The Cuban State Mission in the Dominican Republic has analyzed the draft of the new Labor Code, as part of the consultation process that has been underway with the island’s labor groups since last September.
The meeting was attended by the Cuban Minister of Labor and Social Security, Jesús Otamendiz Campos, who participated this week in the 20th Regional Meeting of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in the Dominican city of Punta Cana.
During his speech, Otamendiz Campos highlighted the main changes in the text, including the expansion of the Code’s scope, which systematizes and develops the principles governing collective labor relations and strengthens worker participation in the planning, regulation, management, and control of the economy in their entities.
The minister specified that the draft recognizes self-employment and protects employment as the primary source of income, the development of values, and civic engagement.
It also reaffirms the prohibition of all forms of discrimination, violence, or harassment in the workplace. Likewise, it prohibits forced labor and ratifies the prohibition of child and adolescent labor and discrimination, violence, and harassment in the workplace, he noted.
Among other new features, Otamendiz Campos noted that employers in all sectors, except the budgeted sector, will be required to purchase insurance to protect workers’ incomes in the event of employment interruption or termination of the employment relationship for economic reasons.
The text also defines the rights and responsibilities of union and employer organizations, raises the minimum age for entering into employment relationships from 17 to 18—in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child—and introduces the concept of a “trusted worker,” he added.
Likewise, it establishes that the workday of those who engage in multiple employment may not exceed 13 hours per day, in order to guarantee safety, health, and rest. He stated.
Another innovation, he said, is the possibility of teleworking from abroad, provided that the characteristics of the position and conditions allow it.
The minister affirmed that the draft consolidates and perfects the protection of rights and obligations arising from legal-labor relations between employers and workers—a term incorporated into the new text.
The consultation process will run until November 30, after which the document will be submitted to the National Assembly of People’s Power for approval.
For his part, the Cuban ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Ángel Arzuaga, recalled that this exercise covers all Cuban workers, regardless of their type of management, and is also being carried out in all of the island’s state missions abroad.
[ SOURCE: PRENSA LATINA ]
