Competencias laborales de trabajadores agrícolas de la Región del Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins, Chile: Un estudio de caso

Abstract

The law 20.267 became valid in August 2008 which creates the National System of Certifications for work skills and improvement of the job trainee. The process of evaluation and certification allows us to know a person’s skills level regarding to a predefined standard. This rule is known as the “Unidades de Competencia Laborales (UCL)” which in english means Labor Skills Unit, which are associated to occupational profiles, representative of different productive segments of the country. This investigation determined the skills levels of 82 employees distributed in 4 companies of the Agricultural Industry Business of the region of Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins and it analyzed the different labor skills units based in basics, generics and behavioral marks, as well as techniques which every employee show in their job position. The results showed that the analysis between companies does not show significant differences in the work skills level of the employee between companies or in the different occupational profiles evaluated. In all the companies chosen for this investigation, the 90% of the employees are above the standard or minimum demanded in the program of certification of labor work skills in order to be a competent worker in their job position. There are people above the media in the 4 companies of the study, with emphasis in their techniques, but nobody in the working skills units related to the basic part,such as hygene and security, internal rules and behavior of the employee. The profile of export fruit packer represents 63.4% of the total sample, which reveals the importance of this profile for the companies in the sector, being the main activities the selection, handling and packaging of processed fruit.