Workers hired part-time will have IGSS coverage, but only under certain conditions

This Wednesday, November 2, Agreement 258-2022 was published in the Diario de Centro América, through which the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (Mintrab) approves the Regulation for the protection of workers who work part-time.

This regulation, approved on August 11 by the Board of Directors of the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (IGSS), under Agreement 1522, aims to establish mechanisms for the protection of part-time workers, for the enjoyment of protection against various occupational hazards.

Article 4 establishes that part-time workers will enjoy the adaptation of protection equivalent to full-time workers in a comparable situation, according to the duration of the working time, occupational risks that are covered by the Sickness, Maternity and Accidents (EMA) and Disability, Old Age and Survival (IVS).

A full-time worker in a comparable situation is understood to be employees who work in the same company and workplace, who have the same type of employment relationship and perform identical or similar activities to the part-time worker.

According to article 5, for the financing of Social Security by workers who work part-time, their employers and the State, the contribution percentages of the current regulations of the EMA and IVS programs will be applied, as long as their real monthly remuneration is equal to or greater than once the Current Monthly Remuneration. Otherwise, the regulations contemplate a new formula that would increase the contribution percentage.

Additionally, that same section indicates that the contribution of the State as such for the EMA program will be equal to 3.5% on the minimum base of the contribution, and for the IVS of 1.83%, on the same base.

And in article 6 it is established that workers who have been transferred from full time to part time will retain the health benefits, already established in the current regulations, which have been initiated prior to migration. Similarly, part-time workers who are in simultaneous labor relations will have the same health benefits already established.

Employees who begin a part-time employment relationship without an immediate previous full-time employment relationship and who only have a part-time employment relationship, will also have medical care coverage for professional illnesses, accidents and maternity.

Requirements and calculations

For the accreditation of these rights, workers must present a valid employment contract and prove, at least, four consecutive contributions within the last six months. Also, to enjoy medical care in general, workers who start a part-time employment relationship must prove 12 consecutive work contributions.

Regarding the contributions for the protection of part-time workers in the IVS program, it will be determined by the sum of the hours worked in a calendar month with the same employer, divided by 22. The result of this operation must be multiplied by factor 0.125 and 0.25 will be added to the result.

“The foregoing in order to be jointly and severally assimilated to the conditions of comparable full-time workers,” indicates the regulation that adds: “It will only be computed as a monthly contribution to the IVS program when the result is equal to or greater than one.” If the result is less than one, it will be computed as a half monthly contribution, cumulative with the half contribution of another month, or with another half monthly contribution with another employer in the same month.

For the calculation of the requirements to grant a pension, all the contributions that the worker has contributed to the IGSS as a full-time employee and those that he has made as a part-time worker will be taken into account. While the calculation of the subsidies and pensions of part-time workers who have a salary lower than the current monthly remuneration, will be carried out on the minimum contribution basis.

Mixed opinions

The Guatemalan Chamber of Industry (CIG) published a statement informing its unions of the publication of this regulation, “which is issued respecting the principles of voluntariness, proportionality, reality, fairness and certainty.”

And he affirms that the regulation is clear in pointing out that part-time workers will enjoy the adaptation of the protection equivalent to full-time workers in a comparable situation, according to the duration of the working time, and occupational risks that are covered by the EMA and IVS programs.

“In addition, a formula is established to determine the contribution of employers, workers and the State, when the sum of them is less than the Current Monthly Remuneration, established in Agreement 1522 of the IGSS Board of Directors. Rules are also established to enjoy health protection and benefits, indicating that workers who transfer from full-time to part-time will keep the health benefits they already enjoy,” the statement read.

But Adolfo Lacs, representative of the union sector on the IGSS Board of Directors, pointed out that from the beginning they have opposed this regulation, since it allows employers to transfer workers who today work full time, part time. “That not only affects families, but also Social Security,” he said.

And that would open the door for employers to transfer large segments of workers to the new regime, making working conditions and family income even more precarious. According to Lacs, “if the minimum wage still fails to cover the needs of a family, what can be expected from less income by having less working time?” He added that it is misleading to think that people can hold more than two jobs.

On the other hand, he indicated that the precariousness of income will also result in fewer resources for Social Security, which will be aggravated because practically those who work full time will have to subsidize those who were previously under that regime and are transferred part time, since they will maintain the same coverage, but providing less.

Therefore, he assured that the trade union sector is not against Convention 175 of the ILO (International Labor Organization), but against the regulation, because it distorts the indicated figure, apart from ruling out that this provision attracts more investment, when the least offers is legal certainty for workers.

“It is not true that people prefer to work fewer hours in exchange for less income, since it is the precariousness of work and income that forces migration.”

And for Édgar Balsells, a research economist at the Institute of National Problems of the University of San Carlos de Guatemala (Ipnusac), this regulation practically eliminates medical benefits for workers who start part-time and prevents the possibility of building insurance for their old age and survival. “Young people don’t get it, but when you get older, you realize the value of Social Security,” he said.

While Fanny de Estrada, director of Institutional Relations of the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (Agexport), pointed out that the application of Convention 175 on part-time work allows flexibility in hiring and the decision of people who want to be employed only for certain hours, with the enjoyment of the labor benefits of law and the benefits of the IGSS.

However, he said that they differ with this entity, since the published regulation covers all types of workers, when what was sought was what was applicable only within the framework of Convention 175, with the aim of paying for formalization. From that account, “companies must respect the permanence of full-time workers and only transfer them part-time, if it is their will.”