"Welcome the new labor disconnection law": Mintrabajo

The regulations approved by the Congress of the Republic on work disconnection seek to ensure that the daily working day is respected, as well as limit WhatsApp messages and calls outside of working hours.

And it is that the appearance of new forms of work brought about by the pandemic made the discussion about the time worked and the right of workers to fully enjoy their free time regain importance.

In an interview with EL COLOMBIANO, Ángel Custodio Cabrera, Minister of Labor, spoke about his position regarding this new Law and the upcoming discussions regarding the approval of the minimum wage for next year.

Regarding the Labor Disconnection Law, what is it based on and how would it be applied?

“This is a response to what is happening right now with the pandemic. Many workers raised concerns that the employer was abusing the hours. So the law helps maintain good relations between workers and employers. Disconnection from work practically says "hey, the worker has the right to a break, he has the right to respect the work schedule that is in the employment contract, so he should not work 24 hours, it is 7 or 8 hours, depending what was agreed”. This is very important for the Ministry of Labor and it is welcome. In addition, it responds to many complaints that were made. We were already resolving it, but with this the worker is legally protected. The problem does not lie so much in large companies, because they are generally clear about it. It is the small companies that do abuse certain workers.”

The official avoided commenting on the bill that proposes withdrawing 10% of savings in pension funds, but considered that at a time when savings are vital, promoting this type of idea is complex.

How to avoid the risk that this remains just good intentions?

“For this, the Ministry will already have an instrument so that the labor inspector, when faced with such a complaint, resorts to the approved standard and carries out the inspection and surveillance.”

Speaking about the minimum wage, what is the schedule to start with the negotiation table?

“The idea is to start the first week of December, there will be a first cut on the 15th and we have a deadline until the 30th of that month. We will agree with workers and employers on the exact start date”.

Some businessmen and unions have already said that the minimum increase should be above annual inflation. How much should that increase be, taking into account the high cost of living that has occurred?

“The parameters to define the minimum are productivity, the real loss of workers and inflation. With these elements, the value of the minimum wage will be discussed. At the moment I do not want to advance figures, because that is a discussion between employers and workers where we are to support them, but surely we will have to invest if there is no agreement”.

Historically, it is difficult to reach an agreement from these meetings. What is the point of continuing to have a negotiation table that has had more failures than successes?

“I think that this time there is a lot of optimism because the parties have expressed it to reach an agreement. We have that legislation in force, there is a norm in which, in one way or another, we have to abide by. We are going to try to find other types of parameters for a better discussion”.

As for employment, how is the recovery going?

“The figures are showing us very good messages. The country had an unemployment rate in one digit in 2019, today we have a rate of 12.1%. After the pandemic, in which the rate reached 20.4% of the national average, I think it is clear that we are on the right track. We added a total of 18 tax incentives such as contracts for women victims of violence, people with disabilities, among others, that the National Government is promoting. That task is what we are doing. There are also the subsidies that we have implemented such as the Formal Employment Support Program (PAEF). And now we have created one for new jobs for people between the ages of 18 and 28, with a subsidy of 25% of a minimum wage. For people over 28 years of age there is also a 10% subsidy for men and a 15% subsidy for women. We are intervening in the labor market with aid to mitigate those labor costs.”

How many jobs have been created since the youth employment program began?

“Between July and August we delivered 77,000 subsidies, which means that the same number of jobs were created. Now that we open the call, for September and October we hope to have a very positive response, more than 100,000 subsidies. The bet is that by the middle of next year we will reach some 600,000 new jobs for young people. That means this program is going to help a lot to lower unemployment rates and we're going to keep it going for about three years. The goal for 2022 is to lower the unemployment rate to one digit.

Are you working closely with the private sector?

“There is a great business environment. In the recent meeting I had with the Interunion Council, they stated that they are going to create more than 10,000 new jobs. This means that it will also help to formalize and prepare people for the labor market. So there are a series of conditions that allow the labor market to advance strongly: losing more than 5 million jobs in the pandemic and that today they have practically all recovered, means that the policies are giving results. With the Social Protection Floor program we want to reach that informal sector so that they can start contributing to a pension and that the National Government helps with their social security”.

How many requests from companies has the Ministry received to lay off staff?

“During the pandemic, we received close to 30,000 applications, but we never approved a collective dismissal. On the contrary, through dialogue, more than 127,000 positions were recovered. So, practically the Ministry of Labor has told employers that collective dismissals are not approved. We must exhaust the possibilities and use all the benefits we have. Most of the companies have understood it, there are still some with difficulties that we are studying, but in general we are aiming to grow”