What is the prohibition of chaining temporary contracts?

 

Chaining of temporary contracts occurs when a worker chains several fixed-term contracts within the same company or business group.

Labor legislation sets limits on this practice to prevent stable positions or labor relations from being continuously covered by temporary contracts.

The limit of 18 months in a 24-month period

Individuals whose contracts have been formalized from March 30,2022, can acquire permanent worker status when the following requirements are met:

• Having worked for more than 18 months within a 24-month period.

• Having formalized two or more contracts due to production circumstances.

• Contracts may have been made continuously or with interruptions.

• They may correspond to the same job position or different positions.

• Hiring may have occurred with the same company or within the same business group.

This limit also applies when hiring is done through a Temporary Employment Agency (ETT).

Additionally, it may be applicable in situations of succession or business subrogation when established by the regulations or corresponding agreement.

The job position may also generate permanent status

The regulations not only analyze the individual situation of the worker.

It also takes into account the occupied job position.

A person can acquire permanent status when the position has been filled for more than 18 months in a 24-month period through contracts due to production circumstances.

For this calculation, different workers who have successively occupied the same position may be counted, including those hired through an ETT.

What should the company do?

When the legal limits of temporality are exceeded, the company must recognize the new condition of permanent worker.

Specifically, it must:

• Provide the worker with a written document justifying their permanent status.

• Facilitate this communication within the 10 days following the fulfillment of the legal deadlines.

• Inform the legal representation of the workers about this circumstance.

Failure to comply with this information obligation may constitute a violation in labor relations.

The worker may request a certificate of their contracts.

The worker may also request from the corresponding public employment service a certificate of the temporary contracts they have formalized.

This document allows to certify the duration and succession of the contracts and may serve to demonstrate that the maximum limits of temporality have been exceeded.

If the public employment service detects that these limits have been exceeded, it must inform the company and the Labor and Social Security Inspection of this circumstance.

What happens with contracts prior to March 30,2022?

For contracts formalized before March 30,2022, there are specific rules for computation.

For the purposes of calculating the number of contracts, the period, and the concatenation deadlines, only the contract that was in force as of December 31,2021, is taken into account.

The prohibition of concatenating temporary contracts seeks to prevent the abusive use of fixed-term hiring. When a person exceeds 18 months of hiring in a 24-month period through two or more contracts due to production circumstances, they may acquire the status of permanent worker. Companies must monitor hiring periods and formally communicate this change to avoid non-compliance and possible actions by the Labor Inspection.