A Look at Working Conditions in Costa Rica

If you are preparing to move abroad to Costa Rica to live and take up employment you may want to familiarize your self with the working conditions and other working regulatations of the country before you arrive. Depending on your home country and working conditions and regulations there you may be in for a bit of a shock when you get to Costa Rica. For instance, in Costa Rica there are two types of work days and restrictions on how many hours you can work in one week.

When you are working in Costa Rica the maximum number of hours that you can work in a day will depend upon the type of working day that you have. In Costa Rica there are two different kinds of working days. There are normal working days, called Jornadas Ordinarias Normales, and there are special working days, called Jornadas Especiales o de Excepcion. Both types of working days can be broken up in day or night shifts.

Normal daytime hours can be at a maximum of either eight hours or 10 hours per day as long as the work is not considered heavy or unhealthy. The maximum hours that can be worked in one week are 48 hours. Normal working days are between 5 am and 7 pm. Jobs that are considered night jobs take place during the hours of 7 pm and 5 am. With night jobs there is a maximum hours per day of 6 hours and the work week can have no more than 36 hours. There is also something called a mixed working day which is when you work shifts that can be considered part day and part night. Mixed days can be eight hours long unless you work until 10:30 pm or later. If that is the case then the shift is considered night and you cannot work more than six hours.

If you work on a Saturday then that is a special working day. Special working days also apply to certain fields of employment. Such as domestic servants who can work up to 12 hours per day. If you are working 12 hours in one day then you are entitled to a break of at least 1.5 hours. Anyone over the age of 15 but under age 18 is considered to be working special working days. This means that they are not allowed to work more than 6 hours a day and no more than 36 hours per week.