Author: Andres Lopez
Corporate Head – LatinAlliance Guatemala
Derived from the COVID-19 pandemic in Guatemala, labor relations between collaborators and employers have undergone a process of transformation, in some cases to avoid massive layoffs and also to avoid, in some way, that the production of said companies is not seen. mostly affected. On March 05, 2020, the President of the Republic issued Government Decree 5-2020, which decrees the State of Public Calamity, which was expanded and modified through Government Decree 6-2020, which will have effect until March 31. March 2020, if this is not extended by the Central Government.
In view of these modifications and the partial closure of operations in work centers, it is necessary to know what is related to the suspensions of employment contracts, and that they are regulated by labor legislation in Guatemala, specifically in articles 65 to 75 inclusive, of the Labor Code.
1. What does the suspension of employment contracts consist of?
The suspension of the employment relationship through employment contracts consists, not in the termination of the employment relationship, but in suspending the continuity of the employment relationship for a defined period of time, without this implying that it occurs. for finished.
2. What are the forms of suspension of the employment relationship considered by national legislation.
The suspension can occur in 4 ways, and can be applied to any current employment relationship within a company. These forms are: a) Partial individual, (when it affects an employment relationship and one of the parties stops fulfilling its fundamental obligations); b) Individual total (when it affects a work relationship and both parties stop fulfilling their fundamental obligations); c) Partial collective (when for the same reason the majority or all of the employment relationships in force in a company or workplace are affected, and the employer and its workers stop fulfilling their fundamental obligations); and d) Total collective (when for the same reason most or all of the employment relationships in force in a company or workplace are affected, and the employer and its workers stop fulfilling their fundamental obligations)
3. What work situations are considered as causes for PARTIAL INDIVIDUAL SUSPENSION of the employment contract.
a) Paid licenses, breaks and vacations imposed by law or by the employer; b) Illnesses, occupational risks, pre- and post-natal breaks and other similar social risks that cause temporary disability; and c) The obligation to work without additional pay imposed by article 63, subparagraph e).
4. There is the possibility of terminating the employment relationship, being in a period of suspension of employment contracts.
Yes, and according to the Law, the right to terminate the employment contract without just cause cannot be exercised by the employer during the validity of the individual, partial or total suspension. However, if there is a just cause, you can do it at any time. The worker may terminate his employment contract, without just cause, during the validity of the suspension, as long as he gives prior notice by law, and with just cause, failing to give this notice.
5. Obligation to pay social security by the employer during the suspension of labor relations.
There is an obligation for the employer to continue with the IGSS contributions, in cases of illnesses, occupational risks that have occurred, pre- and post-natal breaks and other similar social risks that produce proven temporary incapacity to perform the job, if the worker is protected. for the benefits of the Guatemalan Social Security Institute, and only the employer must pay only the fees ordered by the regulations issued by the Institute.
6. What work situations are considered as causes of TOTAL INDIVIDUAL SUSPENSION of the work contract.
The following are considered: a) The licenses or breaks without pay agreed upon by employers and workers; b) The cases provided for in article 66, paragraph b), once the terms in which the employer is obliged to pay half a salary have elapsed; and c) Provisional detention, simple imprisonment and minor arrest, which are decreed against the worker, provided that it is followed by an order that reforms it, an acquittal sentence or if the worker obtains his release on bail, only when the crime for which he is prosecuted is not supposed to have been committed against the employer, his relatives, his representatives or the interests of one or the other.
7. What work situations are considered as causes of PARTIAL COLLECTIVE SUSPENSION of the work contract.
a) The legally declared strike; b) The cases provided for in articles 251 and 252, second paragraph; c) The lack of raw materials to carry out the work, provided that it is attributable to the employer, according to the declaration of the same courts; and d) The causes listed in article 71 of the Labor Code, provided that the employers have agreed, before or after the suspension, to pay their workers, during the validity of the suspension, their salaries partially or totally.
8. What work situations are considered as causes of TOTAL COLLECTIVE SUSPENSION of the employment contract
a) A legally declared strike, the causes of which have not been deemed attributable to the employer by the Labor and Social Welfare Courts; b) The legally declared strike; c) The lack of raw material to carry out the work, as long as it is not attributable to the employer; d) The death or incapacity of the employer, when it has as a necessary, immediate and direct consequence the suspension of work; and e) Other cases constituting force majeure or fortuitous event when they result in the suspension of work as a necessary, immediate and direct consequence.
9. At what point is the return to work by workers considered after a suspension of employment contracts.
The resumption of work must occur within 15 days following the day on which the IGT received the notice of restart of work from the employer, for the sole purpose of having the contracts of the employees terminated, without liability for the parties. workers who do not appear within said term. The IGT must be in charge of informing the workers about the resumption of work, and to facilitate their work, the employer must provide all the pertinent data requested.
For more information, or if you have any questions or would like additional information, do not hesitate to contact us at alopez@latinalliance.co.