10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10959
This report briefly presents the main regulatory measures adopted in Uruguay in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. The main measures are categorized in three packages, considering the regulation of the national health emergency, the reinforcement measures, and the necessary adaptations and improvements implemented recently.
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1561-8048
10959
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Federico Rosenbaum Carli
Italian Labour Law e-Journal
Unemployment
COVID-19 and Labour Law: Uruguay
Text.Serial.Journal
https://illej.unibo.it/
13
National Reports
2020-05-11
2020-05-09
2020-04-15
2020-09-15
ILLeJ
Federico Rosenbaum Carli
2020/05/11
10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10959
Universidad Católica del Uruguay
1561-8048
1S
Unemployment
en
COVID-19 and Labour Law: Uruguay
https://illej.unibo.it/article/download/10959/10830
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COVID-19 and Labour Law: Uruguay                                                  Italian Labour Law e-Journal
Federico Rosenbaum Carli                                                         Special Issue 1, Vol. 13 (2020)
federico.rosenbaum@ucu.edu.uy                                      Covid-19 and Labour Law. A Global Review
                                                                                               ISSN 1561-8048
                                                                https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10959




                 COVID-19 and Labour Law: Uruguay
                    Federico Rosenbaum Carli*

                                                Abstract

     This report briefly presents the main regulatory measures adopted in Uruguay in the context of
     the coronavirus pandemic. The main measures are categorized in three packages, considering
     the regulation of the national health emergency, the reinforcement measures, and the necessary
     adaptations and improvements implemented recently.



     Keywords: Covid-19; Labour Law; Income support; Remote work; Unemployment.



 1. Brief Introduction

     We are not in a position to determine with certainty when the coronavirus pandemic
 will be dominated once and for all.
     Therefore, all countries are focused on discussing different sanitary measures that must
 be adopted in real time, finding opposing scientific positions (such as whether it is
 necessary to adopt mandatory or voluntary isolation, if exposure to the virus is required as
 a measure to boost people’s immunity, whether to wear the protection masks or not, etc.).
     On the other hand, the necessary measures to avoid stagnation in the economy have
 also been analyzed (if incentivize the work of people or discourage them, if it is necessary
 to adopt credit facility measures, if providing universal basic income, or whether to provide
 a minimum targeted income to certain sectors of society, etc.).
     Likewise, the view from the world of work has focused the study especially evaluating
 social security systems, challenging its historical insufficiency, and proposing measures to
 alleviate the labour crisis caused by the coronavirus (such as sickness benefits,
 unemployment benefits or their flexibility, remote work, etc.).
     Regulatory intervention in Uruguay in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic has been
 dynamic (like the rest of the countries worldwide), seeking to respond to the needs of the
 population and taking into account the changing evolution of the health status.
     Thus, over time, it is possible to detect three packages of measures with varied contents,
 although chronologically responding to different purposes.

 *
   Associate Professor of Labour Law, Universidad Católica del Uruguay, Uruguay. Master’s degree in Labour
 Law and Labour Relations and PhD candidate of Management, Finance and Justice in the Social State
 (research field “Labour Law in a Social State based on the Rule of Law”), Universidad de Salamanca, Spain.
 The opinions included in this work are personal and do not commit the organisations to which the author
 belongs to or represents.
    Federico Rosenbaum Carli                                                      Italian Labour Law e-Journal
                                                                                 Special Issue 1, Vol. 13 (2020)
                                                                    Covid-19 and Labour Law. A Global Review
                                                                                      Section: National Reports




2. First package of measures: national health emergency

    In the framework of the recommendation of the World Health Organization to “keep
firm vigilance to find, isolate, test and treat all cases in order to cut the transmission chains”, a first
package of measures had been adopted in Uruguay aimed for defining national health
policy, imposing mandatory and preventive measures, as well as non-mandatory
educational or of personal liability.
    Precisely, the starting point was the declaration of the national health emergency. Along
with this definition, it was considered convenient to suspend indefinitely all public shows;
close preventively and provisionally the thermal tourist centers; as well as imposing the
isolation for a period of 14 days for certain categories of people1. In order to effectively
comply with these obligations, it was also needed to compel people to report immediately
to the health care provider if they present COVID-19 symptoms, and in case of breach of
the isolation or the mentioned report obligation, whoever has detailed knowledge of this
circumstance, is obliged to report it to the health authority to initiate the corresponding
criminal procedure.
    On the other hand, educational measures aimed at generating a commitment and
personal responsibility of the population, were limited to the exhortation of the suspension
of events involving crowding and for extreme measures of cleaning and disinfection in
public and private places.


