Updated on: 2025/03/11 04:30 (UTC)
Overview
The Argentine Constitution guarantees “dignified and equitable working conditions,” fair and equitable remuneration and protection against arbitrary dismissal, among other labor rights. Specific legislation such as the Employment Contract Law implements these rights.
Hiring
Employment Contracts
There is no requirement in Argentina that an employment contract be in writing or take any particular form, although the act of hiring an employee creates an implicit contract in any case.
A new worker can be put on probation for up to three months, during which either the worker or the employer can end the employment relationship without explanation, although 15 days’ notice must be provided.
If an employer rehires a person, it cannot institute a second probationary period, and the law does not allow companies to use probationary periods to continually hire and fire new workers to do work of a permanent nature.
A temporary contract can be used when extraordinary and transitory production demands or requirements are foreseeable, although a specific term for the contract termination cannot be foreseen.
Under the Teleworking Contracts Law, employees working remotely are entitled to the same rights and protections as other workers, including limitations on working hours and the “right to disconnect”. Employers must reimburse teleworkers’ expenses related to IT equipment, internet, and other tools.
Restrictions on Hiring
The minimum age for employment is 16.
Employers are prohibited from hiring workers younger than 16 except for the family business, in which a family’s children ages 14 to 16 may work up to three hours a day and 15 hours a week, provided that the job is not unhealthy and does not interfere with school attendance and that the family obtains government permission.
Recordkeeping
Employers are required to maintain records on all employees in a book registered with and certified by the labor authority.
Background Checks
In general, employers cannot perform a criminal background check on an employee. Only the employee can obtain the criminal records certificate and provide it to the employer. However, checking law enforcement records is permitted if justified by the requirements of the position for which the candidate is being considered.
Employers must conduct pre-employment medical exams to determine whether the applicant has the ability to carry out the activities related to his or her job position and to accurately determine pre-existing disabilities at the time of hiring the employee. To avoid discrimination issues, certain tests are excluded, such as HIV and Chagas disease.. The law is silent on preemployment drug and alcohol testing.
Noncompetition Agreements
The Employment Contract Law states that employees owe a “duty of loyalty” to their employers, which includes maintaining confidentiality of trade secrets, and a “duty not to compete” as long as they are with a company. In general, these duties cease upon termination. Some courts have considered post-termination noncompete agreements enforceable, but case law trends are unclear.
Reference Citations
Employment Contracts: Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), arts. 90, 92a (Spanish)
Restrictions on Hiring: Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), art. 32 (Spanish)
Recordkeeping: Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), art. 52 (Spanish)
Noncompetition Agreements: Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), art. 83 (Spanish)
Immigration and Work Permits
In General
Employers must register with Argentina’s National Registry of Sponsoring Entities before they can hire foreign employees. Persons authorized as permanent residents are allowed to work at any activity.
Visa and Work Permits
Employers must register with Argentina’s National Registry of Sponsoring Entities before they can hire foreign employees. Once the registration certificate has been obtained, employers must update their corporate information annually; they will not be able to hire foreigners or renew working visas until that year’s update has been completed.
Employees with citizenship from a Mercosur member country (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) have different obligations to meet to become either a permanent or temporary resident than citizens coming from other countries including the U.S. For an employee from the U.S., a work visa can be obtained from an Argentine consulate or consular section with the appropriate materials, which include an entry permit issued by the Argentine immigration authority and a contract of employment corresponding to Argentine labor laws.
This contract will state the terms and conditions of employment that will apply in Argentina. Both the employer and the employee must agree that the contract will not enter into force until the employee is fully authorized to work by the Argentine immigration authority.
The employer’s signature must be certified by a notary public in Argentina and authenticated by the “colegio de escribanos.” Additionally, the employee must sign the contract in the presence of the consulate. For intracompany transfers, an employee must present a letter from the U.S. employer confirming that the employee is currently employed at the company and is going to work in Argentina for a parent, affiliate, subsidiary or branch office of the U.S. employer. The letter must be duly signed by the person in charge and notarized. For a long-term working visa, an employee will need the employer to provide comprehensive documentation including legal status, insurance, social security and tax information.
Persons authorized as permanent residents are allowed to work at any activity. Temporary residence applicants must provide an authenticated certificate stating that they have no criminal record issued by the country where the applicant has lived for more than 12 months. The evidence that the applicant presents must cover the last 10 years.
Nationals of one of the countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), including the United States, do not need a business visa to travel to Argentina for stays of up to 90 days. Normal business activities are allowed and must be unpaid.
