The Labor Directorate issued in April 2026 a ruling [Ordinary No. — VERIFY exact number on dt.gob.cl before publishing] that clears up a recurring question in companies with workforces enrolled in Multibien, a Multi-Employer Welfare Service: the monthly amount that the employer allocates to finance its employees’ supplementary health insurance through that mechanism constitutes remuneration under Article 41 of the Labor Code. The consequence is direct and financial: that contribution must appear on pay slips, be included in the base for severance payments, and be subject to social security contributions.
What happened
The ruling originates from a query submitted by a contractor operating at a mining site. Since December 2007, the company had been paying its workers monthly an amount equivalent to 80% of the fee allocated to finance the health fund and the premiums of the insurance policies contracted through Multibien. The substantive dispute was whether that contribution qualified as remuneration or could be treated as an extraremunerational benefit. The Labor Directorate applied the three-requirement test derived from Article 41 of the Labor Code: that the benefit be in money or capable of being valued in money; that it be received by reason of the employment contract; and that it not fall within the exhaustive exclusions of the second paragraph of that rule. In the case of the contribution to Multibien, all three requirements are unquestionably met. First, the contribution is a monthly, fixed sum of money. Second, its direct cause is the employment contract—and the fact that the amount varies according to the worker’s family composition reinforces that connection. Third, the contribution does not appear in any of the legal exclusions: it is not a transport allowance, meal allowance, travel allowance, or reimbursement of expenses incurred by reason of the work. This last point is relevant because the exclusion employers most often invoke is precisely that of "reimbursements of expenses incurred by reason of the work." The ruling is explicit: the contribution to Multibien does not reimburse an outlay by the worker—it finances a benefit in the worker’s favor. There is no reimbursement of expenses. There is remuneration. The Labor Directorate adds that the structure of the payment mechanism does not alter this conclusion. The existence of an irrevocable mandate, Multibien’s role as intermediary, or the fact that payment is made directly to the insurer does not change the economic content of the contribution or its employment-related cause. The form of payment does not determine its legal nature. The rule of decision is clear: the employer’s contribution to Multibien is remuneration pursuant to Article 41 of the Labor Code.
What this may mean for your company
If your company has workers enrolled in Multibien and co-finances their supplementary health insurance, this ruling triggers three areas of financial exposure that should be reviewed now. The first is severance calculations. Under Article 172 of the Labor Code, severance for years of service and compensation in lieu of prior notice are calculated on the basis of the "last monthly remuneration earned." If the contribution to Multibien has not been included in that calculation, severance paid in the past may have been understated—and future severance, incorrectly projected. The impact depends on the amount of the contribution and the worker’s pay level, but in workforces with high salaries and significant contributions, the difference can be material. The second area is the pay slip. Article 54 of the Labor Code requires the monthly pay slip to reflect all components of remuneration. Omitting the employer’s contribution to Multibien from the pay slip constitutes a violation of that rule and exposes the company to administrative fines in the event of a Labor Directorate inspection. The third area is social security contributions. Classifying the contribution as remuneration means it is taxable: pension, health, unemployment insurance, and any other applicable deductions must be calculated on it. If the contribution has not been treated as taxable, there may be a contribution shortfall that can reach back in time. There is another angle worth mentioning. This is not the first ruling in which the Labor Directorate has held that the employer’s contribution to supplementary health insurance is remuneration. What the April 2026 Ordinary adds is specific clarification regarding Multibien, dispelling the argument that the intermediation of that multi-employer service or the structure of the irrevocable mandate could change the classification. With this ruling, that argument is no longer available. The gray area that does remain is for companies using mechanisms other than Multibien to channel contributions to supplementary health insurance plans. The ruling does not directly cover all co-financing schemes in the market. Each case must be reviewed to determine whether the specific structure meets the three requirements of Article 41 or whether any contractual or regulatory feature allows for a different classification.
What you can do
If your company operates with Multibien or with similar health insurance co-financing schemes, the risk is immediate. Three concrete actions:
- Audit the pay slips for the last 24 months to verify whether the employer’s contribution to Multibien appears as a remuneration component. If it does not appear, quantify the shortfall and identify the affected workers before the issue is raised in an inspection.
- Review the stock of severance payments already made and the projected calculations of labor contingencies, incorporating the contribution to Multibien into the base under Article 172 of the Labor Code. This is relevant both for workers recently terminated and for the proper valuation of labor liabilities in service.
- Adjust the contribution’s social security treatment prospectively, coordinating with the compensation/payroll area and the payslip provider so that contributions are calculated on the correct remuneration base from the next payroll cycle.
If you need to assess the impact of this ruling on your company’s remuneration structure, review your exposure for severance payments already made, or adjust the treatment of the contribution to Multibien in your payroll processes, schedule a meeting with our team: https://calendar.app.google/f13cTubrP12uveuBA This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice for a specific case.
VERIFY before publishing: exact number of the Ordinary in dt.gob.cl — the base text refers to it as "Ordenamiento 250" and "Ordinary No. 250, published on April 15, 2026." Confirm in the Labor Directorate’s regulatory search engine.