Dignified termination of employment

The right to work and the guarantee of job stability should not be conceived in an absolute, unconditional and unlimited manner. The stability and continuity of employment are intrinsically linked and subordinate to economic circumstances, the security environment and the development conditions that the State promotes, so that the private sector offers decent work and workers can access remuneration that guarantees their well-being. In short, the right to work is not a right that can be guaranteed separately and independently of social and economic reality.

As this is a human right of a social and economic nature, the State is primarily responsible for establishing conditions that ensure the stability and continuity of labour relations. This primary duty cannot be transferred or imposed exclusively on private sector employers. Of course, state obligations in relation to the human right to work do not imply that the State must guarantee that every citizen has access to a job or that work is prolonged indefinitely over time. Likewise, no private employer should be perpetually obliged to guarantee job continuity and stability, regardless of the social and economic reality facing the country, and in particular its company as the essential core of decent work.

However, in practice, we observe that rigid measures regarding job stability and continuity have had an adverse effect. Far from improving the situation, informality and precarious employment have increased. Sadly, Bolivia leads the indicators of informal employment in Latin America and the Caribbean. According to the latest report from the International Labor Organization, as of the third quarter of 2023, 80.8% of Bolivian workers carried out their activities informally, a figure much higher than the regional average of 48%. In the case of women, informality reaches 83%, while among men it is 78%. Unfortunately, Bolivia’s indicators stand out in a negative way, being the worst in the region.

Aside from the challenging economic environment, we also note that the difficulties imposed on the termination of employment relationships represent a component that discourages the creation of decent employment in the private sector. The lack of updating and expansion of the justified causes for the termination of the employment relationship, the absence of a maximum limit on the salaries and social benefits that employers must pay in the event of reinstatement actions, the political component in administrative decisions and the lack of transparency in the judicial forum, have become true disincentives that slowly undermine the formality of employment and decent work.

To reverse the informality of employment and promote decent work and its continuity, it is necessary to promote profound changes, establishing mechanisms that ensure a dignified termination of employment. These mechanisms must prevent abuses towards the most vulnerable party in the employment relationship, but they must also offer a reasonable degree of security to the employer who, like the State, cannot be forced to guarantee that the job will last indefinitely or that, in the event of reinstatement, will be exposed to paying an unlimited number of salaries and social benefits, without there being work that justifies such payments.

Decent work and a dignified termination of employment are closely linked. Reversing the alarming rates of informal employment requires profound changes and a tripartite commitment from the State, workers and employers. It will be difficult to encourage the creation of decent employment in the private sector if a legal framework is not established that provides the security and confidence necessary to ensure that a decent employment termination is also possible, under conditions that ensure reasonableness, equity and balance in the relations between workers and employers.