Law No. 21,565 of the Ministry of Women and Gender Equity was published in the Diario Oficial, which “Establishes a regime of protection and integral reparation in favor of the victims of femicide and femicide suicide and their families” and has as its objective the creation and strengthening of effective and necessary actions by the State for the attention and integral reparation of the victims of femicide and femicide suicide.
Among the reparation measures provided for by this law, Article 8 addresses the “Right to protection at work” which establishes the protection of work and the enjoyment of labor protection for the period from the perpetration of the act until one year after it, in favor of the worker who is a victim of attempted or attempted femicide, understanding her – for these purposes – as “the victim of the crime“.
In this way, the victim worker will enjoy labor protection, during which time the employer will not be able to terminate the contract except with prior authorization of the competent judge.
Then, in order to make this right effective, the victim must present the employer with the report made to the police or the Public Prosecutor’s Office, information about which the employer must maintain strict confidentiality, since the provisions of article 154 bis of the Labor Code apply, which states that “The employer must maintain confidentiality of all information and private data of the employee to which he/she has access during the employment relationship“.
Likewise, in order to allow due reparation and protection and during the term of the protection, the victim may request:
1- The temporary adjustment of their labor benefits.
2- Justified absence from work when required by the corresponding authorities, in order to appear in any investigation or judicial proceeding of the persons defined as victims.
For these purposes, the law defines a victim as follows:
- The victim of the crime.
- The children of the victim.
- Other persons under the care of the victim.
- The mother or father of the children of the victim, those who have personal care of them and the current partner of the victim who has a sentimental relationship without cohabitation.
- To whoever is considered a victim by virtue of article 108 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
For more information on these topics, please contact our #azLabor group:
Jorge Arredondo | Partner | jarredondo@az.cl
Jocelyn Aros | Senior Associate | jaros@az.cl
Felipe Neira | Associate | fneira@az.cl
Alejandra Figueroa | Associate | afigueroa@az.cl
