Case ‘cuts wages’: Sunafil could sanction Congress for S$222,000

In recent weeks, five congresswomen have been indicted before the Congressional Ethics Commission by several workers who accuse them of pay cuts and irregular fees, but can they be fined?

María Angela, an employment lawyer at the law firm Aguirre Abogados y Asesores, notes that in any case, the pay cut workers it might be illegal.

“Reductions in employee benefits are illegal, even if they are a trustee of a government agency such as Congress, reductions are prohibited,” he says.

The specialist points out that the worker can denounce this type of facts in a procedure with Congress.

“The employer of these advisers is CongressThus, Congress is obligated to ensure the employment relationship of all workers (…) Any unreasonable reduction for a worker constitutes a hostile act, the worker must automatically notify his supervisor or the personnel department that an appropriate investigation should be initiated, ”he argues.

But can they be fined? Vasquez explains that the National Labor Inspectorate (Sunafil) can sanction Congress if

“Sunafil will have to check if these workers followed the internal process before Congress before resorting to these public complaints. cut wages, but not because he did not manage and protect the worker and did not prevent this act ”

The expert adds that everything that constitutes hostile acts is considered. violations very serious and, depending on the number of workers affected, can be as high as 45 UIT, equivalent to SGD 222,750.

Vazquez reiterates that this alleged sanction will only be given if it can be proven that there have been complaints from workers in the past about this situation with wage cuts, but not about non-payment, as the pay cuts were condemned by members of Congress, according to reports. did so directly, but Congress as an organization continued to pay wages in the normal way.

In private sector cases, the lawyer points out that workers can only have their wages cut if an agreement is signed whereby the worker agrees to a reduction in their remuneration, which cannot be less than the minimum wage of S$1,025 per month. .

What is the working regime in Congress?

The labor lawyer clarifies that, first of all, it must be taken into account that employees of Congress work under law 30647, for which they are subject to the labor regime of private activity, that is, the norms of the law on productivity. and labor competitiveness.

However, it has been found that in this case Board of Directors of the Congress It is he who establishes the internal regulations, personnel policy, sanctions, rewards, incentives, etc.

In this sense, he points out that it is established by internal rules that congressmen manage support staff as their advisers, whom they hire directly.

To avoid irregular hiring, the Congressional Human Resources Department must ensure that the profile required for the position is met.

“As a congressman, I can say that I need two or three advisers whom I trust, but they must at least pass a course assessment. I can suggest these people, show their resume to management human resources and thus approval is given and they are appointed by administrative decree,” he added.

In addition, he clarified that, since this is a position of trust, they do not have a specific deadline and can be resolved without any compensation.