Dominican Republic

A. Hiring of employees (onboarding)

1. Mandatory employer requirements

When employing an individual* in the Dominican Republic, some employer obligations are to be met as established in the Labor Code. In general terms, it is required to:

• Draft work rules and a Labor Contract, both verbal and written;

• Register with the National Social Security Office (RSZ/ONSS) and tax office;

• Maintain the places where work is to be carried out in the conditions required by the sanitary legislation ;

• To provide free of charge preventive medicines indicated by the sanitary authorities, in case of epidemic diseases;

• To observe appropriate measures to prevent accidents in the use of machinery, instruments and work material;

• To install for the service of the workers, at least, a first aid kit;

• To maintain a safe place for the deposit of the worker’s instruments and tools, when the worker uses his own tools that must remain in the place where the services are rendered;

• To pay the worker the salary corresponding to the time he/she loses when he/she is unable to work due to the employer’s fault;

• To keep the workers in due consideration, refraining from mistreating them by word or deed;

• Provide training, education, updating and improvement to its workers;

With regards to the work rules, regardless of whether they were stipulated by verbal or written contract, the workers should know the mandatory items such as the work schedules applied within the company, the salary, pay date, disciplinary measures, complaints process, preventive drugs- and alcohol policy, etc. Each employer also has to obey some specific health and safety measures to mitigate work-related risks (mentioned above).

It is mandatory to have an entity set up in the Dominican Republic to hire an employee, either a local legal entity or a permanent establishment. Entities are required to have a Tax Identification number and registration before the Social security and Labor Ministry before being able to hire employees either verbally or via a written contract.

2. Probation periods

There is no specific probation period foreseen in legislation, however, based on the interpretation of the Dominican Labor Code, during the first three months of employment, the contract can be terminated without any specific obligations for the employer and/or the employee. 

3. Hiring checks 

Medical examination

it is an obligation of the worker to undergo a medical examination if requested by the employer, to verify that he/she does not suffer from any disability or contagious disease that makes him/her unable to perform his/her work. Such examination shall be at the employer's expense.

Criminal background check

Criminal background checks are permissible for specific functions where it concerns a legal requirement for hiring. In practice, employers often ask for a certificate of good conduct showing recent convictions. Such a certificate can only be perused by the employer.

Reference and education checks

Reference and education checks are permissible with consent of the individual.

4. Diversity & inclusion

Any discrimination, exclusion or preference based on sex, age, race, color, national origin, social origin, or religious belief is prohibited.

5. Types of employment contracts

Where an employment contract is concluded without mentioning a time limit, it is considered to be an open- ended employment contract. Such a contract is not subject to any formal requirements, nor does it have to be concluded in writing. A written employment contract must include certain identification data (name, marital status, domicile …) of the parties, as well as the services to be performed, the remuneration for these services and the duration of the contract. It needs to be signed by both parties as well as witnesses. Verbal contracts and its conditions can be proven by any means according to the Dominican Labor Code..

6. Specific rules for executives

There is no official category of executives under Dominican law whose rights to some extent deviate from the labor law rules applied to employees.

7. Language requirements

The language in which HR-related documents (such as employment contracts) must be drawn up is Spanish.

8. Equal Pay

Except for general non-discrimination measures, the Dominican Republic has no specific equal pay measures at the moment.

9. Remote Work

In the Dominican Republic there is no special rule aimed at regulating teleworking, however remote work has been regulated as a special work modality.

Among the most important aspects contained in the Resolution that regulates remote work are the requirements established for the validity of telework contracts, which must indicate the following:

• Place or places from which the worker must provide his services.
• Indication of the safety and monitoring systems to be installed in the equipment used by the worker. If the employer will have the right to supervise the activity of the worker while he is within his working hours, always safeguarding the right to privacy of the latter.
• The enumeration and description of all the instruments provided by the employer, if applicable, and the conditions in which they are found.
• Indicate, if so agreed, the possibility for the employer to carry out periodic inspections of the place from which the worker will provide his services.
• As for the formalities of its registration, the contract must be communicated to the General Directorate of Labor within 30 days of its signing.
• As for the responsibilities of each of the parties, it is established that the worker is obliged to guard and maintain in good condition all the equipment and materials provided by his employer, and use them exclusively in the activities of his work. Likewise, the worker must also ensure the information that is provided by the employer and generated during the execution of his work, which is the property of his employer. In the event that the electronic devices belong to the worker, the employer may not install control mechanisms without his consent and must grant financial compensation for the use of this equipment for work purposes.
  

For the other essential aspects of labor contracts, i.e., the working day, weekly rest, overtime and remuneration are included in the Labor Code of the Dominican Republic.

B.  Termination of employees (Offboarding)

1. Kinds of dismissal

Dismissal consists of the termination of the employment contract by the unilateral will of the employer based on the allegation of just cause. There exist two types of employment contract terminations:

• Justified Dismissal: It is justified when the employer proves the existence of a just cause listed in the Labor Code. In this case, there is no advance notice period required and no severance pay is due.

• Unjustified dismissal: is the opposite of the above and in this case the employee will be entitled to receive the following benefits: the sums corresponding to the notice period and severance pay indicated below, and a sum equal to the wages that the employee would have received from the date of the claim until the date of the final judgment, up to a maximum of six months' wages.

2. Dismissal motivation

Dismissed employees have the right to know the specific reasons that have led to their dismissal. This obliges employers to inform the employee on the cause of the Dismissal.

3. Notice period

Both the employer and the employee have the right to terminate the employment contract without cause. The party terminating the contract must give prior notice to the other party in accordance with the following table:

The employer who omits to give notice must pay the employee an indemnity equivalent to his salary during the notice period.

4. Severance pay

It is a right of workers to be indemnified in the event of termination of the labor relationship without cause. The employer must pay the severance payment within 10 days from the date of termination of the contract, under penalty of paying one day's salary for each day of delay. The severance payment is exempt from income tax, according to the following table:

5. Dismissal formalities

Dismissal does not exist and cannot produce effects when it is unknown to the affected party. Therefore, the will to terminate the contract must be communicated to the affected party. This communication must be made to the competent authority "Ministry of Labor" in order to be able to exercise due control on compliance with the Law.

6. Special dismissal protection

A woman may not be dismissed from her job because she is pregnant. Any dismissal due to pregnancy is null and void.

Any dismissal of a woman who is pregnant or within six months after the date of childbirth must be previously submitted to the Department of Labor or to the local authority exercising its functions, so that it may determine whether it is due to the fact of pregnancy or is a consequence of childbirth.

7. Legal means of employees

The term will depend on the manner in which the employment relationship was terminated, however, every employee, can bring forward claims based on the termination or on some of the employer’s obligations.

8. Specific rules for executives

There is no official category of executives under Dominican law whose rights to some extent deviate from the labor law rules applied to employees.

9. Collective dismissals

In Dominican Republic there is no legislation on collective dismissals.

Get in touch

Pornpun Niyomthai

Thailand
pniyomthai@DELOITTE.com | +66 2034 0000