Digital Nomad Visa. Effective May 1, 2022, people seeking to work remotely in Argentina for a company that does not have a presence in the country can apply for a digital nomad visa. The visa is valid for six months, and can be extended only once for the same period.
Penalties
Section 59 of Argentina’s immigration law sets forth most of the penalties prescribed for violating the rules on entry and work of foreigners. Depending on the specific violation, penalties can range from fines to imprisonment for up to six years in certain cases in which liberty of persons is involved. Both the foreign employee and his or her employer can be found liable for violations of the law.
Reference Citations
Visas and Work Permits: Ley No. 25.871 Dec. 17, 2003 (Spanish)
Nondiscrimination
In General
The Employment Contract Law prohibits discrimination based on sex, race, nationality, religion, political affiliation, union affiliation, or age.
The Discrimination Law (23,592) provides for reinstatement or other remediation to mitigate the effects of past discrimination. The National Constitution of 1994 reaffirmed equality for Argentine women. Most international human rights treaties, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, now have constitutional status and complement the rights guaranteed in the text of the constitution.
The 1994 constitution promotes affirmative action in order to achieve de jure and de facto equality. The Employment Contract Law says that unequal treatment to achieve goals such as efficiency or overall equality is not discriminatory.
Pay Discrimination
Equal pay for equal work is guaranteed by the constitution.
Reference Citations
Nondiscrimination: Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), art. 14bis (Spanish); Antidiscrimination Law, 1988, No. 23,592 art. 1 (Spanish)
Pay Discrimination: Argentine Constitution, 1994, § 14bis
Employee Privacy
Employee Data
While Argentina has not addressed employer monitoring of electronic communications statutorily, labor courts have issued decisions indicating that employees have no expectation of privacy for their electronic communications while at work using employer-owned equipment or networks.
In general, employers may only collect and process personal data with the employees’ consent. Consent is not required if:
- the data is collected from a publicly accessible database or as a result of a legal obligation;
- the database is limited to certain basic information, such as name, ID, tax ID, job, birthdate and address; or
- the personal data derives from a scientific or professional contractual relationship and is used only in such context.
When collecting personal data, the employer must expressly and clearly inform employees of:
- the purpose for which the data is being collected;
- who may receive the data;
- the consequences of providing the data, of refusing to do so or of providing inaccurate information; and
- employees’ access, rectification and suppression rights.
In addition, data contained in databases must be truthful, adequate, pertinent, and not excessive; be used exclusively for the purpose for which it was legally obtained; and be deleted on completion of that purpose. Incomplete or partially or totally false data must be immediately amended or suppressed.
Personal data may only be transferred out of Argentina in compliance with legitimate interests of the transferring and receiving parties and with employee consent, which may be later revoked.
The employer must take all technical and organizational measures necessary to ensure the security and confidentiality of the personal data, so as to avoid its alteration, loss, or unauthorized access or treatment. Such measures must permit the employer to detect intentional and unintentional breaches of information, whether the risks arise from human action or the technical means used. It is prohibited to record personal data in databases thst do not meet requirements of technical integrity and safety.
Employee Monitoring and Surveillance
Employers can monitor employees’ work devices only if:
- the employees are notified in advance and give their consent, and
- effective measures are in place to keep personal information confidential and safe.
Employers are always prohibited from monitoring employees’ private e-mail accounts.
Reference Citations
Employee Data: Personal Data Protection Act, No. 25.326 §§ 3-14
Employee Monitoring and Surveillance: Personal Data Protection Act, No. 25.326 §§ 9-10
Compensation
Hours of Work
Normal working hours are a maximum eight per day and 48 per week from Monday through Saturday. There must be at least 12 hours between the end of one shift and the beginning of the next. Workers are generally entitled to be off work from 1 p.m. Saturday until Monday.
On July 30, 2020, the Argentine Congress passed Law 27555 on the Teleworking Contracts Regime, which provides the legal framework for teleworking in employment settings that allow it. The telework regulation applies when the task to be performed is carried out totally or partially at the employee’s home, or in locations other than the employer’s establishment, via information technology and telecommunication means. Under the regulations, teleworking employees must be granted the same rights and obligations as employees performing their duties in person, and their remuneration may not be lower than what an employee working on-site receives.
Except for force majeure situations, the change from on-site work to telework must be made by employees voluntarily and documented in a telework employment contract. Employees may reverse their decision at any time. Working hours must be previously agreed on and written into the telework contract in compliance with the legal and conventional limits in force. Employers are not allowed to ask teleworking employees to work outside of their assigned workday hours or send them communications during off-hours through any means.
