El Salvador’s eight-hour workday began over a century ago
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In El Salvador, workers first demanded an eight-hour workday in 1911, and the idea gained legal footing a decade later.
Historian Héctor Lindo shared documents showing that Central American labor organizations proposed limiting workdays to eight hours during the First Central American Workers’ Congress in San Salvador in November 1911. Participants discussed workers’ physical, social, and educational conditions, and ultimately resolved that each state should regulate work hours to a maximum of eight per day, with two hours for lunch.
In 1921, workers again requested eight-hour days and Sunday rest from the Federal Constituent Assembly. That year, the Constitution of the Republic of Central America included an eight-hour workday in its section on labor and social cooperation, mandating a maximum workday of eight hours and one day of rest after six days of work. The constitution also outlined employer responsibilities for worker accidents. Following these initial steps, El Salvador developed further labor laws.
The 1911 Law on Work Accidents marked an early point in the country’s labor legislation. Later, the 1927 Law for the Protection of Commerce Employees limited workdays, provided for breaks and vacations, and established different hours for male and female employees, eight hours for men and seven for women. The country continued to build on these laws, eventually creating a Ministry of Labor and a comprehensive Labor Code.
