As per the provisions of Article 15 of the Labor Code: “The existence of an employment agreement is presumed in all personal relationships, unless otherwise proven”. Whenever the physical person is classified as an employee, the Labor Code applies, and all employees have the same rights under such legal text except for certain benefits granted based upon specific modalities of employment contract as it is described when referring to said benefits, for example, profit sharing.  

Yes. The Employment Agreement may be i) for an indefinite period of time, ii) for a specific period of time, iii) for a particular job or service, or iv) for a season. 

The main characteristics of these Agreements are the following:

1. Employment Agreement for an indefinite period of time: When the nature of the job is permanent, the Agreement is made for an indefinite period of time. In principle, all employment agreements are presumed to be celebrated for an indefinite period of time;
2. Employment Agreement for a particular period of time: They may be held only in the following cases: (a) If it is in accordance with the nature of the service to be rendered; (b) If it is intended for the provisional substitution of an employee in the case of leave, vacation, or other temporary impediment; and (c) If it is in the interest of the employee. These Agreements must be made in writing; 
3. Employment Agreement for a particular job or service: This Agreement may only be used when the nature of the job so requires. These Agreements terminate without any liability (responsibility) for the parties at the conclusion of the job or service.  However, if the employee works successively with the same employer on more than one particular job or service among which there does not exist a period greater than two months, it is considered that it has always been an employment agreement for an indefinite period of time. 
4. Work by season: These are Agreements related to jobs which due to their nature, only last for a part of the year. They terminate without responsibility for the parties, but if the work is extended for a period of more than four (4) months, the employee has the right to receive the “economic assistance” established by Article 82 of the Labor Code.  

For an employment contract being valid the following requirements must be met:

1)  Free and wilful consent of the parties.

2)  Concerning the employee:

a) Employee must be at least 16 years old; if he/she is between 14 and 16 years old they can enter into employment contracts with the parents' written authorization. However they cannot be hired for (a) those works classified as dangerous (based upon the type of machinery or equipment) or unhealthy (radiations, toxicity, among others); (b) street sellers without prior authorization by the Labor Department; (c) work shifts exceeding six (6) daily hours; (d) Night work shifts between 6:00 pm to 6:00 am, except for family enterprises comprised of the parents and their children and trainees.  In case of jobs related to shows, radio, television or movies, the Ministry of Labor can issue individual permits for minors under 14 working in said fields. 

b) Foreign employees must have obtained corresponding work permits. Indefinite term employees on payroll headcount must be at least 80% of Dominican nationals excluding in direction, managerial positions, technicals when there is not any Dominican citizen with abilities to fulfill such position, foreigners married to Dominican citizens with more than 3 years of uninterrupted residence in the Dominican Republic with more than 2 years of marriage, or, those having resided more than 5 years uninterruptedly in the Dominican Republic and having Dominican children. The foreigner's employment agreement must be registered at the Labor Department which will issue a Resolution on such registration.

 3) Concerning the employment agreement:

a) It is not mandatory for the employment agreements to be executed in writing, but all verbal agreements are construed for an indefinite period of time.  Whenever the employment agreement is for a certain period of time or a specific job or service, it must be in writing and communicated to the Ministry of Labor within the next 48 hours.  

b) Any of the parties to an indefinite-term employment contract is entitled to request a written agreement from the other party. 

c) Written agreements must be signed in four originals for remittance of 2 to the Ministry of Labor while the other 2 originals correspond to each of the parties. The Ministry of Labor does not issue a resolution on the filing of the national employment agreements.

d) For remittance of signed employment agreements to the Ministry of Labor at least the following provisions must be inserted as provided by the Dominican Labor Code (such as (i) Full name of the parties, marital status, domicile and residence, Personal ID card numbers; (ii) service to be performed, place and working shift; (iii)employee salary and all benefits expressed in Dominican pesos, and payment modality; and (v)term of the contract.) Note that the agreement must be in Spanish language only.

Yes, part-time employees have the same rights as full-time employees.

