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Labor Newsletter – November 2020

LABOR NEWSLETTER

REM CURRENT NEWS

Extension of the State of National Emergency and the Health Emergency.- The State of National Emergency was extended for the month of December 2020, and the Health Emergency as of from December 7, 2020 for a period of 90 calendar days.

New provisions on subsidies, remote work, digital disconnection and re-hiring of workers.- Emergency Decree No. 127-2020 provided for the following:

(i) Subsidy for employers: The Government shall grant a temporary monthly subsidy to certain private sector employers, in order to promote the hiring of workers, preserve their jobs and encourage the return of workers under perfect suspension of work or leave without pay. The Ministry of Labor and Employment Promotion shall determine which employers are eligible. The amount of the subsidy shall be calculated monthly as a percentage of the gross salaries of the workers not exceeding S/.2,400.00 Soles.

(ii) Extension of remote work: The possibility for employers to apply (unilaterally) remote work was extended until July 31, 2021.

(iii) Recognition of the right to digital disconnection of workers: In the context of remote work, employers must respect the right to digital disconnection of workers, by virtue of which they have the right to disconnect from the computer, telecommunication and analogous means used for the provision of services during rest days, leaves and periods of suspension of employment.

(iv) Exemption from the 1-year term for the rehire of workers: permanent workers who were dismissed before the entry into force of Emergency Decree No. 127-2020 (November 1, 2020) may be rehired by means of contracts subject to a (fixed-term) modality, without having to wait for the term provided for in Article 121 of Legislative Decree No. 728.

Authorization for the withdrawal of pension funds in the context of COVID-19.- Members of the Private System of Administration of Pension Funds who, until October 31, 2020, do not have accreditation of pension contributions to the individual capitalization account, for at least 12 consecutive months, may withdraw up to 4 Tax Units UIT from all of their funds.

 REM CASE LAW

New Labor Procedure Act shall enter into force in three judicial districts.- The Executive Council of the Judiciary has ordered that the New Labor Procedural Act shall enter into force, in December 2020, in the judicial districts of Apurímac, Pasco and Huaura.

Implementation of the aforementioned Act is pending in the judicial districts of Amazonas, Huancavelica, Madre de Dios and San Martín.

INSPECTIONS

Directive on Verification of Arbitrary Dismissal.- The most relevant aspects established by the Directive are the following:

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH

New guidelines for the surveillance, prevention and control of workers’ health against the COVID-19.-Ministerial Resolution No. 972-2020-MINSA repealed Article 1 and annexes of Ministerial Resolution No. 448-2020-MINSA, and adopted the new guidelines for surveillance, prevention and control of the health of workers at risk of exposure to SARS-Cov-2.

Some of the most important aspects of the document are the following:

(i) It provides the legal basis and contains operational definitions on community isolation, suspect case, probable case, worker, workplace, among others.

(ii) Diagnostic tests for COVID-19 for positions with medium or low risk of exposure shall only be applied to workers with symptoms compatible with the disease or who are in direct contact with a confirmed case.

(iii) The physical distance between workers is increased from 1.00 to 1.5 meters.

(iv) The use of pre- and post-natal rest should not be postponed in the case of pregnant workers.

(v) Workers’ temperature control is no longer random and must be performed by trained personnel.

(vi) Occupational safety and health personnel shall be responsible for remote clinical follow-up of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients.

(vii) Workers whose work is of high or very high risk of exposure to COVID-19 and presents some risk factor, in order to request their return to work, must undergo an individualized evaluation with the Occupational Physician, a record of having received adequate information about the risks involved.

Finally, the obligation to update the COVID-19 plans is maintained when the company has added a new phase activity or when there has been an amendment in the mandatory prevention procedures against COVID-19.

The lack of lighting and delivery of the Internal Regulations on Safety and Health at Work (RISST) qualify as instantaneous infringements for the purposes of administrative prescription.- This was ordered by SUNAFIL when it revoked the fine imposed on a company for not having sufficient lighting in the work area and not having delivered the RISST in a timely manner to a worker who suffered an accident on November 5, 2012.

The union would have filed the complaint almost 4 years after the event occurred, so that, at the date of issuance of the first instance resolution, the 4 years indicated by the regulation for the prescription of the sanctioning power had already expired. It is in this context that SUNAFIL qualifies as snapshots both infringements, being that the statute of limitations of 4 years is calculated from the date of the accident, which is the same date in which both infringements took place.