A breakdown of the Labor Organic Law

Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez on April 30 announced the shrinkage of working hours from 44 to 40 hours a week, upon the entry into force of the Labor Organic Law.

He specified that a maximum term of one year would be set so that companies can make the appropriate adjustments. Under a legally binding provision, employees will have two continued days of leave.

Some of the regulations included in the new instrument are listed below.

Article 25

Labor aims at overcoming capitalist exploitation and ensuring independence and sovereignty.

Article 47

Outsourcing has been removed for being a "fraud of employers" to disregard labor laws.

Article 49

Contractors shall continue for not been deemed as "intermediaries or outsourcers."

Article 51

Claims of severance payment shall expire after 10 years.

Article 79

Labor or sexual harassment has been included as unjustified dismissal.

Article 100

The principle of "equal pay for equal work" shall be taken into account to set wages.

Article 147

A National Fund of Severance Payments shall be established by means of a special law.

Article 149

In the event of illegal shutdown of a company or lockout, the government may order the seizure thereof.

Article 173

Daytime working hours, from 5 am to 7 pm, may not exceed eight hours a day or 40 hours a week.

Article 335

Pregnant workers will be subject to special fire freezing from the beginning of their pregnancy through two years after the delivery.

Article 336

Pregnant workers shall be entitled to a leave for six weeks before the birth and twenty weeks after the birth.

Article 345

Breastfeeding women shall be entitled to two daily breaks of half an hour each, to feed their children at the Early Education Center or breastfeeding room, as appropriate. In default of the foregoing, each of the two breaks will last one and half an hour.

Article 498

Workers' councils shall perform their own functions, different from the duties and responsibilities of trade unions.

Article 283

Workers who render services as in-house staff or on their own as bike-drivers, deliverymen or deliverywomen, messengers or alike, shall be covered by the Law, even if they are the owners of the vehicles used to carry out their activities.

Article 207

Domestic servants or workers who render services for a specific person for his/her personal or family service, namely: drivers, stewards, cooks, gardeners, nursemaids, laundresses, persons paid to iron clothes, and alike, shall be governed by this Law for all purposes.

Article 162

Employers with an in-house staff of more than 200 workers shall grant scholarships in domestic and foreign educational centers to workers or their children.

Translated by Conchita Delgado