Argentina Employment Law

Duration of Annual Leave – If an employee has worked less than 6 months in a calendar year, they shall be entitled to 1 calendar day of annual leave for every 20 working days.

The duration of annual leave for newly-entered employees is at least 15 calendar days, for others, the duration of annual leave depends on the length of service/seniority of the employee.

Increase of Annual leave based on Years of Employment –

• • • 14 calendar days for employment less than 5 years.
    • 21 calendar days for employment between 5 and 10 years.
    • 28 calendar days for employment between 10 and 20 years
    • 35 calendar days for employment more than 20 years

The duration of annual leave of an employee is based on seniority which is determined by their accrued entitlement as of December 31st of the relevant year.

Timing of Annual Leave – The annual leave must lie between October 1 and April 30 of the following year, with the employee receiving a 45-day prior written notice for the vacation period. The employer and employee may agree that leave be taken in several shorter blocks at any time of year.

Annual Leave falling on Non-Working Day – The annual leave will commence on Monday or the next working day if Monday is a holiday. For employees who work on non-working days, the annual leave will start on the next day or the subsequent working day if it falls on a holiday. 

Granting of Annual Leave – In case, annual leave cannot be granted simultaneously to all employees at the same time, in such situations, the employer shall ensure that each employee is granted annual leave at least in one summer season every 3 periods.

Employees are required to work at least half of the working days of the calendar year to earn their full annual leave entitlement. For this purpose, the holidays on which the employee should normally provide services will be counted as business days. Employees who do not meet this threshold are entitled to 1 vacation day for every 20 days of actual work.

Annual Leave Pay – In the case of paid work with a monthly salary, it will be divided by  25. The result will give the amount that will be settled for each holiday day multiplied by the number of vacation days. An employee shall be paid vacation pay at the beginning of the annual vacation.

Termination of Employment -When the employment contract is terminated for any reason, the employee will have the right to receive compensation equivalent to the salary corresponding to the annual leave period proportional to the fraction of the year worked. If the employee hasn’t taken their annual leave from earlier periods before termination, they’ll get compensation equal to two and a half times the value for those missed annual leave periods.

Carry Over of Annual Leave – By agreement, an employee may carry over up to 1/3rd of the annual leave entitlement from one calendar year to the next. Any unused leave over this is forfeited at the end of the year. Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), arts. 150-155.

Duration of Sick Leave: Employees will be entitled to Paid sick leave due to an illness or an accident in the following manner –

• • • Employees with less than 5 years of service – 3 months
    • Employees with 5 or more service or with dependent – 6 months
    • Employees with 5 or more years of service and with dependents – 12 months

A business day must necessarily be computed when it coincides with Sundays, holidays, or non-working days. It implies that when calculating business days, any days that align with Sundays, holidays, or other non-working days must still be included in the count.

Additional Sick Leave: Employees who are unable to return to work after their leave expires for physical or mental reasons are entitled to an additional 12 month’s unpaid leave during which time their employers must keep the employee’s job position open. If the employee fails to return, the employer reserves the right to terminate the employment without providing severance.

Pay: An employee will be entitled to receive their regular payday including any additional benefits or allowances the employee would have received if they were working by their employer.

Medical Certificate: Employees must inform their employer of their illness and inability to work as soon as possible, typically on the first day of absence or within 48 hours of their absence unless there are reasonable grounds for the delay. The employer may require the employee to provide a medical certificate issued by a licensed medical professional. The certificate should state the diagnosis and the estimated duration of the illness.

Sick leave coinciding with Annual Leave: If an employee falls sick during their scheduled annual leave, they have the right to convert their annual leave into sick leave.

The employee is required to provide a medical certificate to their employer as evidence of their illness. The medical certificate should indicate the period of sickness and the employee’s inability to take their annual leave as originally planned.

Sick leave coinciding with Public Holiday: If an employee falls sick during a public holiday, they have the right to convert the public holiday into sick leave. This means that the employee can take sick leave instead of using their entitlement to the public holiday.

The employee is generally required to provide a medical certificate to their employer as evidence of their illness. The medical certificate should indicate the period of sickness and the employee’s inability to take advantage of the public holiday. Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), arts. 208, 212.

