CASC warns that it will not allow changes to severance pay in the new Labor Code

Santiago.– The president of the Autonomous Class Union Confederation (CASC), Gabriel del Río Doñé, stated that the union movement will defend severance pay and will reject any attempt to modify this acquired right of workers during the discussion of the new Labor Code.

Del Río Doñé maintained that the approval of the new legal framework represents the result of more than 13 years of debates among the different sectors, which is why he considered that there is no justification for reopening the discussion on severance pay.

“The trade union movement has never requested to modify severance pay. We have said that the Labor Code needs to be updated, but that right must remain intact,” he/she expressed.

The union leader explained that the main interest of the business sector has been to introduce changes to the severance pay system, especially in cases of workers with salaries of up to RD$250,000, which, in his view, would reduce labor guarantees and affect the economic protection of thousands of employees.

Likewise, he pointed out that severance pay constitutes a support mechanism for workers dismissed without justified cause and recalled that, in accordance with current legislation, labor benefits increase according to the length of service.

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Del Río Doñé reiterated that labor organizations will remain vigilant to prevent any modification that limits that right and assured that they will defend labor legislation just as it was agreed upon after more than a decade of negotiations.

“The Labor Code can be modernized, but severance pay is off-limits. We will not allow that right to be modified in the Dominican Republic,” he emphasized.