Once is enough. The Karin Law removed the requirement that the conduct be repeated, and with that it completely changed the exposure standard for companies. The second thing worth knowing: there is no minimum size. A company with three workers has the same substantive obligations as one with three hundred, and almost a third of the complaints the Labour Directorate processed in the first months came from micro and small businesses.
En breve
La ley regula tres figuras distintas —acoso laboral, acoso sexual y violencia en el trabajo— y lo que exige hay que tenerlo before de que llegue la denuncia, no después: protocolo, canal de denuncia y reglamento interno actualizados. Cuando la denuncia entra, el reloj parte de inmediato, los plazos corren en días hábiles y no se detienen.
En este artículo
- What changed: once is enough
- Three types of conduct, not one
- Lo que tu empresa debe tener antes de la denuncia
- If you have fewer than 10 workers, it still applies to you
- When the complaint arrives: the clock starts immediately
- The deadlines are business days, and they do not stop
- Protective measures cannot harm the complainant
- What to do with the report
- Two ongoing obligations that almost nobody keeps up to date
- What the figures say
- Sources
Law 21,643 was published on 15 January 2024 and came into force on 1 August 2024. Two years into its application, the pattern we see in clients is consistent: the protocol exists, it is signed, and nobody has read it. When the complaint arrives, the problem is not the reported conduct, it is that the company does not know what it has to do or within what deadline.
Esto es lo que rige al 02-09-2026.
What changed: once is enough
Before the reform, workplace harassment required conduct that was repeated. That requirement is gone. Article 2 of the Labour Code, in its current wording, defines workplace harassment as any conduct amounting to aggression or harassment carried out by the employer or by one or more workers against another, by any means, «whether it occurs once or repeatedly», and that results in their impairment, mistreatment or humiliation, or that threatens or harms their employment situation.
It is the most important change in the law and the worst internalised. A single episode, if serious enough, can constitute workplace harassment. The defence of «it only happened once» no longer exists.
Three types of conduct, not one
La ley regula tres figuras distintas, y conviene no confundirlas porque el tratamiento operativo es el mismo pero el origen del riesgo es diferente.
| Conducta | Qué es | De dónde viene el riesgo |
|---|---|---|
| Sexual harassment | Requerimientos de carácter sexual realizados en forma indebida, por cualquier medio, no consentidos, que amenacen o perjudiquen la situación laboral de quien los recibe | Dentro de la empresa |
| Workplace harassment | Agresión u hostigamiento, ya sea que se manifieste una sola vez o de manera reiterada, con resultado de menoscabo, maltrato o humillación, o que amenace o perjudique la situación laboral | Dentro de la empresa |
| Violencia en el trabajo por terceros | Conductas que afectan al trabajador con ocasión de la prestación de servicios, ejercidas por customers, suppliers or users | Fuera de la relación laboral |
What your company must have in place before a complaint arrives
Article 211-A of the Labour Code requires every employer to draw up and make available to workers a prevention protocol against sexual harassment, workplace harassment and violence at work. The rule sets five minimum contents:
- The identification of hazards and the assessment of the psychosocial risks associated with harassment and violence, with a gender perspective.
- The measures to prevent and control those risks, with measurable objectives that allow their effectiveness to be verified.
- The measures to inform and train workers about the risks identified and about their rights and responsibilities.
- The preventive measures themselves, in line with the nature of the services and the operation of the workplace.
- The measures to safeguard the privacy and reputation of everyone involved, and the handling of unsubstantiated complaints.
That protocol, together with the investigation and sanction procedure, must be incorporated into the Internal Regulations on Order, Health and Safety, as required by article 154 No. 12.
Two practical clarifications. First: the protocol is drawn up through the administering body of Law 16,744 —your mutual insurance body or the ISL—, which is required to give you technical assistance and has a model template. Second: subparagraph b) requires measurable objectives. A declaratory protocol, with no indicators and no dates, does not meet the standard of the rule even if it is signed.
