As the pandemic has changed the ways of accomplishing tasks and telecommuting has gained ground in all markets, flexibility in terms of where and when to work will be one of the factors most valued by employees in this new reality.
The threats caused by the spread of Covid-19, caused companies globally to look for new ways of working. Most teams chose to readjust their dynamics and focused on promoting remote work.
The labor market reports a structural change, as fewer and fewer people are being paid a fixed salary for their work, while at the same time the number of employees earning per project is increasing.
Although the trend has been reported globally for several years, the pandemic accelerated this process, as the economic crisis generated by the Covid-19 outbreak destroyed thousands of formal jobs.
In Panama, the first debate was approved in the first debate of the legislative project that intends to gradually reintegrate the employees to their companies, the same that have already restarted their activities and that in 2020 suspended labor contracts due to the crisis caused by the covid-19 outbreak.
The bill legalizing the gradual reintegration of suspended contract workers to their companies, which will be in force until the end of the year, has been pending in the National Assembly since February 8, after being submitted to the Presidency by the Minister of Labor, Doris Zapata.
In Panama, a legislative project was submitted which intends to gradually reintegrate the employees to their companies, which have already restarted their activities and which in 2020 suspended labor contracts due to the crisis caused by the outbreak of covid-19.
According to the legislative body, the bill which legalizes the gradual reintegration of the suspended contract workers to their companies and which will be in force until the end of the year, has been pending in the National Assembly since February 8, after the Minister of Labor, Doris Zapata, delivered it to the Presidency.
The bill that extends until March 2021 the validity of the regulations that allow companies to reduce working hours was approved in the first debate.
In March 2020, when the first cases of covid-19 were registered, the "Law Authorizing the Reduction of Working Days following the Declaration of National Emergency" was approved. The validity of this regulation expires in December of this year, but a legislative project was approved in the first debate that seeks to extend the validity of the regulation until March 2021.
Because in Costa Rica the regulations authorizing companies to reduce working hours expire in December 2020, businessmen in the tourism sector are asking the Assembly to extend the deadline.
When the first cases of covid-19 were registered, the "Law Authorizing the Reduction of Working Days in view of the National Emergency Declaration" was approved. The validity of this regulation expires next December, but, the businessmen see the need to extend its validity.
Modifying the Labor Code to allow companies to implement the exceptional extended workday of 12 hours a day, is a proposal being discussed in Costa Rica due to the need of industries that depend on continuous processes and encounter obstacles in the law.
In the Commission of Treasurers of the Legislative Assembly is initiative number 21,182, a parliamentary proposal that seeks to modify the Labor Code and update it according to present needs.
The National Assembly approved in third debate the draft law establishing temporary employment protection measures in companies affected by covid-19.
The initiative presented by the Executive received several modifications in its original content, both in the first and second debate, leaving the deputies with the reservation that these are temporary rules and are not intended to a future reform of the Labor Code, the Assembly reported.
Faced with the sudden change that the new normal generated in companies, employees are challenged to increase their skills to work remotely, adapt to more flexible contracts and refine their technological skills and cognitive qualities.
Telecommuting has become an everyday occurrence among companies in the region, which have had to adjust to the restrictions imposed by governments due to the outbreak of covid-19.
Restrictions on the movement of vehicles and people, and to some extent, the ban on office work, are forcing companies to reinvent their ways of operating and revolutionize their work culture.
Following the spread of covid-19, strict home quarantines were decreed in Central American countries. This scenario boosted the implementation of teleworking and forced companies to adapt to a new way of operating.
A decree was published in Panama authorizing the modification or temporary reduction of the working day, which due to the economic crisis generated by covid-19 may be reduced by up to 50%.
The new regulation establishes that the agreement to modify working hours must include methods to achieve the gradual recovery of working hours to the levels existing before the crisis and that they must not affect the hourly rate agreed in the current employment contract, reported the Ministry of Labor and Labor Development.
Following the state of calamity in the country, the Ministry of Labor created an electronic procedure, through which companies can temporarily suspend the contracts of their workers.
Ministerial Agreement 140-2020, published on April 7 in the Official Journal, explains that the government measure is temporary and exclusively applicable as long as the circumstances and effects of the covid-19 pandemic, which has been declared worldwide, and its effects on employment contracts persist.
After a home quarantine was decreed in El Salvador, the government intends to prohibit the dismissal of employees who do not attend work.
In the context of the crisis generated by the spread of covid-19, a proposal is being discussed that establishes that the employees of companies that are not allowed to continue their activities should be sent home with their salaries and benefits, and that they cannot be subject to dismissal, salary discounts or suspension of contract, nor be forced to take their vacation in advance.
The Executive Branch endorsed the new law that allows companies to temporarily reduce the working hours agreed with their employees, in the context of the crisis generated by the covid-19 virus.
On the morning of March 21, the deputies gave the second debate with 47 votes and unanimous approval to file 21854, the law authorizing the reduction of working hours prior to the declaration of a national emergency, reported the Assembly.
In order to preserve jobs in the context of the covid-19 crisis, the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly approved in first debate a bill authorizing the temporary reduction of the working hours agreed upon by the parties.
On March 19, the bill authorizing the reduction of working hours in view of the declaration of a national emergency was approved in the first debate.
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