Employers must provide the equipment, including hardware and software, and tools necessary to perform teleworking, as well as the necessary support for the performance of the tasks, which includes adequate training in new technologies through courses and support tools, both virtually and on-site. Employers must also assume the costs of the installation, maintenance, and repair of the equipment. Employees must be reimbursed for the use of their own tools.
Minimum Wage
Effective Jan. 1, 2025, the monthly minimum wage is 286,711 Argentine pesos, up from 271,571.22 Argentine pesos. Effective Feb. 1, 2025, the monthly minimum wage is 292,466 Argentine pesos. Effective March 1, 2025, the monthly minimum wage is 296,832 Argentine pesos.
Overtime
The overtime premium is 50 percent of the regular rate (time and a half) for work performed from Monday until 1 p.m. on Saturday (beyond the maximum eight hours per day and 48 per week) and 100 percent (double time) for work performed on Saturdays after 1 p.m., on Sundays, or on public holidays.
Employees cannot be required to work more than 3 overtime hours in a day, 30 in a month, or 200 in a year.
Wage Payment
Daily workers should be paid weekly or biweekly, salaried workers monthly. Payment must be no later than four working days following the end of the pay period for monthly or biweekly wages, three days for employees paid on a weekly basis.
Mandatory Bonuses
Employers are required to pay lower-income employees a one-time bonus in December to help with rising inflation. Under the 2022 decree, employers must pay the bonus to workers earning net wages up to three times the monthly minimum wage in effect for December.
Reference Citations
Hours of Work: Law on Work Time, 1929, No. 11,544 (as amended) arts. 1-2 (Spanish)
Minimum Wage: Argentine Constitution, 1994, § 14bis
Overtime: Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), art. 201 (Spanish); Decree on Working Hours, No. 484/2000 (Spanish)
Wage Payment: Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), arts. 118, 131 (Spanish)
Mandatory Bonuses: Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), art. 122 (Spanish)
Benefits
Vacation
Workers who have completed at least six months with the same employer over a 12-month period are entitled to paid annual leave as follows:
- fewer than five years of service with the company: 14 days,
- five to 10 years: 21 days,
- 10 to 20 years: 28 days and
- more than 20 years: 35 days.
Workers who have not completed six months of service get one day off for every 20 days worked.
The employee must be paid his or her usual wages during leave, and the payment must be made prior to the beginning of leave. Leave must begin on a Monday.
Holidays
The following 13 public holidays are observed in Argentina:
- Jan. 1: New Year’s Day
- Carnival (two days in February or March)
- March 24: National Day of Memory for Truth and Justice
- April 2: Veterans Day and Day of Those Who Died in Malvinas (Falklands) War
- Good Friday
- May 1: Labor Day
- May 25: First National Government
- June 20: Flag Day
- July 9: Independence Day
- Aug. 17: Death of General Jose de San Martin
- Oct. 12: Columbus Day (Día de Respeto a la diversidad Cultural)
- Dec. 8: Immaculate Conception
- Dec. 25: Christmas
If Flag Day, the anniversary of the death of General Jose de San Martin or Columbus Day falls on a Tuesday or Wednesday, it is moved backward to Monday; if it falls on a Thursday or Friday, it is moved forward to the next Monday.
Jewish workers are entitled to the following days off:
- Passover (the first and last two days)
- Rosh Hashana (first and second days)
Muslim workers are entitled to the following days off:
- Feast of Sacrifice
- Islamic New Year
- Completion of the Fast
The government may also declare up to three additional holidays (know as tourist bridge holidays) per year in order to promote tourism throughout the country and create long weekends when public holidays fall on Tuesday or Thursday. Effective for 2022, tourist bridge holidays are scheduled for Oct. 7, Nov. 21, and Dec. 9. Effective for 2023, tourist bridge holidays are scheduled for May 26, June 19, and Oct. 13.
Workers are paid double time for working on a holiday.
Maternity Leave
Female employees are entitled to maternity leave of 45 days before and 45 days after delivery, although the employee is allowed to switch up to 15 days from the prenatal to the postnatal period, and a social allowance corresponding to her salary for the time she is on leave.
The employee must present a medical certificate confirming her pregnancy and the expected delivery date. She is entitled to job security and may for certified medical reasons refuse particular assignments or tasks.
Once a mother returns to work, the law requires that she be allowed two daily nursing breaks of 30 minutes each or a single hour-long break for up to one year after the birth.
At the end of maternity leave, women who have been with a company for at least a year may take additional unpaid leave of from three to six months.
Paternity Leave
Men are entitled to two days of leave for the birth of a child.