If you have fewer than 10 workers, it still applies to you
This is the most expensive mistake we see in small businesses. The obligation to have Internal Regulations on Order, Health and Safety applies from ten workers upwards. From there many conclude that below that threshold the Karin Law does not reach them. It does.
| Obligación | Menos de 10 trabajadores | 10 o más trabajadores |
|---|---|---|
| Protocolo de prevención con los cinco contenidos del art. 211-A | Yes | Yes |
| Internal Regulations on Order, Health and Safety | No obligatorio | Sí, con el protocolo y el procedimiento incorporados (art. 154 N° 12) |
| Cómo se comunica el protocolo | Al suscribir el contrato, con constancia escrita, e incorporado al Reglamento de Higiene y Seguridad del art. 67 de la Ley 16.744 (art. 154 bis) | A través del Reglamento Interno |
| Instrumento de evaluación de riesgos psicosociales | Pauta simplificada | Cuestionario CEAL-SM/SUSESO |
The new article 154 bis resolves exactly that case: an employer that is not required to draw up Internal Regulations must nevertheless make the prevention protocol and the investigation and sanction procedure known to its workers at the time the employment contract is signed, recording it in writing and incorporating them into the Health and Safety Regulations under article 67 of Law 16,744.
When the complaint arrives: the clock starts immediately
The complaint may be filed with the company or directly with the Labour Inspectorate —the affected person chooses—, and it may be written or oral. If it is oral, whoever receives it must draw up a record, sign it with the complainant and give them a copy.
Three rules worth being clear about before it happens:
There is no anonymous complaint. The procedure requires the complainant to be identified.
There is no initiation on the employer’s own motion. The Labour Directorate ruled expressly in 2025: to start the procedure a complaint from the affected person is required, and the employer cannot open it on its own initiative.
If the person complained about is a manager, an administrator or a representative of the employer, the complaint must always be referred to the Labour Directorate. The company cannot investigate itself at management level.
The deadlines are business days, and they do not stop
| Momento | Deadline | Detalle |
|---|---|---|
| Adoptar medidas de resguardo | Inmediato | No hay plazo en días: es inmediato desde recibida la denuncia |
| Decidir si investiga la empresa o remite a la Inspección | 3 días | Informando a la Dirección del Trabajo el inicio de la investigación y las medidas adoptadas, por el portal de trámites |
| Si la denuncia entró por la Inspección | Máximo 2 días hábiles | Es la Inspección la que solicita al empleador adoptar las medidas de resguardo |
| Concluir la investigación | 30 días hábiles administrativos | Criterio de la Dirección del Trabajo de enero de 2026. No se suspende por feriado legal ni por licencia médica de los involucrados |
| Pronunciamiento de la Inspección sobre el informe | 30 días | Si no se pronuncia dentro del plazo, se consideran válidas las conclusiones del informe |
| Aplicar medidas o sanciones e informar a ambas partes | 15 days | Contados desde recibido el informe de investigación |
Once the complaint is received, the employer must adopt immediately las medidas de resguardo. Y dentro de three days it must choose between investigating internally or referring the file to the Labour Inspectorate, informing the Labour Directorate of the start of the investigation and of the measures adopted, through the service’s online portal.
The investigation must be concluded within thirty days, and the Labour Directorate ruled in January 2026 that these are administrative business days. Concluida, se remite junto a las conclusiones a la Inspección del Trabajo, que tiene a su vez treinta días para pronunciarse.
Protective measures cannot harm the complainant
The law mentions, without exhausting them, separating physical spaces, redistributing working time and providing the complainant with early psychological care through the programmes of the administering body of Law 16,744.
A recent ruling by the Labour Directorate —March 2026— narrows the employer’s room for manoeuvre and is worth knowing: protective measures cannot be burdensome or detrimental to the complainant nor cause them any impairment. If the measure involves changing their job, the employer must ensure that they keep at least the pay they had, including variable pay, paying the difference if necessary.
It is a sensitive point: moving the complainant to another shift or another site «to keep them apart» can unintentionally turn into an additional breach.
What to do with the report
Once the investigation report is received, the employer must order and apply the appropriate measures or penalties within the following fifteen days, and report them, within that same period, to both the complainant and the person complained about.
Where the person complained about is to be sanctioned, the law refers to the grounds in subparagraphs b) and f) of No. 1 of article 160 —grounds for dismissal without severance—, and requires that, in the case of subparagraph f), the seriousness of the facts be assessed and that assessment be recorded in the conclusions of the report. The dismissed worker may challenge the decision before the competent court.
The employer must also give the complainant information on the channels for reporting acts that may constitute a crime.
Two ongoing obligations that almost nobody keeps up to date
In addition to the protocol, there are two continuous compliance duties that are easy to inspect and easy to breach:
Report the complaint channels every six months. The company must tell its workers, every six months, the channels available for reporting —with the email, address or telephone number of the person responsible for receiving complaints— and the state bodies they can turn to. And it must produce a document evidencing that this information was given.