Duration of maternity Leave- An employee is entitled to 90 consecutive days of Maternity Leave. In the case of a child with Down syndrome, paid Maternity leave is extended by six months.

Employees can take distribute their prenatal and postnatal leave accordingly:

• • • 30 days before and 60 days after the expected delivery date or,
    • 45 days before and 45 days after the expected delivery date.

Eligibility Criteria – Registered employees and domestic workers with at least 3 months in employment at the time of starting the leave.

Early Birth – In case of early birth, the employee must get a total 90 days of maternity leave.

Pay Benefit – An employee is entitled to receive maternity leave benefit from Social Security.

A business day must necessarily be computed when they coincide with Sunday, holidays or non-working days.

Notification Requirement- The employee is required to submit a medical certificate informing of the pregnancy, with the expected date of delivery to their employer. Additionally, they must notify the employer if the leave will take place 45 days before and 45 days after the expected delivery date or 30 days before and 60 days after the expected delivery date.

The employee must process the Social Security benefits personally by visiting one of its offices. They must present, well in advance, the medical certificate informing of the pregnancy and a set of documentation that the employee must complete with their employer. 

Miscarriage/ abortion: If the pregnancy, starting from the sixth month, is interrupted due to spontaneous abortion or for therapeutic, teratological, or eugenic reasons, the woman will enjoy a special leave of 30 calendar days. In case of fetal death during the 4th or 5th month of gestation, 30 calendar days of leave, with pay, will be granted from the date of termination of the pregnancy.

If the death of the child occurs during the maternity leave, a leave of 30 days with pay will apply from the day of death, ceasing the maternity leave. Upon the expiry of the maternity leave, the employee can decide whether to: 

• • • • Return to work under the same conditions in which they have been previously working
      • Take up to 6 months additional unpaid maternity leave, in which case employers must reinstate employees once the leave expires. This is applicable to employees who have been with the employer for at least 1 year.
      • Resign and obtain a special farewell bonus equivalent to 25% of the mandatory severance pay, which may not exceed a minimum living wage per year of service or fraction greater than 3 months.This is applicable to employees who have been with the employer for at least 1 year.

Breastfeeding break – Every nursing mother employee shall be entitled 30-minutes of two breaks to breastfeed their child during the work day, and for a period not exceeding 1 year after the date of birth, unless for medical reasons it is necessary for the mother to breastfeed her child for a longer period. Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), arts. 177, 179.

Duration of Paternity Leave- An employee is entitled to 2 working days of paid leave. Leave must be taken immediately after birth.

Eligibility Criteria– Individuals employed under formal contracts and registered with the social security system are eligible for paternity leave. Informal and self-employed workers are not eligible.

Pay benefits – An employee is entitled to full wages paid by their employer. Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), arts. 158.

Employees can take paid leave for the following circumstances:

• • • • • • • • Marriage: 10 calendars days;
              • Birth of Child: 2 days
              • Death of a spouse, child or parent: 3 days;
              • Death of a sibling: 1-day ; and
              • High school or college exam: two days (maximum 10 days per year) – The beneficiary must prove to the employer that they have taken the exam by presenting the certificate issued by the institute in which they study.
              • Foreign Nationals who come from a bordering country are entitled up to 4 days’ leave.

Such leaves shall be paid, and the salary shall be calculated in the same manner as vacation pay is calculated, which states that in case of paid work with a monthly salary, dividing by twenty-five (25) the amount of the salary received at the time of its granting.

A business day must include Sundays, holidays, or non-working days when calculating paid leave for events like childbirth, the loss of a sibling, or the passing of a child, spouse, or parent. Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), arts. 158.

An employee who is called to give testimony before the court is entitled to paid leave. Those who are elected to sit on a representative body are entitled to leave without payment. The period of leave is considered working time for seniority purposes. Article 215, Labor Contract Act.

An employee who has to render compulsory military service shall be entitled to paid leave until their military service ends. The employee is entitled to receive the average remuneration from their employer.

The employer will retain the employee’s employment when they must perform mandatory military service, by ordinary call, mobilization, or special calls from the date of his call until 30 days after the service has concluded.

The time spent in the service will be considered a work period to calculate the seniority, compared to the benefits that by this law, professional statutes or collective labor agreements would have corresponded to if the employee had provided services.  Article 215, Labor Contract Act.