2024-03-23 12:08:59
The hourly contract would include all the legal benefits, but for membership in the IESS a minimum contract of four hours a day is required.
Employers propose that the value of the working hour be defined by agreement in the National Council of Labor and Wages, once the hourly contract is approved in the referendum, scheduled for April 21.
If the basic salary of USD 460 is divided by 160 hours per month (40 hours per week) for the calculation, the value of the working hour could be USD 2.80 without including legal benefits.
But, as indicated by the Minister of Labor, Ivonne Nuñez, the final amount could be between USD 5 and 6, if all benefits are added, such as the payment of tenths and vacations. The National Council of Labor and Wages had its first meeting of 2024 on March 5, in which they analyzed the current employment figures in the country, such as the increase in informal work.
At the end of the meeting, Nuñez pointed out that, although hourly work already exists in the country through the permanent part-time contract, the new hourly contract proposal responds to a need for “reintegration of the informal sector into the formal sector.”
Regarding the affiliation of hourly workers to the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (IESS), Núñez stressed that it is necessary that the contract be for a minimum of four hours a day, as required by the IESS. «
The hourly contract has an essence, which is temporality, that is, special days that occur, such as vacations in the tourism sector,” added Núñez.
Workers oppose
Workers’ representatives are against the reincorporation of the hourly contract in the Labor Code.
“Hourly work is not a strategy towards generating employment, a law does not generate employment,” said Marcela Orellana, president of the Ecuadorian Confederation of Free Trade Union Organizations (Ceols).
For Orellana, a “public policy is required that allows the strengthening of the productive apparatus” and provides support to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which is where the largest number of jobs are produced.
However, he acknowledged that sectors such as construction and tourism, during high seasons, do require hourly jobs. “But, there are other types of contracts that can be applied,” Orellana added.
Opposition to the increase in the contribution to the IESS
Employer representatives also expressed their rejection of a possible increase in the contribution rate to the IESS by employers and workers. The president of the IESS Board of Directors, Eduardo Peña, pointed out in an interview with Teleamazonas, on February 28, that the contribution should rise from 20.6% to 30%, gradually.
«We do not agree because it has not been presented to us with absolute clarity what Social Security is going to do. We have to sit down and analyze the pros and cons to be able to decide,” said Carlos Mayorga, representative of the National Federation of Sugar Producers of Ecuador.
Workplace harassment will be calling outside of office hours
On February 23, 2024, the National Assembly approved a package of reforms to the Labor Code that includes “non-digital disconnection” as a form of “workplace violence and harassment.” In this regard, employer representatives pointed out that the country already has current legislation regarding workplace harassment and there are treaties of the International Labor Organization (ILO) that regulate this issue.
«To go further is to hinder and generate an environment that is not very suitable for work. Eventually, there may be discretion on the part of the authority that is going to judge, both administrative and judicial,” said Paúl Corral, on behalf of the National Federation of Chambers of Industries of Ecuador.
“It’s a shame the way they gave us Secap, it’s destroyed, but we’re going to make this patient walk.” Ivonne Núñez, Minister of Labor.
According to Núñez, the Ministry has already initiated processes for the incorporation of technicians into Secap, in order to materialize dual education in the country. Employers stressed that, although contributions have been made to finance Secap, the respective training has not been applied. #harassment at work
By: PRIMICIAS