Time to reform the Labor Code

[NewsWhore]

Writing in El Caribe, business leader Celso Marranzini argues that the Dominican Labor Code needs to be changed if jobs are to be saved and new jobs created at the required pace. He point out that the existing Labor Code dates back to 1992, when the Dominican economy was practically closed to imports. Today the signing of free trade agreements obliges Dominican businesses to be competitive, and this emphasizes that business conditions must be similar to those in competitor countries. He mentions that many companies have closed over the years, with the loss of thousands of jobs. "The time has come to tackle the problems that are behind the job losses, before this becomes a true social crisis," he writes. He says this is a task for government, business and labor representatives. "According to the current code, the social benefits are equivalent to around 62% of the wage paid, while in Central America this burden does not even approach 30%," he writes. He mentions that severance payments force companies to make reserves on their financial statements that affects their banking credit. He says the present Labor Code does not offer flexible working schemes, and obliges companies to place a bond in order to conduct a labor dispute. He says that the time has come to find solutions that will bring the labor code up to date.

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