CHILE Law and Practice Contributed by: Christian Alvarado and Agustín Alcalde, Clyde & Co Chile
the individual harm suffered by the employee. This demonstrates that, although reporting channels, par - tial anti-retaliation rules and compliance obligations exist, Chile currently lacks an integrated whistle- blowing system in the private employment context, leaving whistle-blowers in a structurally weak position vis-à-vis the employer’s investigative and disciplinary powers. Accordingly, whistle-blowing in Chile is incomplete and asymmetrical, with effective protection in the public sector, instrumental development in the crim - inal-corporate sphere, and the absence of a general labour-law whistle-blower protection framework, which constitutes one of the main structural gaps in the Chilean system in this area. 8.2 Sexual Harassment and/or Violence Chilean legislation provides specific protections against allegations of sexual harassment, workplace harassment, and workplace violence, which have been significantly reinforced and systematised by the Karin Act, in force since August 2024. The law expressly defines these forms of misconduct in Article 2 of the Labour Code, as follows. • Sexual harassment: “any conduct whereby a per - son, improperly and by any means, makes sexual advances or requests that are not consented to by the recipient and that threaten or adversely affect their employment situation or opportunities at work.”Workplace harassment: “any conduct constituting aggression or harassment exercised by the employer or by one or more workers against another worker or workers, by any means, whether occurring once or repeatedly, and which results in harm, mistreatment or humiliation of the affected person(s), or threatens or adversely affects their employment situation or opportunities at work.” • Violence at work exercised by third parties outside the employment relationship: “conduct affecting workers in the course of the provision of services, carried out by clients, suppliers, users or other third parties.” This constitutes a new category expressly incorporated by the Karin Act.
These protections apply to all employees, regardless of position or contract type, and cover conduct occur - ring both in the workplace and in connection with the provision of services, including interactions with third parties. Among the additional protections established under this framework are, inter alia: • the employer’s obligation to implement a preven - tion protocol; • formal investigation procedure subject to principles of confidentiality, impartiality, promptness, due process and non-revictimisation; • the immediate adoption of protective measures; • the possibility for the investigation to be conducted either internally by the employer or by the Labour Board; and • enhanced duties of information, documentation and reporting to the labour authority. As regards recent developments, the main change is the entry into force of the Karin Act in August 2024, which expanded the scope of protection, expressly incorporated violence committed by third parties, strengthened the preventive approach, and estab - lished more stringent legal standards for the investi - gation and sanctioning of such conduct. This Karin Act investigation framework has been addressed throughout the preceding sections, as it currently constitutes the only formally regulated statu - tory HR internal investigation procedure under Chilean labour law. Accordingly, many of the answers above distinguish between general internal investigations governed by internal regulations and compliance practices, and investigations specifically subject to the Karin Act, which establishes mandatory stages, principles, timeframes, reporting obligations and pro - cedural safeguards governing the investigation pro - cess. 8.3 Other Forms of Discrimination and/ or Harassment Including Bullying and/or Mobbing In Chile, there are specific protections against other forms of discrimination and harassment, which are now mainly articulated through the legal definition of
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