Argentina: President Fernandez Extends Ban On Layoffs

On Thursday, Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez decided to extend the "occupational emergency" until June 30, 2022, which implies the prohibition of unjustified dismissals.

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Through this urgency decree, Fernandez also established a new compensation scheme in which the compensation surcharge will gradually decrease during the first half of 2022.

In the case of unjustified dismissal, the worker will have the right to receive the basic compensation established by law and additional compensation. Calculated taking the basic compensation as a reference, this additional compensation will be delivered to the fired worker in three parts with deadlines until February 28, April 30, and June 30.

Up to these dates, the employer must transfer to the worker three amounts corresponding to 75 percent, 50 percent, and 25 percent of the basic compensation.

Thanks to the Fernandez administration's non-orthodox economic policies, Argentina is currently undergoing a process of job recovery. Between January and September, for example, 129,000 workers were generated in the formal sector of the economy.

Between the third quarter of 2020 and the third quarter of 2021, unemployment fell from 11.7 to 8.2 percent, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INDEC).

“The unemployment rate is lower than before the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and is also below the averages for 2019 (9.8 percent), 2018 (9.2) and 2017 (8.4),” it added, as reported by AFP.