As you know, since the labor law reform of 2019, new instances and authorities have been created for the attention of labour and employment disputes, highlighting the mandatory pre-judicial conciliation at national level before the new Conciliation Centres. As of 3 October 2022, these Centres began to operate in all the federal entities of our country. It should be noted that the new legal framework exempts the obligation to go to conciliation in the following cases:
- Discrimination.
- Designation of beneficiaries due to death.
- Social security benefits.
- When safeguarding fundamental labour rights such as: a) Freedom of association, freedom of association and the effective recognition of collective bargaining; b) Labour trafficking, as well as forced and compulsory labour; and c) Child labour.
- Ownership of collective bargaining agreements or contracts law.
- Challenges to trade union statutes or their modification.
It is important to note that in order to attend these conciliation processes it is essential to have legal representation powers and that the company's non-attendance may result in the imposition of fines.
In order to best attend the conciliation appointments, we ask you to consider that, in the event that the labour dispute is not resolved through pre-judicial conciliation, the workers will have the right to sue for the actions and benefits they deem appropriate before the new Labour Courts.
The trials before these Courts present new challenges to the defendant, since it will no longer be possible to deny the dismissal and offer reinstatement in order to reverse the burden of proof to the worker regarding the existence of the dismissal. In terms of the new legal framework, it will be, in general terms, up to the employer to prove that the unjustified dismissal did not materialise, so that conciliation will gain relevance as a preventive dispute resolution mechanism and should be considered a priority.
Therefore, we request that when you share the pre-judicial conciliation summons with us, you confirm whether or not there was an employment relationship with the applicant. Incase there is, we request you to immediately provide us with the applicant's entire employment history, such as category, working day, salary and benefits, history of departure or dismissal, as well as the amounts that could be authorized for the conclusion of a possible agreement. In case there is none, please inform us of the other nature of the relationship with the applicant.
The above will allow us to attend to these proceedings in the best way possible and avoid greater contingencies in court and further growth of your litigation portfolio. If you have any doubts or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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