New ministerial agreement regulating the administrative approval process
The Ministry of Labor has issued the ministerial agreement No. MDT-2024-041, which regulates the procedure for the administrative approval process, is mandatory for workers and employers in the private sector, as well as for workers and employers in the public sector governed by the Labor Code. The issues to be considered are as follows:
Jurisdiction: The competent labor inspector is the one where the employment contract is executed, or the domicile of the respondent. The competence of workers subject to the Labor Code who render their services for the Fire Department is subject to the provisions of Article 623 of the Labor Code.
Suspension: Employers may request the suspension of the labor relationship, which will be granted if the Labor Inspector deems it necessary and justified. If the suspension is granted, it must be reported within 48 hours and proof of deposit equivalent to one month’s salary of the employee must be attached.
If the suspension of the relationship is not granted, the employer must grant the employee the necessary paid leave to exercise his right to defense.
Notification: The request for approval must be notified to the respondent within 24 hours. The notification may be made personally to the defendant, or by delivering a ballot to one of his dependents, employee or relative, at the domicile or residence.
The Labor Inspector may request clarifications related to the information to make the notification up to 2 times.
In case it is not possible to notify in person, the defendant must be notified through a publication in a newspaper of wide circulation in the place where the approval procedure takes place, and a copy must also be posted in several visible places in the workplace. Once the publication has been made, the respondent must answer your request within a term of up to 22 days to answer the request for approval.
Investigation diligence: The investigation may take place at the offices of the Labor Inspectorate, however, if the circumstances warrant it, the investigation may be carried out at the workplace or at the place where the facts that led to the request for approval occurred.
Once the investigation stage is concluded, the Labor Inspector must issue its resolution within 3 days.
Appeal: In the cases of Article 623 of the Labor Code, the party who considers himself affected by the resolution of the Labor Inspector or the Regional Labor Director, shall have the right to appeal the resolution within a term of 3 days from the notification of the resolution.
The appeal of a resolution issued by a Labor Inspector will be resolved by the Regional Labor Director within 10 days. On the other hand, the appeal of a resolution issued by the Regional Labor Director in the cases of article 623 of the Labor Code will be resolved by the Undersecretariat of Labor within 10 days.
Statute of limitations: The general rule for the computation of the period for the statute of limitations to operate is from the date on which the determining events occurred. The exceptions are as follows:
- In the cases of numeral 1 of article 172 of the Labor Code, the term is calculated from the last day of lateness or absence.
In the cases of numerals 2 and 8 of article 172 of the Labor Code, it will be computed from the date on which the employer or his representative had knowledge of the facts. The employer must prove that it became aware of the facts that gave rise to the request for approval after the fact.