3. Second package of measures: reinforcement

   In order to reinforce the set of original measures, Uruguay expanded the mandatory
measures by prohibiting, in the first place, the disembarkation of passengers and crew from
ships and cruise ships that arrive from “high risk areas”, as well
as symptomatic people; secondly , the arrival of people from Argentina (except for
nationals and residents in Uruguay, the transport of goods, merchandise, correspondence,
and humanitarian and health aid); and thirdly, flights from Europe until April 20th (except
for the transport of goods, merchandise, correspondence and humanitarian and health aid).
   Furthermore, it shall be mentioned the mandatory measures adopted in relation to
work. Specifically, employers must manage preventive and protective procedures related to
COVID-19, providing informational material to workers as well as hygiene material in the
workplace, ensuring the adequate cleaning of workplaces and equipment, have available gel
alcohol dispensers, and adopt measures to respect a distance of 1.5 meters between people.

1 Mandatory isolation is applicable to: a) those who contracted COVID-19; b) those who have fever, and one
or more respiratory symptoms (cough, sore throat or respiratory distress) and also, in the last 15 days, have
stayed temporarily or permanently in “high risk areas”; c) those who have been in direct contact with
confirmed cases of COVID-19; d) people who enter the country after having transited or remained in “high
risk areas”.

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10959                                                                   2
 Federico Rosenbaum Carli                                               Italian Labour Law e-Journal
                                                                       Special Issue 1, Vol. 13 (2020)
                                                          Covid-19 and Labour Law. A Global Review
                                                                            Section: National Reports




    Consistent with the determination that it is not appropriate to implement excessive
limitations to the individual’s liberty, Uruguay also expanded the non-mandatory measures
of an educational nature. In this sense, an exhortation was ordered not to travel abroad,
under personal responsibility that in case of doing so it will not be possible to access the
sickness benefit. Similarly, employers have been urged to implement and promote, when
possible, remote work in the homes of workers. In case of being able to implement this
work regime, it is necessary that the decision is communicated to the Labour
Inspectorate and that adequate implements are provided to carry out the work.
    Since the needs of the population have deepened over the short time after the health
crisis began, other types of eminently social protection measures had been also introduced.
    Thus, access to sickness benefits had been made more flexible, allowing those who
must comply with the mandatory isolation to be entitled to it, even when
they are not infected.
    Likewise, a special    unemployment       subsidy has    been      created temporarily for
workers with monthly remuneration, mainly those who work in the commerce sector and
travel agencies, in cases where a partial suspension of work is verified due to a reduction in
days or hours of work. As a characteristic of this subsidy, it has been chosen to introduce
some forms of flexibility, since those who have exhausted the time coverage by the general
unemployment regime have also been entitled to access for it. From an economic point of
view, the subsidy is equal to 25% of the average remuneration for the last 6 months,
calculated proportionally to the period covered by the subsidy. Likewise, the minimum
insured income is equal to 75% of that average, including what the employer pays for the
worked time.


4. Third package of measures: adaption and improvement

    Due to the dynamism and evolution of the state of health, it has been necessary to
introduce a third package of measures, aimed at adapting those previously adopted and
perfecting them, either by a modification or adopting new ones.
    In this contextual framework, it has been understood prudent to modify the special
unemployment subsidy, to extend it and cover all activities, not only commerce and travel
agencies, as well as temporarily extend the granting of said benefit until May 31st.
    On the other hand, it should be noted that the characteristic of our general annual leave
regime is that it is generated in one year (depending on the working time) and can only be
used on the following year. For this reason, another innovative measure has been the
possibility of using in advance the annual leave (the one generated in 2020), as long as there
is an agreement between worker and employer (motivated by the health emergency), as well
as requiring the prior notification of such decision to the Labour Inspectorate, and that the
minimum period of 10 days is effectively used.
    It has also been admitted the possibility that people over 65 years of age isolate
themselves in their homes and that they can access the sickness allowance for within 30
days (except for those who can perform their tasks remotely at home).

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10959                                                         3
 Federico Rosenbaum Carli                                                Italian Labour Law e-Journal
                                                                        Special Issue 1, Vol. 13 (2020)
                                                           Covid-19 and Labour Law. A Global Review
                                                                             Section: National Reports




    Finally, another measure that concerns work and is closely linked to the economy has
been the provision of a mechanism to finance State expenses related to the coronavirus. To
this end, a COVID-19 Solidarity Fund has been created, made up of various
income received by the State, one of which is a new tax created for this purpose. This tax is
paid monthly (from April to May with a possible temporary extension), taxing the
remuneration of personal services rendered to the State in relation to dependency whose
nominal salary is higher than USD 2.600 approximately, in varying percentages
(from 5% to the 20%), depending to four pay bands. Basically, the taxable persons are
the public officials and independent workers who provide services for the State; as well
as the President and Vice President of the Republic, Legislators, Ministers,
Undersecretaries, Intendants, and positions of trust (at the maximum rate of 20%); former
Presidents, and other people who receive subsidies for having held public and trust
positions; retirees, pensioners, military and police retirees (although concerning a tax with a
different name). Those who are expressly excluded are the health staff.




Copyright © 2020 Federico Rosenbaum Carli. This article is released under a Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International License




https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1561-8048/10959                                                          4
