Following the repeal of strict labor penalties under Argentina’s Ley Bases, judicial challenges in San Juan are testing whether dismissed workers can successfully pivot to civil damage claims for unregistered employment.
The Bottom Line
- San Juan labor courts have upheld the constitutionality of Ley Bases (Law 27.742), confirming the removal of automatic penalty multipliers for unregistered or informally registered labor.
- Plaintiffs must now independently plead and prove actual civil damages rather than relying on statutory presumptions when employers fail to register workers correctly.
- In a recent ruling from the Second Labor Court, a claim for 15.6 million pesos in standard indemnities succeeded, while parallel civil damage claims for lack of registration failed due to insufficient evidentiary support.
San Juan Labor Court Rejects Penalties Under Ley Bases
When Judge Mariela Berón of the Second Labor Court issued her ruling in the case of Agustina Molina against the clothing store Santa Paz in Rivadavia, the legal mechanics of employment termination in Argentina shifted visibly.
The worker, who entered employment as a seller in August 2022 but was placed “on the books” only between September and December 2024, pursued a constructive dismissal claim after her demands for regularized entry dates and full-time schedules went unanswered.
As reported by 0264noticias.com.ar, the court ordered the employer to pay 15.6 million pesos plus interest to cover standard indemnities, including seniority, lack of pre-notice, integration of the dismissal month, unpaid vacations, and salary differences.
However, the plaintiff’s legal counsel also sought the declaration of unconstitutionality for Articles 99 and 100 of Ley Bases (27.742). Those provisions eliminated the statutory fines previously imposed on companies maintaining informal workers or delaying severance payments.
Judge Berón rejected the unconstitutionality challenge. She noted that the legislative removal of such multipliers—which historically added roughly 16.6 million pesos extra in statutory sanctions—did not violate constitutional principles.
The magistrate emphasized that the legislative branch holds the authority to modify supervisory mechanisms when detecting disfunctional effects or disproportionate sanctions, provided the core protection of labor rights remains intact.
Civil Damages Replace Statutory Multipliers
Faced with the elimination of statutory labor penalties, plaintiffs are increasingly turning to common law principles of civil liability to pursue compensation for unregistered employment.
In the Santa Paz case, the worker’s attorney pleaded subsidiary claims for damages, moral injury, and discriminatory treatment resulting from the lack of formal registration.
Judge Berón clarified that while Ley Bases removed the pre-determined quantification of damages, it did not eliminate a worker’s right to prove actual harm. Those damages, she stressed, can no longer be presumed.
The plaintiff’s legal filing argued that the lack of registration caused measurable harms, including restricted access to health insurance, payroll accounts, personal loans, credit cards, occupational risk coverage (ART), property rentals, and union representation.
Yet, the court found that the plaintiff failed to discharge the evidentiary burden required for civil tort claims. The ruling stated that no substantive proof was offered to demonstrate concrete financial losses or active denial of services directly attributable to the lack of registration.
Furthermore, the magistrate dismissed allegations of discriminatory treatment, characterizing them as dogmatic and generic assertions lacking factual grounding regarding comparative treatment with registered peers.
Judicial Consensus on Legislative Reform
The Second Labor Court’s decision aligns with broader judicial interpretations across San Juan regarding the application of the national labor reform.
Other magistrates, including Matías Pallito of the First Labor Court, have similarly upheld the validity of the Ley Bases provisions that dismantled historical employment fines.
Legal analysts following provincial labor disputes note that while avenues for regularizing employment relationships and claiming basic severance remain operational, plaintiffs must now adapt litigation strategies to meet strict civil evidentiary standards rather than depending on automatic statutory enhancements.
The question of how extensively lower courts will evaluate concrete proofs of civil damage in subsequent informal employment disputes remains open as litigants test alternative legal doctrines.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
