The Argentinian government recently introduced Decree No. 144/2022 mandating that employers with more than 100 employees establish on-site day care for employees’ young children between the ages of 45 days and 3 years. The on-site day care mandate will be effective on 23 March 2023.
Background
The Decree was introduced following the recent Supreme Court ruling ordering the government to issue regulations for an existing law (Article 179 of the Labour Contract Law of 1974), providing for the employer-sponsored nursery benefits. The Decree establishes rules for the implementation of the 48-year-old law.
Key details
Starting 23 March 2023, all employers with greater than 100 employees will be required to establish a day care center. For purposes of the headcount requirement, all types of employment contracts (permanent and short-term employees, contractors, etc.) are included.
Employers will be allowed to set up a shared day care center with other employers as long as they are located within a two-kilometer radius. Employers also have the option to subcontract the setup and operation of the day care center so long as it is compliant with relevant regulations regarding the operation of child care centers.
Instead of establishing an on-site day care center, collective bargaining agreements (CBA) may provide for the payment of a nontaxable child care reimbursement (not incorporated into wages/salary) of duly documented child care expenses. The child care expense reimbursement may not be lower than:
40% of the monthly minimum wage of caregivers (ARS 37,973 as of 1 March 2022), or,
The actual documented child care expense.
The reimbursement amount shall be prorated for part-time employees.
Teleworkers, regardless of whether they are subject to a CBA or not, may be provided with a nontaxable reimbursement under the same guidelines.
Next steps
Employers with at least 100 employees may want to start considering how they will be complying with the mandate. Noncompliance with the new mandate will be considered a serious labor fault and will be subject to fines from the Labor Authority.