Yes, indeed; by effect of any business transfer or any employer substitution the employment contract is transferred as a matter of fact without requiring the consent of the employee; however, the substitute employer must acknowledge all of the acquired rights of the transferred employees including those pending of court decision or pending of enforcing a final court verdict.

When the employee's transfer is not a consequence of a business transfer it is required the consent of the employee which typically is done by a written document.

In both scenarios previously described, the new employer is jointly liable with the substituted employer for any obligations derived from the employment contracts or the law that arose before the transfer took place until the statute of limitations elapses.

The business transfer must be noticed to the union (if any), the employees and the Ministry of Labor within the next 72 hours following the assignment. noncompliance with such formalities commits jointly the liability of the substituted and substitute employer. 

The main rights of the employees when a business transfer or an employment transfer takes place is that their acquired rights are acknowledged by the new employer.

However, it is important to note that said transfer does not trigger payment of severance, prior notice or payment of any acquired rights. As previously mentioned only in case of an employee's transfer consent is required from the employee. 

An employer's change of control (in the understanding that the employer -legal entity- remains the same) does not trigger notice obligations as described when referring to business transfer or employee transfer; however, the acquired rights of the employees must be acknowledged; thus, they cannot be diminished or eliminated. 

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 41 of the Dominican Labor Code the employer is entitled to introduce changes in modalities of rendering of services of an employment contract. Such an employer’s right is known as “Jus Variandi” which has been also acknowledged by our Supreme Court of Justice.

The employer is entitled to introduce changes to the employment conditions subject to:

1. A balanced exercise of such rights;
2. Not altering the essential conditions of the contract; and,
3. Not causing material or moral damage to the employee.

Among the essential conditions of the employment contracts, our Supreme Court of Justice has ruled in separate verdicts that it may relate to the salary, the location or the working schedule, among others.

The limits established for the exercise of such rights by the employer are: (i) it is required by the needs of the company; and, (ii) it does not entail moral or material damage to the concerned worker (s). 

Therefore, the unilateral changes to introduce to the employment conditions neither may diminish the respective employees’ position nor decrease their salary, or any other essential condition of the employment contract.  Among the conditions that judges have considered as essential in an employment contract, you may find:

• Working hours; 
• Duly convened upon employees’ duties, or position (implying a decrease) even when temporary; 
• Salary reduction; 
• Change of location. 

It is relevant to point out that (i) the labor judges are granted a great power in the appraisal of the facts and evidence when determining what should be construed as an essential condition and when the change of the same, has caused a material or moral damage to an employee; and, (ii) the labor laws and judges are very protective of employees and whenever there is a doubt in the interpretation or scope of the law, it will be judged in the sense most favorable to the employee.

In addition, Article 37 of the Labor Code points out that the supplementary provisions of the DR Labor Code are considered included in all labor contracts and, “that the parties can modify them whenever the purpose is to favor the worker and improve his condition”. In turn, DR Labor Code Fundamental Principle V  which consecrates the “labor laws public order” by restricting any employees’ waiver of their rights granted by law strengthened the provisions of this Article by rendering null and void any covenant executed by the employees in opposition to such principle.

Due to the fact, that such provisions may be construed as restricting the Jus Variandi only to those rights expressly granted by the labor laws, the precedents of our Supreme Court of Justice in similar cases have established that not solely such rights cannot be waived but also those arising from the employment contract, being ratified by other decisions condemning similar employer’s actions.

* Remedies of the employee: To undertake dismissal with cause against the employer (so-called "dimisión"). The condemnations in said scenario may include the following items:

a) Termination benefits per se: Compensation on prior notice and severance;
b) Acquired rights: Christmas Salary, Profit Sharing, Compensation on vacations;
c) Up to 6 months of salary depending on the period from the start of the lawsuit and the issuance of the verdict; 
d) Damages if included in the labor lawsuit, which shall be appraised by the judge. 
 

