Argentina's President-elect Javier Milei during his victory speech. Photo: EFE.
Argentinian President Javier Milei decreed the non-renewal of State worker contracts signed since January 1, 2023, including the national administration and decentralized organizations such as AFIP, PAMI and ANSES. In addition, an “exhaustive survey” of the personnel hired before that date was decreed.
It is estimated that this measure affects about 7,000 state workers. The cancellation of the contracts, which had already been anticipated from the president, occurs within the context of a tough fiscal adjustment program. According to Decree 84/2023, published today in the Official Gazette, “it is consistent with those objectives and the purpose of achieving better functioning of the public administration.”
Who is affected by the cut?
The Decree establishes that “the hiring of personnel for the provision of services carried out within the framework of article 9 of the Law for the Regulation of National Public Employment, Decree No. 1109 of December 28, 2017, and any other type of contracting that ends on December 31, 2023, or started on January 1, 2023, in the organizations included in sections a) and c) of article 8 of Law No. 24,156, will not be renewed.”
These sections of this article refer to workers from:
- National Administration, comprised of the Central Administration and the Decentralized Organizations, the latter including the Social Security Institutions.
- State Companies and Companies, including Public Limited Companies with Majority State Participation, Mixed Economy Companies and all other business organizations where the national State has majority participation in the capital or the formation of corporate decisions.
- Public Entities excluded from the National Administration, covering any non-business State organization with financial autonomy, legal personality and its own assets where the national State has majority control of the assets or the formation of decisions, including non-state public entities where the national State has control of the decisions.
The Decree argues that this type of contracting is regulated by Article 9 of the Framework Law, establishing the standard for contracting workers to provide autonomous professional services necessary for the development of tasks, studies, projects or special programs. According to the Argentinian Government, this rule allows for a maximum duration of 12 months and, therefore, “they are close to expiring.” Thus, the government decided not to renew them.
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What are the exceptions to these massive layoffs?
Article 2 of the Decree outlines some exceptions for contracts that will not be canceled. They are:
- Those derived from quotas regulated by law or other types of special protections.
- Personnel who have been working prior to January 1, 2023, and have changed their contracting modality.
- Personnel that the head of each jurisdiction evaluates as essential for the functioning of the jurisdiction in a restrictive and well-founded manner, where continuity is necessary for operational reasons that cannot be postponed.
What happens to workers hired before 2023?
Article 3 of the document promulgated today establishes that contracts signed prior to January 1, 2023, may not be renewed for a period exceeding 90 calendar days.
In Article 4, the authorities of each jurisdiction are ordered to “carry out an exhaustive survey of contracted personnel to evaluate the renewal” of their employment during this period.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/KW/SF
