The Ministry of Labor says that as of noon on Thursday, 25 March 2020, 1,953 companies have requested the suspension of work contracts for 35,732 workers. He said the pace at which the requests are being made has increased, as reported in Listin Diario.
He said a commission of the Ministries of Hacienda and Economy is looking into how to work with the private sector and unions to find mechanisms so that the workers do not lose their jobs.
The Dominican Labor Code allows that in major events workers can be suspended without pay for three months.
He said this commission will present in the coming days the operational form of how the measures to help formal companies to guarantee jobs to workers will be implemented. He explained that the possibility of transfers being made through the Banco de Reservas or through the Dominican Institute for the Prevention and Protection of Labor Risks (Idopril) has been evaluated.
Santos explained that the government seeks to assist formal workers who have been suspended due to coronavirus prevention measures, and that these are mostly in the tourism sector, which has been hit hard by the situation, as have the free zones and other businesses.
He explained that through the DGT-9 form, which processes the authorization for the suspension of the effects of the employment contract, and which employers can access free of charge and virtually through the website of the ministry, companies are notifying their situation and suspending their employees.
Altagracia Salazar reported that most of the companies requesting suspension of pay of employees have less than 20 employees.
Read more in Spanish:
Listin Diario
YouTube – Altagracia Salazar
27 March 2020