Report complaints to the administering body. The company must report to its mutual insurance body or to the ISL, on a continuous and periodic basis, the complaints received and the measures adopted. The Labour Directorate confirmed in July 2025 that it is empowered to inspect compliance with this duty.
On top of this comes Supreme Decree No. 44, in force since February 2025, which requires a hazard identification and risk assessment matrix that must expressly consider psychosocial risks and violence and harassment at work, with a gender focus. It is the same information that feeds subparagraph a) of your protocol: if the matrix is properly done, the protocol stands on its own.
What the figures say
No es una ley que haya quedado en el papel.
| Indicador | 01-08-2024 al 30-06-2025 |
|---|---|
| Denuncias recibidas | 44.212 |
| Ingresadas a tramitación tras revisión jurídica | 7.798 |
| Workplace harassment | 87,5% |
| Violencia en el trabajo | 6,4% |
| Sexual harassment | 6,1% |
| Denunciantes mujeres | 66,4% |
| Fiscalizaciones | 2.117, de ellas 933 con multa |
| Participación de micro y pequeñas empresas | 30% de las denuncias tramitadas en los cinco primeros meses de vigencia (11% micro y 19% pequeñas) |
Y el dato que más importa a una pyme: las micro y pequeñas empresas concentraron el 30% de las denuncias tramitadas en los primeros meses. No es un asunto exclusivo de las grandes compañías.
How we help at C&C
We draw up the protocol with the five contents required by article 211-A and real measurable objectives, we adjust the Internal Regulations or, if you have fewer than ten workers, we prepare the document you must hand over when each contract is signed; we define the complaint channel and the person responsible, we set up the six-monthly information routine, and we support you through the procedure once the complaint has arrived and the deadlines are running. It is part of our our payroll & HR service
Keep reading: the 40-hour workweek law. Y si el procedimiento termina en un despido, revisa el cálculo con nuestra calculadora de finiquito.
Sources
Ley y Código del Trabajo. Contenido revisado el 02-09-2026.
- Ley N° 21.643, publicada el 15-01-2024 y vigente desde el 01-08-2024.
- Código del Trabajo, art. 2° — definiciones de acoso sexual, acoso laboral y violencia en el trabajo, con la fórmula «ya sea que se manifieste una sola vez o de manera reiterada».
- Código del Trabajo, art. 211-A — protocolo de prevención y sus cinco contenidos mínimos.
- Código del Trabajo, art. 154 N° 12 — incorporación del protocolo y del procedimiento al Reglamento Interno.
- Código del Trabajo, art. 154 bis — empleadores no obligados a Reglamento Interno: entrega al suscribir el contrato.
- Código del Trabajo, art. 160 N° 1 letras b) y f) — causales de caducidad aplicables al denunciado.
- Ley N° 16.744, art. 67 — Reglamento de Higiene y Seguridad, y organismo administrador como asistencia técnica.
Doctrina administrativa y cifras.
- Circular SUSESO N° 3813 — instrumento de evaluación de riesgos psicosociales y pauta simplificada para entidades de menos de diez trabajadores.
- Decreto Supremo N° 44, vigente desde febrero de 2025 — matriz de identificación de peligros y evaluación de riesgos, con riesgos psicosociales y enfoque de género.
- Dictamen de la Dirección del Trabajo de 2025 — el procedimiento no puede iniciarse de oficio: requiere denuncia de la persona afectada.
- Dictamen de julio de 2025 — la Dirección del Trabajo está facultada para fiscalizar el reporte de denuncias al organismo administrador.
- Dictamen de enero de 2026 — los treinta días de investigación son días hábiles administrativos.
- Dictamen de marzo de 2026 — las medidas de resguardo no pueden ser gravosas ni perjudiciales para la persona denunciante, incluida la mantención de la remuneración variable.
- Informes de la Dirección del Trabajo sobre denuncias y fiscalizaciones de la Ley Karin — período 01-08-2024 al 30-06-2025 y primer informe de los cinco meses iniciales.
Need to comply with the Ley Karin? Talk to us and we will review your situation. You can also message us on WhatsApp.
Este artículo tiene fines informativos y refleja la normativa vigente al 02-09-2026. No sustituye una asesoría particular: cada caso depende de los antecedentes específicos y las obligaciones pueden variar según la situación de cada empresa.
Claudio Cortés is a founding partner of C&C Contadores Auditores, a Chilean accounting, audit and tax advisory firm. Chartered Accountant-Auditor and holder of a Master's in Taxation from the University of Chile. About us · LinkedIn