentally accounting-related, not legal. Every hour an employee works beyond 42 per week is no longer considered regular working hours: it's overtime, with the corresponding surcharge. For a business with multiple shifts, this significantly increases payroll costs if schedules aren't reorganized.
Three specific areas you'll need to review:
- Shifts and schedules: reschedule the workdays so that no week exceeds 42 ordinary hours without being planned as overtime.
- Roster: your payroll or billing and management It needs to be parameterized with the new limit to avoid incorrectly settling the extras.
- Contracts: Check that the working hours clauses do not contradict the law; it is advisable to put in writing how the week is divided.
The most common misconception is that reducing hours necessarily means lower pay. It's the opposite: the salary remains the same, and the value of a regular hour increases because the same pay is distributed over fewer hours.
The 42-hour workweek doesn't lower your salary: this is how the week is divided
Article 4 of the law is clear that the reduction of working hours 2026 This does not imply a reduction in salary or benefits. An employee who earned a certain salary for 46 hours now earns the same for 42. The Ministry of Labor confirmed this in its official statement on the reduction of working hours.
Regarding the distribution, the law gives you some leeway. You can agree with the employee to distribute the 42 hours over 5 days (workdays of approximately 8.4 hours) or over 6 days (workdays of 7 hours), always guaranteeing a day of rest. The distribution is agreed upon by both parties; it is not imposed by one.
What happens if your company doesn't adapt in time?
Failure to comply with reduction of working hours 2026 It comes at a cost. The Ministry of Labor can penalize companies that don't adjust their work schedules before July 15th, with fines of up to 5,000 times the monthly minimum wage. It's a risk no small or medium-sized business wants to take by not reorganizing shifts.
Besides the issue of sanctions, there is the operational aspect: incorrectly calculating overtime generates claims, retroactive adjustments, and internal audits that are more expensive than planning well from the beginning.
How to adapt your business before July 15th
Adapting to the 42-hour workweek is an organized process, not a last-minute race. These are the steps we follow with the businesses we work with:
- I measured the actual hours that each employee works today per week, shift by shift.
- Identify who exceeds 42 hours and by how much, to know the true size of the adjustment.
- Redesign the shifts so that the regular workday ends in 42 hours, leaving overtime as a planned exception.
- Update the work schedule parameter in your payroll software before the first half of July.
- Communicate the change to your team in writing and adjust the clauses of any contracts that need it.
Common mistakes when implementing the 2026 reduction in working hours
- Lowering the salary proportionally to the hours: the law prohibits it, the payment remains in full.
- Leaving the payroll software with the old cap causes bonuses to be calculated incorrectly.
- Distributing the week without agreement with the worker or a guaranteed day of rest.
Do you need to streamline your business operations?
At Digital Trendy 360, we help SMEs in Medellín to streamline their processes, tools, and digital presence to grow without legal or operational surprises.
Frequently asked questions about the reduction of working hours 2026
Does reducing working hours lower my employees' salaries?
No. Law 2101 and the Ministry of Labor are explicit: salary and benefits remain the same. The worker receives the same pay even if their workweek is reduced to 42 hours.
From what exact date do the 42 hours apply?
From July 15, 2026. That day the gradual reduction that began in 2023 will end and 42 hours will become the maximum ordinary working day permanently.
Can I divide the 42 hours however I want?
You can distribute them over 5 or 6 days of the week, but only by mutual agreement with the employee and guaranteeing at least one day of rest. It is not a unilateral decision by the employer.
What about hours above 42?
These are considered overtime hours, meaning extra hours with additional pay. The law allows up to 2 overtime hours per day and 12 per week; anything beyond that must be avoided by reorganizing shifts.
To whom does the working hours limit not apply?
Management, supervisory, and confidential positions are exempt from the working hours cap, just as they were with the previous 48-hour limit. All other employees with employment contracts are covered.
In summary
From July 15, 2026, your company will operate with a maximum 42-hour workweek, without reducing salaries and paying overtime for any hours worked beyond that limit. The key is to be prepared: measure actual hours, reschedule shifts, and adjust payroll before the date. If you are formalizing your business or want to get all operations in order, also review how create a company in Colombia step by step, the details of commercial registry and the Chamber of Commerce, and the Statistics of digital SMEs in Colombia 2026 to position your business in relation to the rest of the market.
