The labor reform has brought new types of hiring. We address some of the questions raised by discontinuous permanent contracts.
The implementation of the new labor contract continues to generate doubts, and many have to do with the permanent-discontinuous contract, since it has not been subject to in-depth regulation pending its further development and its adaptation to each sector in the respective collective agreements. . Of course, by definition, it is always indefinite.
The first question arises with the way to carry out the workers' appeal. Each collective agreement will say what it considers regarding the start of the season in each sector, for example in agriculture depending on the harvest, but in the hotel industry the season is irregular, since the same workers are not required at the beginning or end of the season as in full peak.
The problem is which fixed-discontinuous ones should be called first and which ones later, something that has remained up in the air and these are rules that the collective agreement must establish, otherwise this is a contentious issue.
As for the end of the activity of this type of contract, is another issue that can lead to confusion since the origin of this contract was born for seasonal activities, that is, with more or less clear start and end dates, however, in hospitality it is the largest and most complex sector to manage. . Thus arises the problem of how workers are chosen in the time that goes from one season to another, if it is by seniority or by a decision of the employer. That is where lawsuits can arise. A latent problem that will need a well-regulated collective agreement.
The vacation This will be one of the thorniest issues, since workers with this type of contract have the right to their vacations, and before the reform there were temporary contracts, almost all of them of short duration, and the worker enjoyed their vacations at the end or they were paid, however now this is not possible, since the worker has to enjoy them during the term of the calling period. At this juncture, it will be necessary to see how it is articulated in practice.
Another issue to assess is the compensation generated by these contracts, since it is charged when the work contract concludes, but it is not charged for the termination of the calling period. This means that a job in the hospitality industry for six months a year, when those six months end and the time of non-call has passed, does not receive compensation because that contract has not expired. In the event that it is extinguished or they do not call me, I will be able to collect compensation if it is determined that it is an unfair dismissal.
Regarding compensation, the law has made clear what they are entitled to according to article 16.6 of the newly drafted Workers' Statute, which states that the seniority of these professionals is calculated taking into account the entire period of the employment relationship and not just the time of service provided.
Lastly, regarding the duration of the day, and the doubt that can be raised as to whether it can be a fixed discontinuous part-time contract, it can be said that it is, since any worker who provides service for a contract must necessarily provide service with this contract. If the activity is part-time, the contract would also have this part-time modality.
In a future installment, other questions that arise with this type of contract regarding unemployment rights, notice to the worker for their incorporation, and another series of rights of new hires under this modality will be addressed.
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