The possibility of President Guillermo Lasso implementing labor reform through a decree-law was rejected by Minister of Economy and Finance Pablo Arosemena.

The official referred to this issue on Monday, May 22, during the calculation of the State Portfolio that he manages.

“This is not something that will be in a regulation-law at the moment due to the characteristics defined by the Constitution and the Constitutional Court, which are urgent economic regulations and the unity of matter, that is, there must be specific questions about what is economical,” he explained.

He said that the labor reform “must be solved in the country” and that it is in the hands of the next convocation of the Assembly to process changes to the Labor Law.

“It is an issue that must be resolved in the state, but which must be promoted where it suits, that is, where laws of all kinds are created, including labor laws. Let’s hope that the next Parliament will be able to do that,” said the minister.

Arosemena indicated that changes in labor regulations are necessary, because the rigidity of the Labor Law makes it impossible to employ more workers.

He emphasized that the government of Guillermo Lasso created 443,000 jobs between May 2021 and December 2022. However, he pointed out that more jobs need to be created.

Labor Minister Patricio Donoso last week, after the activation of the cross of death, noted that one of the measures the government will adopt will be labor reform.