Two days after the end of his term, outgoing Labor Minister Patricio Donoso issued six ministerial agreements on changes to working days. This was done last Tuesday, November 21.

In these ministerial agreements, there are also changes in the types of contracting, for example in production.

Although the documents were issued on November 21, they were published on November 23 on the website of the Ministry of Labor, when Donoso was no longer holding that position.

One of the six ministerial agreements is number MDT-2023-161, which mentions that a continuous working day can be up to 70 days. This is stated in Article 10.

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“If the activities performed require the uninterrupted provision of services, the parties to the employment relationship can agree in writing on the execution of consecutive working days that can add up to a maximum of 70 continuous days, with the prior approval of the competent authority,” it says.

In addition, it is emphasized that these appointments can be held seven days a week, in daily appointments of up to eight hours, which will be distributed depending on the needs of the activity.

Labor lawyer Vannessa Velásquez explains that with this article, the worker will be able to work 70 consecutive days for jobs that require the provision of uninterrupted services.

“What happens is that these are special schedules that only tell you if you’re going to work 70 consecutive days. (Therefore) I will take into account and respect the employer’s obligation to generate two days of mandatory vacation. I’ll add that and then you’ll have accumulated free time, which has already worked as it does in oil companies and mining camps,” says Velásquez.

The labor expert points out that this type of work is almost a permanent activity. “At the end of the story, your vacation days accumulate, that’s how it works,” he says.

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Velásquez says that it is not clear to him why Minister Donoso issued these ministerial agreements in his departure, because according to him, this is not new. This indicates that the only thing is that this continuous journey had no limits before.

The labor expert explains that there is no violation of Article 50 or 51 of the Labor Act.

Article 50 talks about the limits of forced labor and rest, which cannot be longer than five in a week, i.e. forty hours. “Saturdays and Sundays will be days of forced rest, and if, due to circumstances, it is not possible to stop work on those days, another equal time of the week will be determined for the rest, by agreement between the employer and the employee,” the article states.

While Article 51 talks about the duration of rest which includes at least forty-eight continuous hours.

This continuous working day, in Article 10 of the ministerial agreement, establishes that the accumulated days of forced rest will be calculated at the rate of 48 hours for every five working days, in the case that the work is performed in eight-hour daily shifts, and the worker will be recognized cumulatively.

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“The parties may agree to increase the hours of the daily working day, in exchange for granting more days of rest, as compensation for those additional hours, but in no case shall the working day be longer than twelve hours a day. Without prejudice to what is established for dynamic days, the days specified in this article will not have surcharges as long as they are within the agreed limits. If the number of working hours is exceeded or if the work is done on days that correspond to accumulated forced vacations, the provisions of Article 55 of the Labor Law will be applied,” this article states.

In addition, this continuous day must be recorded in the IT system of the Ministry of Labour.

Controls and sanctions are also established for special days. Article 11 states that the days will be controlled by labor inspectors. “If it is proven that there is no authorization from the Ministry of Labour, it will be considered a serious offense for the purpose of sanctioning,” the article summarizes.

Ministerial agreements also refer to new contract modalities: for young people who are employed in call center and for those who, for example, have 20 years of contributions to the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (IESS) and are employed in time until retirement.