Pregnacy employment question, help please!

Fulano

New member
Jan 31, 2002
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We have an employee that after 4 months of work became pregnant. She stopped working almost at once and sent the medical statements in from a clinic saying she was very sick and needs to stay in bed, etc. The first medical statement the doctor said 1 month rest, medical statement number two said 40 days, number three says 20 days of bedrest. Since the announcement of her pregnancy, she has only showed up at work to pick up her paychecks and to socialze with her co-workers. I and other employees frequently meet her shopping, in the supermarket, at baseball games, etc., so she is certainly not resting in bed. So my question is, are we stuck with paying her the nine months salary plus the three months post-partum regardless of her true condition? Everyone says that its the only way, but what abuse! When the payroll clerk told her yesterday that she was abusing the system she just laughed !!! Any hope or are we stuck with a year of this "I'll show you" attitude?
 

Fabio J. Guzman

DR1 Expert
Jan 1, 2002
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Art. 232 of the Labor Code prohibits an employer from terminating a pregnant employee without cause ("desahucio"). This is an exception to the general rule applicable to other employees, who can be terminated without cause at the discretion of the employer, subject only to the payment of severance pay (?auxilio de cesant?a?).

A pregnant employee, however, can be terminated at any time for cause ("despido"), just like any other employee, with the only difference that the ?despido? must be approved beforehand by the labor authorities to make sure that it?s not related to her pregnancy (Art. 233 of the Labor Code).

Among the legally accepted grounds for "despido" enumerated under Article 88 of the Labor Code, you will find:

"19o. Por falta de dedicac?n a las labores para las cuales ha sido contratado o por cualquier otra falta grave a las obligaciones que el contrato imponga al trabajador" ("Lack of dedication to the work for which the employee has been hired...")
 
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GringoCArlos

Retired Ussername
Jan 9, 2002
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There is always the law, and the Labor Tribunal to protect the downtrodden employees. I am no lawyer, but know a little about employment realities here. The DR Labor Laws may be the single biggest factor holding back more companies from choosing to operate here.
 
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