No, there is no employment at will under Dominican Law. Dismissal without cause (so-called "deshaucio") is a right of termination that can be undertaken by the employer or the employee at any time without stating a cause or reason, with prior notice (with some exceptions). Nonetheless, in the event such right is undertaken by the employer, the employee is entitled to severance and compensation on prior notice, when applicable. *Severance consists of the following: (i) After continuous work of not less than 3 months nor more than 6, an amount equal to 6 days of ordinary salary; (ii) After continuous work of not less than 6 months nor more than 1 year, an amount equal to 13 days of ordinary salary; (iii) After continuous work of not less than one year nor more than 5, an amount equal to 21 days of ordinary salary for each year of services given; (iv) After continuous work of not less than 5 years, an amount equal to 23 days of ordinary salary for each year of services provided (departing from year 1). *Prior Notice: The party exercising the right of dismissal without cause must give advance notice to the other party, according to the following rules: 1) After continuous work of no less than 3 months nor more than 6, a minimum of 7 days of advance notice; 2) After continuous work of more than 6 months and less than a year, a minimum of 14 days of advance notice; and 3) After a year of continuous work a minimum of 28 days of advance notice. Both amounts corresponding to the Prior Notice Compensation (when prior notice is not granted the employer must compensate it) and Severance are calculated by taking as a basis the average of the salaries earned by the worker during the last year or a fraction of a year during the period of effectiveness of the agreement. The above-mentioned termination benefits are not subject to tax withholdings, embargos, liens, compensations, transfers or sales, with the exception of credits granted or obligations which have arisen due to special laws. In the event of non-compliance with payment of such benefits within a time frame of 10 days, the employer must pay, in addition, a penalty equal to one day of the salary earned by the worker for each day of delay. In addition to the termination benefits, the proportion of acquired rights (please refer to question 18) accrued within the year must be paid.

The dismissal without cause or desahucio is a right of the employer and the employee provided by law. There is no wrongful termination in our legal system, but a similar concept could be the dismissal with cause undertaken by the employer (so-called despido), further declared unjustified by a local Labor Court) or a dismissal with cause against the employer undertaken by the employee declared as unjustified by the appointed labor court. 

The employer is restricted from undertaking dismissal without cause against the employee in the following cases: a) during any period guaranteed to the employee; b) while the employment contract is suspended due to a cause inherent to the employee (such as sick leave, disability leave, or any other); c) during the employee's vacations period; d) during pregnancy; e) during maternity leave; or, f) during union directors protection period. 

*Remedies: Whenever the employer exercises such right in any of the scenarios prohibited the appointed labor court will rule to reinstate the employee as such termination is considered null.  

Labor jurisprudence has decided in certain cases that when the employer performs an abusive exercise of the right to undertake dismissal without cause, the employee may be entitled to damages.

In case of termination with a cause against the employee is declared unjustified, the employer will be condemned to pay similar compensations as described for the dismissal with cause undertaken by the employee (should it be declared as justified) when answering the question on the remedies afforded to the employee in case of illegal changes to the employment contract by the employer, that is:

a) Termination benefits per se: Compensation on prior notice and severance;
b) Acquired rights: Christmas Salary, Profit Sharing, Compensation on vacations;
c) Up to 6 months of salary depending on the period from the start of the lawsuit and the issuance of the verdict; 
d) Damages if included in the labor lawsuit, which shall be appraised by the judge. 

No, there is neither protection for whistleblowers nor provisions or regulations related to such practice.

Yes, Article 44 of the Dominican Constitution includes among individuals’ fundamental right of intimacy and personal honor the access to their personal data registered in private or public records, its destination and use as well as the principles ruling the treatment of personal data. Furthermore, in recent years the labor courts tend to base their decisions upon constitutional principles consecrating Individuals' Fundamental Principles, such as human dignity, right to intimacy, right to expression, and private life, among others. In such sense, there is labor jurisprudence ruling that the goal of the intimacy right restricts third parties from any intrusion in the life of any individual being therefore forbidden using any such information, may it be intimate or not, may it be related to the job or not, as its knowledge or use by third parties may affect the individual's rights, may them be fundamental or not, as the object of such intimacy right pursues not only the individual intimacy, but also the personal data since it does not only aim the data protection per se, but the protection of the holder of said data, the right to data protection grants the individual the necessary protection that mandates the third parties to obtain their prior written and informed consent as well as the right to know the use and destination of said data and to access, rectify and cancel the same. 

