Law Project against Dismissals
On March 27, 2016, Senators gave a preliminary approval to a law project that would forbid dismissals and suspensions without cause for the term of 180 days, from the date that the law is published in the Official Gazette.
The most important aspects of the project are as follows:
1. Employment emergency. The project declares a public employment emergency for the term of 180 days within the Argentine territory.
2. Validity:the law will be in force since its publication in the Official Gazette. It will not be retroactive and it will be in force for 180 days (6 months)
3. Dismissal prohibition: the project consists of the prohibitions of dismissals or suspensions of workers, without cause, in both the public and private sectors.
4. Application. Applicable to all employees regardless of how they are employed. .
5. What happens if dismissals are notified? If dismissals still take place, the affected employees will be able to: a) claim reinstatement to their jobs, plus the payment of all salaries until their reincorporation; or b) validate the termination of the employment relationship.
6. Contributions.Employers must fulfill the relevant contributions that would have been made by any affected employees.
7. If dismissals still take place, the affected employees will be able to: a) claim the reinstatement to their jobs, plus the payment of all salaries until their reincorporation. The reinstatement will be held in an accelerated process.
8. Acceptance. If the employee accepts the termination of the employment contract, the employee has the right to claim an amount equivalent to theseverance (in addition to the statutory severance). The employee may opt foreither reinstatement or may accept the dismissal, but he may not choose both options.
9. New employment contracts. This law project will be not applicable to new employment contracts which commence after the enforcement of the law.
10. Public Employment. This law establishes automatic continuity of employment contracts within the public sector for a determined period, whose termination was supposed to take place within the following one hundred eighty (180) days of the enforcement of the law.
The project has been approved by Senators and now is going to be analyzed by the Chamber of Deputies. A group of deputies has already announced they intend to modify the project while another group has announced they intend to approve the senator’s project.
This insight is a brief comment on legal news in Argentina; it does not purport to be an exhaustive analysis or to provide legal advice.