The government is determined to promote a labor reform in order to improve the competitiveness of the private sector.

The goal is that the fines included in Law 24,013 for employers who fail to properly register employees or forge their date of entry (articles 8 and 9) in a labor relationship and that double aggravated compensations (foreseen in article 15) are no longer paid to workers, and instead are send to a National Employment and Professional Training Plan or to compensate the pension system. This point is still been debated.

 The government’s intention is to eliminate the business of the trial industry generated with this law. Therefore, the project goes along with a project of Labor Risks Associations, which already has preliminary approval and that shall be discussed in extraordinary parliament sessions.

Currently, there are law firms that focus on finding benefits or payments that may be considered as sums of money of doubtful nature (corporate credit cards, car expenditures, among others, and generally from large companies), which end up generating millionaire fines for compliant companies. However, certain specialists point out that this measure shall leave the worker unprotected.

In addition, the project contemplates eliminating employers’ taxes for those employers who hire workers formally and in permanent contracts, as long as such hires produce a growth of the payroll. This incentive will be more elevated, up to 30%, in en Salta, Jujuy, Tucumán, La Rioja, Catamarca, Misiones, Corrientes, Chaco, Formosa and Santiago del Estero, and up to 10% in Santa Fe, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, San Luis, La Pampa, Entre Ríos, San Juan, Mendoza, Río Negro, Santa Cruz, Chubut, Neuquén, Tierra del Fuego, and Buenos Aires City.

Furthermore, the government and unions are negotiating whether there will be a haircut of debts or an extension for the labor market. The Ministry of Labor is going for an extension, while the unions believe a haircut would be more effective.

The government also suggests combining every official plan for workers’ training and create a Talent Agency that includes them all. There is also the plan to start enhancing the formal labor market using different incentives for people who are receiving subsidies.

“Argentina is taking steps to modernize its labor market. The only way to reduce poverty is creating quality jobs, training people on skills based on demand, and tackling informality”, said Martin Padulla, Founder and Managing Director of staffingamericalatina.

“The creation of employment must be linked to an efficient access to the formal labor market”, added Padulla. “With the ratification of ILO Convention 181, private employment agencies can become strategic allies of the Argentinian Talent Agency”, he concluded.

Source: La Nacion