Remedies: Exercise of habeas data remedy. Additionally, the employee may undertake dismissal with cause against the employer ("dimisión") alleging the violation of a substantial obligation by the employer (in this case, violating a fundamental right of the employee) with the implications described above.

Yes, indeed. The Constitution promotes the equality of all citizens; in such a sense, when referring to the Individuals’ Fundamental Rights it establishes that all individuals are born free and equal before the law, and as such, they should receive equal protection and treatment from the institutions, authorities and other individuals, having the same rights, freedom and opportunities, without any discrimination due to gender, skin color, age, disability, nationality, family ties, language, religion, political or philosophical opinion, social or personal condition.

Fundamental Principle VII of the Dominican Labor Code forbids any discrimination, exclusion or preference based upon sex, age, ethnicity, skin color, nationality, social origin, political opinion, unionization or religious beliefs except for those stated by law to protect the worker. 

Moreover, Article 336 of the Dominican Criminal Code, as amended by Law 24-97 states that any distinction among individuals based upon origin, age, sex, family status, health, disabilities, practices, political trends, unionization, occupation, presumed or true belonging or not to a race, country, or religion is to be considered as discrimination subject to sanctions established by said law.

Such discrimination is punished with imprisonment and fines whenever it consists of a refusal to hire, sanctioning, firing an individual, or conditioning employment to any of such elements.

Additionally, the Dominican Constitution grants a constitutional character to certain labor rights that typically were exclusively included in the Dominican Labor Code by recognizing the fundamental individual rights as rights applicable to employees in the workplace.

Moreover, Article 194 of the Dominican Labor Code provides that the same salary should correspond to the same job, in identical conditions of capacity, efficiency, or seniority, regardless of the person who performs it. This principle is applied not only to the basic or minimum salary but also to any other retribution or compensation in money. However, employment law allows differences in treatment and inequality of salary based on ability, efficiency, or seniority as far as they are applied bona fide.

Yes, there are statutory rights to vacation and parental leave, as follows:      

• Parental Leave: As to parental leave, note the following: (i)Maternity leave consists of 14 weeks; and, paternity leave is of 2 working days.  it is relevant to point out that an amendment to the Dominican Labor Code was approved in the year 2023 to increase the paternity leave to 10 days but the Constitutional Court declared part of said law as unconstitutional and granted a term of 2 years for the National Congress to correct the unconstitutional article of the law amending the Dominican Labor Code.
• Vacation: Under Article 177 of the Labor Code, employers are required to give each employee who has completed one year of continuous work a period of 14 working days for vacations, paid according to the following scale: (a) 14 days of ordinary salary for continuous work from one to five years; and (b) 18 days of ordinary salary for continuous work of no less than five years.

If the contract terminates before completing the year of service, it should be compensated according to a special scale: (a) six days of ordinary salary for continuous work for five months; (b) seven days for six months; (c) eight days for seven months; (d) nine days for eight months; (e) 10 days for nine months; (f) 11 days for 10 months; and (g) 12 days for 11 months.

As for medical leave, the employee is entitled to medical leave (for the so-called common illness or disability due to a work accident) in which case both the employer and the employees must have complied with the obligations established by the Law that creates the Dominican Social Security System so that the employee receives the respective subsidies and medical attention provided by law. The subsidy for common illnesses lasts up to 26 weeks while the subsidy for disability lasts up to 52 weeks. Whenever the employment contract has been suspended for a medical or disability leave for a full year period departing from the first day of nonattendance to work, the employment contract terminates with payment by the employer of Economic Aid which consists of (a) five days of ordinary salary for work not less than three months and not more than six; (b) ten days of ordinary salary for work not less than six months and less than one year; and, (c) fifteen days of ordinary salary for work not less than one year. 

