Termination of employment in Argentina

In Argentina, bank[8] and insurance employees[9] once had a system of absolute job stability, allowing them to keep earning their salaries until retirement unless they were fired for a valid reason.

If the termination does not meet these conditions, the affected party may sue for reinstatement in their position, plus the salaries paid during the judicial process.

The employee, except in the case of a non-elected candidate, may choose to consider the labor relationship terminated by virtue of the employer's decision, placing them in a situation of indirect dismissal, in which case they will be entitled to receive, in addition to severance pay, a sum equivalent to the amount of the remunerations that would have corresponded to them during the remaining term of office and the subsequent year of stability.

[19] For all purposes of the law, seniority in employment shall be considered taken into account: a) the time worked since the beginning of the relationship; b) that which corresponds to the successive term contracts entered into by the parties; c) the time of previous service, when the employee, having left the job for any reason, returns to work for the same employer (art.

f) the days in which they did not work due to legal or conventional leave, or because they were affected by an incurable illness or work-related accident, or for other causes not attributable to the employee (art.

h) the period during which the employee does not perform work due to holding elective office at the national, provincial or municipal level (art.

The integration of the month of dismissal will not be applicable when the termination occurs during the probationary period established in article 92 bis (art.

The assessment shall be made prudentially by the judges, taking into consideration the nature of the relationship resulting from an employment contract, according to the provisions of this law, and the modalities and personal circumstances in each case (art.

The word "injury" used in the article does not have the meaning of "insult" that is given to it in criminal law and in common parlance, but rather that of moral or material damage to the interests of the other party.

The misconduct committed by the employee must be so serious that, reasonably appreciated, it does not allow the continuity of the contract; b) contemporaneous with the employer's knowledge of the alleged fault.

The period of time that elapses between this knowledge and the communication of the termination must not exceed that reasonably necessary according to the circumstances of the case to gather the elements of judgment and make the decision.

In the event of a lawsuit filed by the interested party, the modification of the grounds for termination set forth in the aforementioned communications will not be admitted (art.

[27] As the judge is the one who must assess the justification for termination, the casuistry on the subject is very varied and each situation has its own particular circumstances, notwithstanding the fact that some general principles can be extracted from the judgment to help in the interpretation.

Unexcused absences from work or lack of punctuality are grounds for termination, but judges require that they be of a certain frequency or extent and that they have not been tolerated, i.e. that there have been sanctions, and that the employee's seniority in the job is also relevant.

[29] If it is alleged that the employee committed a crime (for example, theft), the termination can only be considered justified if the employer then files a criminal complaint and obtains a conviction.

[30] Suspensions based on disciplinary reasons or due to lack or reduction of work not attributable to the employer, may not exceed thirty days in one year (article 220 LCL) and if they are due to force majeure duly proven, seventy-five days in one year (article 221 LCL), in both cases counted from the first suspension, regardless of the reason thereof.

The employee may consider the employment contract terminated if, as a result of the transfer of the establishment, they suffers a loss which, assessed in accordance with the criteria of article 242, justifies the act of denunciation.

[31][32] In some cases, to consider the employee's decision to be justified, judges require them to previously request the employer in a documented manner to comply with the obligation they are claiming.

Such basis may not exceed the equivalent of three times the monthly amount of the sum resulting from the average of all the remunerations provided for in the collective bargaining agreement applicable to the employee.

The amount of the indemnity may in no case be less than one month's salary calculated on the basis of the system established in the first paragraph (art.

In the case of personnel hired in the same six-month period, dismissal shall begin with the one who has the least family responsibilities, even if this alters the order of seniority (Article 247 LCL).

[38] In the event that the worker who is the holder of a social security benefit under any regime should return to work as an employee, without this implying a violation of the legislation in force, the employer may terminate the contract by invoking this situation, with the obligation to give prior notice and pay the compensation based on the seniority provided for in Article 245 of this law or, if applicable, the provisions of Article 247.

The termination without cause of the worker, pending the foreseen or foreseeable terms of the cycle or season in which they were rendering services, will give rise to the payment of the compensations established in article 95, first paragraph, of this law (art.

[45][46][47] Whatever its denomination, a temporary employment contract will be deemed to exist when the employee's activity is performed under the dependence of an employer for the satisfaction of specific results, considered by the latter, in relation to extraordinary services determined in advance or extraordinary and transitory requirements of the company, operation or establishment, whenever a certain term for the termination of the contract cannot be foreseen.

Inexistent registration is when the worker has not been registered in the labor books or before the social security agencies, and deficient registration is when the worker is registered with a date of entry later than the actual date, with a remuneration lower than the actual remuneration received by the employee, or when both cases occur simultaneously.

To help detect and combat these practices that lead to the evasion of the payment of mandatory social security contributions on remunerations and hinder the exercise of employees' rights, it was established that if the employee is terminated without just cause in such situation, they will be entitled to receive an additional indemnity equivalent to the amount of the indemnities for termination (articles 8, 9, 10 and 15 of Law 24013 and article 1 of Law 25323).

Instead, in the event of termination, whatever the cause, they receive an unemployment fund which is integrated by the employer with a percentage of the remunerations paid (Law 22250).

[59][60] The Supreme Court of Justice declared that its purpose is to cover the risk of loss of employment, whatever the cause, given the versatility of the construction activity and that it complies with the constitutional right to protection against arbitrary termination.

They can only be terminated with just cause by the employer after the corresponding summary proceedings have been conducted by the competent official authority (art.

The indemnities provided for in the LCL are tariffed, i.e., their amount compensates all the damages derived from the termination of the employment contract.