What Are Labor Rights?
Labor rights are a set of laws that regulate the relationship between the employer and the worker intended to protect the employee.
Within the Labor Code, they are regulated by different articles that are of vital importance for a healthy labor relationship between employee and employer. In this article, we will briefly review them.
One of the main rights that any worker has in the workplace is a written contract, which defines the place and hours of work, form of payment, salary amount and specific tasks to be performed by the employee, as established in article 23 of the Costa Rican Labor Code.
Along the same lines, another labor law is the establishment of a salary, which is the financial compensation that every employee receives for the services rendered and which must be paid according to the minimums established by our Legal System as well as in accordance with what was agreed upon in the contract, as indicated in article 24 of the same Code. The form, period, and place of payment must also be defined.
Having defined working hours is another right, which makes it possible to have an ordinary working day that does not exceed the maximum working hours established by our laws depending on the agreed upon type of schedule. This issue is important since our Legal System contemplates 3 types of workday: diurnal, nocturnal, and mixed. Each one has a different maximum number of working hours which are regulated in article 136 of the aforementioned Code.
In relation to the previous point, article 139 regulates what are known as extraordinary days, defined as days or hours that are worked outside the agreed schedule within the maximum hours per week that the code allows for.
Article 105 outlines the right to rest, which establishes that for every 8 hours worked every worker will have one hour of rest. It also defines the right to vacations, and establishes a legal minimum of 15 paid days off per year, as well the enjoyment of holidays.
Article 30 establishes two rights that every employee has, which are notice and severance, and, along with severance, the payment of other benefits. For example, the amount equivalent to pending vacations and/or a Christmas bonus that has not been paid out, as well other pending matters like unpaid overtime. The latter in accordance with the provisions of article 85 of the same Code.
Observing the right to Social Security and Protection for Labor Risks is compulsory for all employers when starting a labor relationship with the employee. It is also obligatory for the employer to insure the worker before the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS).
The above-mentioned insurance must cover maternity and lactation leave, which is regulated in article 95 of the Code. Additionally, the right to a pension due to disability, old age or death—which is the right of every worker—must be observed.
Another important right that every employee has from the moment they start a working relationship is that of Protection Against Discrimination which is regulated in article 404 and which establishes that no employee may be discriminated against on the basis of age, sex, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other form of discrimination.
All of the rights mentioned here are of the utmost importance when starting an employment relationship. They are inherent rights of every worker and they must be respected and guaranteed for a healthy employment relationship to ensue.