His Holiness Comes to Argentina: How That Affects Your Workforce
The Argentine Government has declared (*) the official visit of Pope Leo XIV to be of “national interest” and has decreed three public holidays, at least one and possibly all of which will affect your workforce.
- Monday, November 9, is a national holiday. All employees nationwide have the right to take the day as a paid holiday.
- Tuesday, November 10, is a public holiday only for those working in the City of Buenos Aires and in the Province of Córdoba (locations of a papal visit on that day).
- Wednesday, November 11, is public holiday only in the Province of Buenos Aires (the third and final location of a papal visit).
The decree raises a few employment-related questions:
1. If an employee lives in the Province of Buenos Aires (contiguous to the City of Buenos Aires) and works in the city, which holidays apply?
November 9 is a nationwide holiday, so that applies to all. Whether the other two apply depends on where the employee works, not resides. Thus, if the employee’s place of work is the City of Buenos Aires, only the November 10 holiday applies.
2. What if the November 11 holiday makes it difficult for employees living in the Province of Buenos Aires to travel to work or vice versa?
Each case should be assessed based on reasonable criteria. If an employee is late or unable to make it to work due to public transportation disruption, the employer should not discipline the employee.
3. Can management require an employee to work on these holidays?
No. As with any public holiday, employees are not required to work. Nonetheless, the employer may ask the employee to work, with the employee free to accept or decline.
If the employee agrees to work, the day must be paid as a public holiday (double time), unless a collective bargaining agreement governs, in which case a higher premium may apply. The prevailing view, though not statutory, holds that an employer need not provide a compensatory day off to employees working on a holiday.
The papal visit requires advance planning, particularly for organizations operating across more than one jurisdiction. Employers should review:
- Work calendars and the place(s) of work of the employees.
- The impact of the localized holidays on employees commuting between jurisdictions.
- Roll out of requests to employees to work on any public holiday, and making sure the payroll administrator processes any holiday premium pay.
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If you would like to discuss this matter with the attorneys at WSC Legal, please do not hesitate to contact our author: Cecilia Pou is a senior attorney in WSC Legal’s Labor & Employment Practice Group and can be contacted at cpou@wsclegal.com.
For more information about our services, visit www.wsclegal.com.
Disclaimer
This article is based on publicly available information and is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide legal advice or an exhaustive analysis of the issues it mentions.
