A little more than two weeks after the Government files before the Congress of the Republic the labor reform project, The draft of the document that is being reviewed in the subcommittee made up of unions, unions and the Ministry of Labor to build the project was known.
(Read: Guilds find it difficult to agree with the Government on the labor reform).
The 37-page document, made up of 77 articles, establishes the bases of the system based on the concept of job stability, under which, both in the public and private sectors, “stability will be guaranteed for all workers and indefinite-term hiring will be the general rule.”
According to the draft of the bill, no working person may have their relationship terminated “if the causes that gave rise to it persist, unless there is a legal cause or a legally defined just cause, previously demonstrated, through a procedure full of guarantees of due process and the right to defense”.
Article 4 of the draft indicates that if a person is unjustifiably dismissed “they will have the right to choose between being reinstated to the position they held or to another of equal or better conditions with the recognition of salaries and social benefits.”
The document also speaks of “reinforced labor stability”, which covers, in the first place mothers or fathers who are heads of households with no other economic alternative, people with disabilities, pregnant women up to six months, and pre-pensioners (those three years or less from retirement).
(In addition: Indefinite-term contracting, general rule of the labor reform).
This benefit determines that they can only be released if, in addition to the existence of a just cause or a legal cause and having exhausted the respective procedure, the employer obtains a judicial authorization.
According to Sebastián Salazar Muñoz, director of the Cuatrecasas labor law practice in Colombia, these proposals are not new in form, but they are new in regulation.
“Colombia has never been a country, unlike many others in Latin America, that has had absolute stability in its regulation. Relative employment stability has always prevailed, subject to the needs of the business and subject to the free market and competition in the labor factor, except in some cases such as health issues or maternity”, assured Salazar.
For the expert, although it is a conquest for the workers, for the employers it can be a very strong blow, especially for SMEs.
The president of Fenalco, Jaime Alberto Cabal, assured that the articles that were known “did not go down well with the merchants” and that in addition to including aspects that would increase costs between 30% and 35% to the companies, and that they had already been warned , there are also changes that concern the sector in what has to do with the relationship between workers and companies.
(See: This is the draft of the labor reform bill).
Compared to the fixed-term contract and work or work, this “cannot be used for permanent activities”.
Another element that would change in the Colombian labor system is the definition of working hours, as well as night and holiday surcharges. Article 20 of the draft establishes that the maximum duration of the ordinary working day is eight hours a day and 42 hours a week, which may be distributed, by mutual agreement between employer and worker, five or six days a week.
Article 19 indicates that daytime work is performed between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., while the night one goes from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. the following day.
In the case of proprietary directors, the draft provides that they be remunerated “with a surcharge of one hundred (100%) on the ordinary salary in proportion to the hours worked without prejudice to the ordinary salary to which the worker is entitled for having worked the full week”.
(Keep reading: Labor reform: how vacations and nightly surcharges would look like).
According to Salazar, This definition of the working day has a direct impact on benefits And the most affected would be the large producers or those companies that cannot stop due to the service they provide, such as supply companies, oil and mining companies, food or health producers.
The draft dedicates an entire chapter to digital work platforms. There the definition of these is established, as well as the signs of workability in them. It is also talked about guarantees at work and access to information and social security.
Article 32 of the draft would modify the substantive labor code as follows: “There is an employment contract on digital platforms when workers work for them in carrying out distribution or delivery tasks, consequently they are subject to all individual and collective guarantees , rights and benefits of the Substantive Labor Code and other labor regulations”.
LAURA LUCIA BECERRA ELEJALDE
Portfolio Journalist
