Resolution 142/2021 of the Ministry of Labor

19 March, 2021 | Current Regulations

Resolution 142/2021 of the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security, published on March 19, 2021, provides some clarifications with regard to the effective date of the telework contract modality established by Law 27,555.

In this regard, this Resolution states that while (i) the restrictions and/or health recommendations established by the national, provincial or local authorities, or (ii) the preventive measures taken by the employers to minimize the risks of transmission continue in effect, the fact that the employees may continue working remotely does not imply that such employees have expressed their voluntarily acceptance as required for the applicability of the telework modality and, therefore, the terms and conditions set forth in Law 27555 and its Regulatory Executive Order 37/21 are not enforceable.

The provisions of the Resolution are related to the suggestions already made in the sense that, due to the legal waivers, restrictions on the use of spaces and public transportation, etc., the existence of an essential condition of the employment relationship could not be validly held.

Regardless of the way in which the Resolution has been drafted, it does not clearly and accurately specify when the Telework Law will become effective or if other regulations will be issued in the future to inform the cessation of the objective circumstances that prevent the applicability of such law, given that the Resolution only states that this deferment will continue while the restrictions remain in effect. We will keep you posted about this.

Now then, despite the provisions of this Resolution, we wish to clarify that there is no impediment for a company to put in place the telework terms and conditions but, in such case, it will have to comply with the obligations contained in the relevant law, in particular those referring to the execution of an employment contract specifying the employee’s work schedule and other conditions / benefits, and the worker’s consent thereto.

Although the Resolution constitutes public information, we still recommend that the employees be informed about it in order to avoid any detrimental situation in the future.

If you need additional clarifications, please contact Javier Fernandez Verstegen (jverstegen@brons.com.ar).