The Dominican Federation of Merchants (FDC) revealed this Thursday that the work absenteeism it is affecting the member companies of that organization.
“On average, we have 25% of the employees of the commerce that are not attending their usual work “, said Ivan García, president of the FDC.
He said that despite the fact that the authorities reduced to seven days the time that the employees may be at home, he is concerned that by not carrying a medical certificate stating that he is affected by COVID-19, now a greater amount of absence from work is being provided.
“They warn that they are flu or that they have COVID-19, and they are practically complying with resolution 2022 of the Ministry of Public Health and we understand that these permits should be signed by a doctor because we understand that the absence from work will continue to increase during this month of January and even more with the change of climate in the Dominican Republic “, Garcia pointed out.
61,300 companies from all branches of commerce in the Dominican Republic are affiliated to the Dominican Federation of Merchants (FDC), among them: importers, supermarkets, supply stores, hardware stores, mass product distributors, pharmacies, household appliances and furniture, suppliers of the State, among others.
In commerce and services, members of the FDC, generate 745,000 jobs. “For you to have an example: there is a distribution company that out of 50 employees, 20 have not been this week. In other words, 40% have not gone ”.
For several days, representatives of micro, small and medium-sized companies in the Dominican Republic have been showing their concern about the work absenteeism that has caused the new variant of the COVID-19 omicron.
García spoke at a press conference where he said that the agenda of the Dominican Federation of Merchants during 2022 will be focused on the modification of the Labor Code considering that the modification of this norm cannot be postponed, since it has been in force for 30 years and the working conditions have changed significantly.
They also demand the modification of Law 87-01, explaining that after the debates on the modification of the social security law during 2021, it is urgent that the National Congress approve the modification of the Social Security law.
“It is urgent that unemployment insurance be started, it is urgent that the composition of the representatives of the business sector in the National Council of social security be modified, it is unacceptable that trade in the larger sector employer of the country is not represented in it, it is unacceptable that the decisions of the National Council of social security have to be unanimous, it is a setback in decision-making “, emphasized.
García also touched on the issue of modifying the Tax Code, noting that with more than 30 years of application, except for tax patches made by different governments in the last 25 years, it is necessary to modify the current surcharges and interest due to unpayable.
“For this reason, a tax amnesty is needed from time to time. The real estate tax has to be reduced from the current 1% to 0.25%. In addition, the 0.15% of the financial transactions tax has to be eliminated, since it contributes to informality in the country, “he said.
Likewise, the FDC understands that the Tax Code must be modified, noting that, with more than 30 years of application, “except for tax patches made by different governments in the last 25 years,” the modification is necessary: surcharges and interest current are unpayable, for this reason it is necessary from time to time to carry out a tax amnesty.
Also, it indicates that the IPI (real estate property tax) should be reduced from the current 1% to 0.25%; the 0.15% tax on financial transactions has to be eliminated, as it contributes to informality; the advance of 1.5% on gross sales has MSMEs on their knees.
In addition, he understands that the 5% retention on sales to the State also has MSMEs on their knees. He adds that there are modern mechanisms to combat tax avoidance, which is why these taxes have no reason to exist.
It adds that it is necessary to eliminate the ITBIS payment for what is received on sales made to the State, since, due to the delay in State payments, MSMEs are decapitalized in sales made to the State.
They also ask for the elimination of penny taxes, since they hinder commercial operations, since stamps and stamps cost more than the value of the tax.
