Argentina: exceptional leave period in place to counter work-related spread of the coronavirus

Argentina’s Labor Minister Claudio Moroni has signed Resolution Number 178 that allows employees returning from a known coronavirus country to take 14 days of leave (licencia excepcional), paid for by employers. The resolution was published in the Official Bulletin on 10 March 2020. ‘It is appropriate to accord workers in employment in both the public and private sectors those guarantees that are linked to their employment contracts and that could be affected by this health contingency, and in such a way that their formally recognized rights remain intact,’ the resolution emphasized. Signed by the Minister on 06 March, the resolution applies retroactively, so employees who returned from affected areas prior to 06 March can also put themselves into self-isolation as long as the 14 days have not already elapsed. The Minister clarified that ‘people do not have to present symptoms in order to take up self-isolation,’ and listed the regions at risk, namely, China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy, Spain, France, and Germany. “We will likely soon add the USA to the list,” the Minister explained. This extraordinary leave period will be fully paid. Employers in the private sector will bear the burden. This extraordinary leave period will not affect any other leave periods intended for workers as part of the various labor conventions and agreements. On 09 March the Health Minister confirmed 17 cases of coronavirus in Buenos Aires and further afield in the country’s regions, all of which are related to contact ‘abroad’, i.e. people who have returned from corona-hit countries. On Friday 06 March the government confirmed the country’s first virus-related death; a person in their 60s returning from France and who was confirmed as carrying the virus in a post mortem examination.