On November 9, 2020, Law No. 21.280 was published, a regulation that extends the scope of the labor protection procedure to public officials. Specifically, this law provides for the following:

1. This amendment establishes that the rules applicable to the labor protection procedure are applicable to all workers, including officials of the State Administration, the National Congress and the Judiciary. Also, to the workers of the companies or institutions of the State or of those in which the State has contributions, participation or representation whenever such officials or workers are subject by law to a special statute.

2. It is also stated that the procedure of guardianship will apply to workers who work in the Public Ministry, the Constitutional Tribunal, the Electoral Service and Electoral Justice, the General Comptroller of the Republic, the Central Bank and those who are declared autonomous by their own laws.

3. The law amends the Labor Code by extending the powers of the Labor Department for purposes of inspection and interpretation in the scope of the labor protection procedure.

4. It is established that, in these cases, the payment of the substitutive indemnity of previous notice and the indemnity for years of service will not proceed, with respect to the workers indicated in point 1 and 2 of this presentation, the judge granting instead, an indemnity that will not be less than 6 months nor greater than 11 months of the last monthly remuneration.

5. Finally, in these cases, the law determines that when the judge declares the dismissal to be discriminatory and it is also qualified as serious, the worker may choose between compensation or reinstatement.

In case you require additional information on this matter, you may contact Alfred Sherman (asherman@jdf.cl) and/or Felipe Ovalle (fovalle@jdf.cl)