Under Dominican Labor Code provisions, it is mandatory for the employees to indefinitely keep the confidentiality of the technical, commercial, manufacturing and administrative information received during the course of the employment contract. Therefore, confidentiality is mandatory and indefinite. Additional agreements may be executed in order to be more specific on the confidentiality provisions. In addition, non-competition is also recognized by the Labor Code, but only during the term of the employment relationship.   

As for restrictive covenants per se, there are no specific legal provisions ruling their validity but they can be recognized subject to not restricting the individual to his/her fundamental rights mainly freedom to work reason why any restriction should be reasonably limited in the scope of activity, the duration and the geography, also there should be a consideration paid to the individual; otherwise, it will derive in a mere moral obligation. 

No, it is not possible. Nonetheless, under Dominican law employer can undertake dismissal without cause (desahucio), as previously explained, without alleging the cause of termination. In such cases, termination benefits must be paid.

It is most relevant to point out that restrictive covenants should only be entered into when the employment contract has been terminated not during the course of the same due to the existence of the subordination link which could be considered as a cause to annul the consent of the individual.  

As previously mentioned there are no specific regulations on restrictive covenants under Dominican labor laws therefore no amount has been interpreted as "serving as consideration" for restrictive covenants. However, as previously described the terms of such covenants should be reasonable, and as such, the "consideration" should be proportional to the restrictions agreed upon by the parties. There is not any labor jurisprudence that we could use as a basis to provide you with a more specific answer. 

Yes, indeed; the Law that created the Dominican Social Security System includes the affiliation of employees to old age, disability and survivorship insurance under which joint fixed monthly contributions are made by the employer and the employee to the Social Security Treasury to be distributed to the Administrator of Pension Funds (("AFP") by its acronym in the Spanish language) who shall register it to the affiliate employee individual capitalization accounts.  

Yes, indeed; among benefits mandated by law in the Dominican Republic jurisdiction you may find:

1. Coverage under the Dominican Social Security System (pension, health and labor risk insurance);
2. Christmas salary which is a twelfth of salary earned by the employee during the calendar year; it must be paid not later than December 20 each year. In case the employment agreement does not last during the full calendar year, the employee will be entitled to a prorated amount.
3. Profit sharing for employees under an indefinite term employment contract, if there are any profits to distribute to the employees. The employer is mandated to distribute 10% of net profits which can not exceed individually a) 45 days of ordinary salary for employees with less than three years of service; or, b) 60 days of ordinary salary for employees with more than three years of service.  If the employee does not provide services during the full fiscal year, he/she will be entitled to a prorated amount. Profit sharing must be paid during the next 90 to 120 calendar days of the closing of the fiscal year.  
4. Vacations as described in our answers above to the question on such topic. 

No, there is no mandatory retirement age from a labor perspective. Nonetheless, from a pension perspective, the requirements for being granted different pensiones are indeed linked to a certain age as follows:

1. Old Age Full Pension: Upon 360 monthly contributions and 60 years of age;
2. Old Age Advanced Pension: Accrediting sufficient funds to receive at least a pension equivalent to 150% of the minimum pension and 55 years of age;
3. Advanced Unemployment Pension: Having at least 300 monthly contributions, being unemployed and 57 years of age.

As there is not a mandatory retirement age the employee can continue working after reaching the ages established by the Dominican Social Security as requirements (along with others) for receiving a pension. Moreover, under Dominican Social Security Law and regulations, the granting of a pension does not work as a matter of fact for having reached a certain age or met the requirements established by law. If the conditions of minimum contribution and the age required are met (which varies depending on the type of pension as described above), the affiliated employee must formally request it through procedures established by the local regulations.

No, it is not possible (with no exceptions), as it could be considered discrimination on the basis of health, regardless that it may refer to either a scenario on hiring personnel or for current employees. It could be treated not as mandatory but optional by the employees to voluntarily inform the company if having been vaccinated (without providing proof). 
 
Moreover, it cannot be used to undertake decisions such as terminating employees who are not vaccinated as it can give rise to labor lawsuits for discrimination. 

There is no current government order to shut down the workplace. However, if this happens, the employer must comply with it; or otherwise, employees may undertake dismissal with cause (so-called, "dimisión") and alleged damages.