QCOSTARICA — Legislation in Costa Rica does not clearly contemplate the maximum period that an employer has to pay benefits to a former employee, so in many cases, workers could be seeing their rights affected, according to Eric Briones, an expert in labor matters.
Both the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice and the Ministry of Labor have stated that, since there is no deadline, payment should be immediate.
However, in practice, it is very difficult to comply, and for this reason it has been admitted, by the same Second Chamber, that it is possible to delay up to 8 calendar days to comply with the obligation.
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After that moment, interest is generated for late payment.
The law applies to all workers, regardless of whether they were fired with or without employer liability.
“Extending beyond this reasonable period, apart from being inappropriate (…) gives the worker the right to go to court to claim said liquidation, within the period of one year, counted from the day after the employment relationship ends; likewise, payment in installments has been considered valid, as long as there is an agreement between the parties and there is no employer imposition involved,” says Briones.
The expert indicates that the legislation establishes that the payment of benefits and other labor rights must be paid within a maximum period of one year, since otherwise, the worker loses all right to compensation.
That is why, when faced with difficulty collecting severance pay (if fired without justification after at least three months of service that could be up to twenty-two days per year worked, with a maximum calculated based on eight years), vacations (each worker is entitled to two weeks of paid vacation for every fifty weeks worked), the Christmas bonus (one month’s salary after a year of work called “aguinaldo”), and other labor issues, the worker must file a complaint with the Ministry of Labor to avoid the right.
Briones believes that the Legislative Assembly should analyze the issue and define once and for all a maximum period for the payment of benefits.
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