Sick Leave
Workers have the right to sick leave with full pay for a period of up to three months per year if their length of service is five years or less and for a period of up to six months if their length of service is more than five years. If the worker has family responsibilities, these entitlements are extended to six and 12 months, respectively. The worker is entitled to sick leave without pay for another 12 months, during which the employer is obliged to maintain the employment relationship.
In the event of sickness leave the employer must pay the employee’s salary for the first fifteen days. After the fifteenth day, the working insurance company will pay the sick leave to the employee. The employer is entitled to demand the employee to attend to a medical doctor, appointed by employer, to verify that the employee is actually ill and in no condition to work.
Other Leave
Employees can take paid leave for the following circumstances:
- marriage ten calendar days;
- death of a spouse, child or parent three days;
- death of a sibling one day; and
- high school or college exam two days.
Pensions and Social Security
Employers and employees are required to make social security contributions for family allowance, medical services, pensions and unemployment benefits.
All employees working in Argentina are covered by the Argentine social security system. In order to be entitled to receive retirement benefits, the beneficiary must be:
- 65 years old in the case of men; or
- 60 years old in the case of women.
In both cases, the beneficiary must provide evidence of 30 years of service and social security payments.
When employees reach 70 years old and have 30 years of contributions to the social security system, the employer must ensure that the employee begins the process to obtain retirement and the governmental pension plan.
Although complying with the social security system is mandatory, there are certain exceptions. Foreigners on short-term assignments (less than two years with a temporary visa) are exempt from contributing into the system if they do not have permanent residency in Argentina and receive social security protections under the laws of their own country of permanent residence.
Workers’ Compensation
Employers are required to purchase labor risk insurance through private carriers to provide medical benefits to employees injured at work.
Reference Citations
Vacation: Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), arts. 150-155 (Spanish)
Holidays: Decree on National Holidays, No. 1584/2010 (Spanish); Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), arts. 166, 201 (Spanish)
Maternity Leave: Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), arts. 177, 179 (Spanish)
Paternity Leave: Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), art. 158 (Spanish)
Sick Leave: Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), arts. 208, 212 (Spanish)
Other Leave: Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), art. 158 (Spanish)
Pensions and Social Security: Law on Integrated Retirement and Pension System, 1993, No. 24,241, arts. 16-20 (Spanish)
Workers’ Compensation: Employment Injuries Act, 1995 No. 24,557, arts. 2-4 (Spanish)
Labor Relations
In General
The rights to organize, bargain collectively, and strike are guaranteed by the Argentine Constitution.
Right to Organize
Collective bargaining agreements normally regulate wages and other conditions of employment. Agreements are legally binding and have wide scope. In 2004, Law 25,877 reestablished industrywide collective bargaining, replacing labor-management negotiation at the company level.
Individual unions can form within a company or even a division of a company, but only trade unions, approved and registered by the Labor Ministry, can negotiate collective bargaining agreements. Two or more trade unions may form a federation, which in turn may enter a confederation.
Collection of union dues by checkoff is mandatory under the 1988 Trade Union Law (Law 23,551).
Works Councils
The labor code does not address works councils.
Dispute Resolution
Workers’ delegates and internal committees may submit grievances to the employer and may accompany labor inspectors during inspections of the enterprise. Individual labor disputes are dealt with by labor courts, whose rules and procedures differ according to jurisdiction.
Strikes and Lockouts
For a strike to be legal, a cooling-off period of not more than 15 days must be observed, during which conciliation talks are held. The conciliator may extend the period for five additional days, after which, if no agreement is reached, the parties are free to engage in strikes or lockouts. The Labor Ministry can declare a strike illegal if the union fails to respond to settlement offers, if the strike does not relate to a labor dispute or if there is strike-related violence.
When a strike is called, the parties are obliged to maintain minimum services, so that essential functions are not interrupted. The competent authority is empowered to determine the extent of such minimum service if the parties fail to reach agreement. There is no legal definition of essential or minimum service.
Successorship Clauses
In cases where a business is sold or transferred, the successor employer becomes responsible for its predecessor’s rights, privileges and duties towards the employees under the collective agreement.
Reference Citations
Right to Organize: Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), art. 14bis (Spanish)
Dispute Resolution: Law on Collective Labor Agreements, 1953, No. 14,250 (Spanish)
Strikes and Lockouts: Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), art. 14bis (Spanish)
Successorship Clauses: Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), art. 225 (Spanish)
Safety, Health and Security
In General
Employers are required to provide safe and healthy workplaces.
Workplace Safety and Health
The Employment Contract Law and the 1972 Health and Safety at Work Law, supplemented by Executive Order 351/79, require employers to provide safe and healthy workplaces, as well as workers’ compensation insurance. Failure can be considered constructive discharge. In 2005, the federal government passed a resolution adopting the International Labor Organization’s Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems.
