The doctrine is established that the Labor Directorate lacks the authority to question an agreement freely agreed between the parties.
In a recent ruling (case number 3599-2023), the Court of Appeals of Santiago ratified a first instance ruling that validated a minimum services agreement agreed between a company and its union organizations. This was observed by the Directorate of Labor (DT) for, in its opinion, not complying with the law in force.
Although the objection of the administrative labor authority was due to formal issues, the legal debate to be resolved was the authority’s right to question the free agreement that a company may reach with its labor unions when they agree on the minimum services to be applied in the event of a potential strike.
In this regard, the Court of Appeals categorically stated that:
“From the analysis of Article 360 of the Labor Code, it is clear that the role of the Labor Directorate is limited, as stated, to one of depositary of the agreement determined by the parties”.
It continues, “The court determines that the law does not grant powers to the Labor Inspectorate to make observations and formulations of the type that were made in this case, consistent with respect for freedom of association and collective autonomy.”
“This Directorate is only empowered to do solely and exclusively what the law allows it to do, in this case, to be in charge of the custody of the minutes entrusted to it, so that its actions must necessarily comply with this, otherwise it would exceed the framework of the powers expressly granted to it -articles 6 and 7 of the Political Constitution of the Republic”, concludes the court.
In this way, and being one of the first pronouncements on this aspect, it establishes the doctrine that the Labor Directorate lacks competences and attributions to question an agreement freely agreed between the parties.
Thus, it grants the social actors, both employers and unions, the power to determine the minimum services that may govern in the event of a strike, establishing that there is no legal mandate in favor of the labor administrative authority to question the collective autonomy of those who enter into such agreement.
For more information on these issues, please contact our Labor Group:
Jorge Arredondo | Partner | jarredondo@az.cl
Jocelyn Aros | Senior Associate | jaros@az.cl
Felipe Neira | Senior Associate | fneira@az.cl
Palmira Valdivia | Associate | pvaldivia@az.cl
Catalina Díaz | Attorney | cdiazp@az.cl
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