By Enrique Herrera Silla In Venezuela there is a Labour Immobility Decree that protects almost every worker. ...
By Enrique Herrera Silla
In Venezuela there is a Labour Immobility Decree that protects almost every worker. According to this Decree, workers under its protection cannot be fired, nor can their conditions be deteriorated nor can they be moved from their positions without a fair cause, which must be previously established by the corresponding Labour Inspector.
Those excluded from the Decree’s benefits are: workers in management positions or trusteed employees, temporary workers (workers who provide their services during certain periods of time during the year or in a discontinuous way), employees with service’s time shorter than three months and public servants. Fixed-time workers shall have labour immobility “as long as the contract or the task they were hired for lasts”.
In addition to immobility, there is “labour stability”, which is the right every worker has to remain in his/her job, as the employer must take him/her back in and also pay corresponding compensations (payment of back wages or double payment of social benefits) if the worker is dismissed without cause. Permanent workers gain the labour stability right after their first month working. If the worker is hired for a fixed period of time or to complete a certain job, stability is gained from the day the job starts until the contract period or the task to be developed is over.
This means that during the first month of work, the employee who was not hired for a fixed period of time or to develop a certain job, may be fired and the employer does not have to pay a compensation or social benefits (double payment), nor is he compelled to announce the dismissal or request authorization to dismiss the worker, as he/she is not protected by labour stability nor immobility. Patrimonial rights the workers may have gained during the period worked are safeguarded.
When the employer aims to dismiss a worker with labour stability and considers it a justified dismissal, he is compelled to inform the dismissal to the corresponding Labour Court within the following five (5) working days and explain the causes of the dismissal; should he not do so, the dismissal shall be considered without cause, and have the corresponding legal consequences that have already been mentioned.
In every case of justified dismissal of workers protected by labour stability, the letter informing the worker about his/her dismissal must explain in detail how, when and where the facts that led to the dismissal occurred. These facts must be the exact same than the facts explained in the letter sent to the court stating the dismissal. If the causes of dismissal are not explained to the worker in the letter and he/she demands his/her job back stating there was an unjustified dismissal, even though the court was notified, the dismissal will be considered unjustified as the facts that led to the dismissal were not specified in the letter sent to the worker.
Important conclusions:
1-Workers gain Labour immobility after their third month of working for the employer.
2-Workers gain labour stability after the first month working.
3- When an employer aims to dismiss a worker who has “labour immobility” with cause, he needs to request and classify the fault committed and the authorization from the corresponding Labour Court within the following five (5) working days and explain the reasons for dismissal.
4- When an employer aims to dismiss with cause a worker who does not have labour immobility, but has the right of “labour stability”, he must inform the corresponding Labour Court within the following five (5) working days and explain the causes of dismissal.
5- Permanent workers may be dismissed without cause during their first month of service. During that period of time they have no labour stability.
6- Worker with fixed-term contracts have labour immobility and labour stability from day one until the contract comes to an end (once the period of time of the contract end, the employment relationship comes to an end with no further requisites).
7-Employees in management positions have no right to labour immobility nor to labour stability.
