The Colombian legislation introduced new developments in labor issues submitted as of January, 2017.

Among these, the most relevant are:

Normativity

Decree 2209 of 2016

By means of this Decree, the Colombian Government set the minimum wage for 2017 at SEVEN HUNDRED THIRTY-SEVEN THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED SEVENTEEEN PESOS ($737,717) per month.

Taking into account the above, the minimum integral salary for 2017 corresponds to NINE MILLION FIVE HUNDRED NINETY THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE PESOS ($9,590,321) monthly.

Decree 2210 of 2016

Through said decree, the Colombian Government fixed the monthly transport subsidy at EIGHTY THREE THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY PESOS ($83,140) per month.

This benefit is mandatory for all workers who earn less than two (2) minimum monthly legal wages.

Law 1822 of 2017

With the issuance of said Law, new parameters applicable to maternity leave were established:

  • Maternity leave is increased from 14 to 18 weeks.
  • The father may take maternity leave in case of both the mother's illness or death.
  • The current general rule is for the mother to begin the leave one week before the probable delivery date instead of two weeks. It is no longer optional to begin maternity leave two weeks before the probable delivery date. The only exception to this rule is in cases of medical necessity.
  • The days granted by the employer under the concept of domestic calamity will be deducted from both the father´s and mother´s license.
  • Paternity leave also applies to the children of the employee's spouse or permanent partner.

Jurisprudence

  • The Constitutional Court, through decision T-638 of 2016, extended a protection to workers in the private sector, so that labor contracts cannot be terminated unilaterally without prior authorization of the Ministry of Labor to those who are less than three years away from fulfilling the requirements to benefit from old-age pension.
  • The Constitutional Court Plenary issued a decision to protect employees who are fathers and whose pregnant partners are economically dependent on them. This protection states that it is prohibited to terminate their labor contracts without prior authorization from the Ministry of Labor. Such protection is valid throughout the gestation period and during the 18 weeks of maternity leave.

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