Drug and Alcohol Use
Smoking is banned in workplaces.
Reference Citations
Workplace Safety and Health: Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), art. 75 (Spanish); Health and Safety at Work Law, 1979 (Spanish)
Drug and Alcohol Use: Regulation of Consumption of Products Made with Tobacco, Law 26,687 art. 4 (Spanish)
Termination
Termination by Employer
An employer can terminate an employee’s labor contract with or without just cause. Legal precedent recognizes insubordination, fighting or insults, work for a competitor, criminal offenses against the employer and other serious offenses as just cause for termination. The employer must provide a written explanation of the termination to the employee, who can challenge the action in a judicial proceeding, in which the employer has the burden of proof.
During the three-month probationary period, an employee may be dismissed with 15 days’ notice and no severance. After the probationary period, however, the employee must receive at last one month’s notice, two months’ notice after five years of service.
The employer is entitled to dismiss an employee without paying severance in the case of gross misconduct by the employee. In cases of a massive decrease in the amount of work not caused by the employer, the employee can be dismissed for business-related reasons and be paid a reduced severance of 50 percent of the regular entitlement.
If the employer decides to terminate the relationship without just cause, severance must be paid. If the employee decides to leave his/her employment, no compensation is payable to the employer and no cause is required
Employees on notice of termination are entitled to two working hours per day to look for another job. The two-hour daily accrual can be accumulated to allow full days off for the job search.
Plant Closings and Mass Layoffs
Under Argentina’s Employment Law, employers scheduling a plant closing or mass layoff are required to file a report with the Ministry of Labor, which notifies the affected union. Mass layoffs are defined as:
- 15 percent or more of employees for companies employing fewer than 400 workers,
- 10 percent for those employing 400 to 1,000 workers and
- 5 percent for those employing more than 1,000.
Payment on Termination
Employees who leave an employer for any reason are entitled to be compensated for the vacation leave and annual bonus they have accrued so far that year. Employees terminated without cause are also entitled to one month’s salary for each year of service or a fraction of a year greater than three months.
Employers that fail to give proper notice of termination or violate prohibitions on dismissing employees may also have to pay a penalty. The penalty for lack of proper notice is payment of compensation that would accrue during the notice period.
If an employer dismisses a pregnant employee in the 7 1 / 2 months before her due date or a new mother in the 7 1 / 2 months after she has her baby, the employer must pay her a full year’s salary in addition to other compensation she is due upon termination. This is also the case for the dismissal of a woman in the three months before she gets married or the six months afterward.
Unemployment Insurance
Laid-off employees who have contributed to the National Employment Fund for at least six months over the three years preceding termination are entitled to unemployment compensation. The duration of the benefits depends on how long the person contributed to the Employment Fund over the previous three years, ranging from two months of benefits if the contributions have been for six to 11 months to a full year of payments if the contributions have been made for the full three years. The amount of the benefits depends on the worker’s salary.
Reference Citations
Termination by Employer: Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), arts. 231-239, 241-243 (Spanish)
Plant Closings and Mass Layoffs: Law No. 24,013, 1991, art. 98 (Spanish)
Payment on Termination: Employment Contract Law, No. 390/1976 (as amended), arts. 155-156 (Spanish)
Personal Taxes
Residency Requirements
The following individuals are considered residents for income tax purposes:
- native and naturalized Argentine citizens,
- foreign nationals granted permanent residence in Argentina and
- foreign nationals holding a residence visa valid for at least 12 months.
Taxable Income
Argentinean residents are liable for taxes on their worldwide income. Nonresidents pay tax only on income derived from sources within Argentina. The increased special deduction, which was introduced in 2021 to exempt lower-income employees from income tax, had its applicability thresholds increased for 2022.
Employment income includes wages, pensions, grants, bonuses, life and retirement insurance premiums paid by employers and the cash value of most employer-provided benefits.
Tax Rates
An employer’s total social security contribution rate is dependent on the type of employer, and an employer’s total monthly social security contribution equals its social security contribution rate multiplied by the total amount of wages paid to employees in a month. Rates among employers in the private sector vary based on the nature of their business, but effective starting Jan. 1, 2022, all private-sector employers, without regard to labor risk insurance assessments, are assessed the same total social security contribution rate.
Reference Citations
Personal Taxes: Law No. 19,550, April 3, 1972 (Spanish)
Web References
Law and Regulation
In Spanish unless otherwise noted.
Argentine Constitution of 1994 (English)
Discrimination Law
Employment Contract Law
Labor Disputes Law
Labor Regime Law
Protection of Women Law
Trade Unions Law