It will be submitted to the National Congress in a week.
SANTO DOMINGO. – President Luis Abinader presented yesterday, Monday, the progress made regarding the reform of the Labor Code, with the aim of improving the conditions and relations between workers and employers.
Among the agreed proposals that will be submitted to the National Congress within a week are the incorporation of teleworking, the increase in paternity leave, and the improvement of domestic work.
Both President Abinader and the Minister of Labor, Luis Miguel De Camps, assured that the reform bill will be submitted to Congress within a week
The Dominican president recalled that, given the existing need for this reform, in 2013 the special commission for the review and updating of the Labor Code was created, which presented a preliminary draft to the president at that time, which was not sent to the Legislative Branch.
President Luis Abinader addressed the issue during the weekly press conference. (External source).
Four years later, in 2017, the issue was revisited within the tripartite framework, but it could not conclude with an agreement that would imply the modernization of the Labor Code.
However, he stated that labor reform is an urgent necessity for his government, in order to update the Labor Code to the reality of the working world and improve the mechanisms of relations between workers and employers, needs that accelerated exponentially with the pandemic.
Start of dialogues
To achieve these objectives, three dialogues were convened, the first of which was the social pact, on May 18, 2021. Three months later, on August 18, the dialogue for reforms was called, and on February 2, 2022, the reform of the Labor Code began.
For this purpose, an email address was set up between February 2020 and 2022 , through which hundreds of citizens from various sectors of the country were able to express their expectations about the labor reform and contribute ideas, which served as the basis for it.
Similarly, through the Ministry of Labor, more than 100 dialogue sessions were held, of which 23 were tripartite meetings through the Labor Consultative Council (CCT), another 31 tripartite meetings through the Legal Technical Committee and 47 bipartite meetings
The Minister of Labor, Luis Miguel De Camps, indicated that, as a result of these sessions, the response capacity of the institution he leads was strengthened, implementing effective mechanisms to apply the 80/20 rule and promote the nationalization of labor, deepen the capacities to promote the formalization of work and strengthen its power to promote compliance with labor regulations.
The Minister of Labor, Luis Miguel De Camps, explains the process. (External source).
Advisory Council
He also explained that the participants in the Labor Advisory Council were, from the government sector, the Ministry of Labor; from the workers' sector, the Autonomous Class-Based Trade Union Corporation (CASC ), the National Confederation of Trade Union Unity (CNUS) and the National Confederation of Dominican Workers (CNTD).
Meanwhile, the employer sector was represented by Copardom, Asonahores, ONEC, Conep, ACIS, AIRD, Codopyme, ANJE and Adozona.
Response to the current world of work
Responding to the current labor market, the reform proposes the incorporation of teleworking, which will allow the attraction of new talent.
Consolidated reform
This reform would be consolidated to strengthen the rights of workers and employers, increase the capacity to generate jobs, increase productivity and competitiveness, and promote labor peace.
On the judicialization of labor relations
In this respect, the aim is to eliminate reckless actions, facilitate the payment of workers' rights, and put an end to unjustified seizures.
Guaranteeing and expanding rights
Currently, the workers' gains are maintained and in addition, a 100% increase in paternity leave paid by the company and one more day of vacation have been agreed upon, which translates to almost 3 weeks.
Without leaving any worker behind
Another promise is the guarantee of rights for domestic workers with the improvement of domestic work, in accordance with ILO Convention 189.
The next step will be to submit the preliminary draft to the National Congress.
