What are the dynamic salaries that the Government seeks to implement with the labor reform and how would they affect joint ventures?

There, this concept emerged that implies a reorganization of the current salary reference system: the agreement salaries would remain as guaranteed minimumsbut the aim is that the values ​​agreed on by the sector function as limits for the respective unions.

What are “dynamic salaries”

According to the guidelines presented by Lamb, The values ​​set in the agreements would cease to be “floors” and would begin to function as reference “ceilings”. Thus, the unions would lose the prerogative of using the insured minimums and each company could agree on different amounts, as long as they do not exceed what is set collectively.

Currently, the basic salaries of the agreements represent a safeguard for unions that is applied uniformly to the employees under their orbit. With the reform, the government It aims to make the mechanisms between the parties more flexible (updating and reviewing income) by adapting them to the situation of each sector.

The official proposal also proposes eliminating the automatic setting of salary increases based on inflationwith the aim of avoiding indexations unrelated to the productivity and capabilities of each company. The head of the Ministry of Labor presented this proposal as an alternative to provide greater competitiveness to employment.

Along with the announcement, different business entities and employers’ chambers demand the review of working conditions and salary determination criteria. The proposed reforms would seek to modify the “rigid use” of contract salaries and adapt them to economic cycles.allowing “dynamic updates” according to the fluctuations of the activity.

So, the Secretary of Labor promotes a model where collective agreements define ranges and guidelines for each sector, but establish maximum amounts for companies. This reverses a historical principle of Argentine labor law, where The agreement acts as a safety net, avoiding remuneration below what was agreed.

The figure of “dynamic salaries” implies a conventional value as a general reference, although it enables regions or companies to negotiate different conditions, always in line with the possibilities of the environment.

Another focus: productivity

The focus on productivity marks another change that the project contemplates: The Ministry of Labor seeks to associate the evolution of salaries with the specific results of each sectorto prevent increases from operating in a homogeneous manner and disconnected from the economic situation of each activity.

The implementation of the dynamic salaries would open the door to decentralized negotiationswhere companies and labor representatives would have room to agree on improvements, modify fixed sums or establish their own adjustment mechanisms.

The unions, for their part, could insist on superior conditionsbut without the obligation for this agreement to be automatically transferred to the entire universe of represented workers.

Additionally, the initiative includes changes to the temporary validity of collective agreements. The Government proposes limiting the validity of the economic clauses, forcing periodic renegotiations that adapt to the evolution of the macroeconomic and sectoral context.

The debate on this reform occurs at a time of parity tension and calls for inflationary updates in multiple sectors. Union leaders considered that introducing salary “ceilings” instead of “floors” constitutes a loss of guarantees for employees, while consulting firms and analysts evaluate the impact that the measure could have on the registered wage bill.

Analysts warn that one of the central challenges, if approved, will be in the coordination to avoid a greater gap between activities or regions.

The regional factor becomes relevant because the productive dynamics and employment conditions evolve unevenly throughout the country. In this sense, the Ministry of Labor considers viable the decentralization as a method to achieve greater adaptation.

The business chambers supported the idea by stating that Sectoral wage negotiation is incompatible with crisis or recession scenarioswhere not all actors can face the same commitments. The sector maintains that the dispersion and flexibility of salaries achieves a more direct alignment with productivity and employment generation needs.

For their part, union organizations warned of a risk of weakening collective protection and the possible precariousness of conditions. From there they maintain that the agreements were historically an effective safeguard against instability and that limiting the “floor” opens the door to greater inequalities.