New part times Rules in Guatemala 

 

The Guatemalan Constitutional Court in July 2021 lift up the last obstacle to have the new regulation on partial work allowing the partial work to be regulated.

Before hiring new employees with the new modality you have to consider legal and labor aspects, as it will require to adapt the labor contract and to be sure that this new format is not to dissimulate a full times job.

Let see how to define the hours of work and day of work

First define which day will be the worker hired and it has to be below the normal legal one 8 hours a day, 6 hours at night and 7 hours mix times.

Then establish if it will only one day or different ones.

There is no minimum of hours of days that can be contracted.

The numbers of days per week should be at maximum 5 to 6 days.

How to define the salary.

Article Four of the regulation indicate that the worker as the right to receive a salary per hour is Q 11.61 per hour.

So if the part times work is 5 hours a day it wil be 

 

Q 11.61 x 5  x numbers of day

 

Remember the incentive bonus of Q 250 still has to be paid every month.

 

Labor contract mandatory content. 

The contract must stipulate clearly the following information :

• Function
• Full name as stated in the DPI
• Days work
• Hourly Salary
• How many days and hours per day
• If the person change from a full times contract to part times it has to be documented that the transfer has been volunteer.

Rest and change of hours.

Rest : the establish is a rest of half hour must be given for 8 hours of work

If it is 4 hours  it is 15 minutes,if under 4 hours , no rest

Discontinued working day : It is recommended that the interval between the hours work is less than an hour.

If the work requires flexibility the patron must inform the employee on Friday of his coming week work times.

From a Full day to part times work.

A worker of full day job can ask to pass to partial working job voluntarily.

He must sign on a notarized document his will for change.

It is recommended not to pay the compensation package when the change is done, but to provision for the years worked that he is entitled and freeze the compensation package.

 

 

What happen with the bonus and vacations. 

The new rules clarify this matter and now the part times worker is entitled to receive in proportion part of bono 14, aguinaldo and vacations as well as if it is a women , lactancy leave when having a child. 

Remember if you have more then 3 employees you have to register them with IGSS, the Guatemalan Institute for Social Wealth fare, but always sick advices from legal expert.

Can an employee be hired on part times basis and billed for professional services?

 The part-times contract corresponds to a labor matter that should be documented and regulated as an employment contract, while professional services that are documented with and invoice are extrapolated to a different matter, the civil one, and are not susceptible to the application of labor law.

Therefore, it would be anti technical to use a civil figure to regulate an hourly employment relationship, and also to the detriment of the worker, who would have the right to seek before the corresponding authorities the recognition of an employment relationship if the elements that typify it exist, since the form does not invalidate the substance of the relationship that originates the rendering of services.

Can I be asked for an exclusivity working part-time?

According to Article 18 of the labor Code, exclusivity is not an essential characteristic of employment contracts, unless there is incompatibility between 2 or more employment relationships that make it inappropriate to provide services to different employers. 

However, in order to require exclusivity in an employment contract, including part-times contracts, exclusivity must be agreed in the contract itself.