Page images
PDF
EPUB

(art. 5). It may be oral or in writing and its existence may be proved by all legal means (art. 6). Persons 18 years of age and under 21 may enter into legal labor contracts unless expressly opposed by their parents or their guardians; the latter may authorize minors over 14 and under 18 years of age, and where the minor has no parents or guardian, the authorization of a labor inspector will suffice (art. 8).

Breach of the Contract: No indemnity will be forthcoming in favor of the employee when one of the following causes for its breach exists: (a) Intentional damages to the implements of work, (b) revelation of industrial secrets, (c) negligence which affects industrial hygiene or security, (d) unjustifiable absence for more than 3 days, (e) total or partial failure of performance of the contract, (f) voluntary withdrawal of the employee, or (g) robbery of theft by the employee (art. 16).

Indemnity for Dismissal: When the employee is dismissed he is entitled to compensation equal to 1 month of salary or wages for each year of continuous employment; if he has not been employed a whole year, then on the proportional basis of the months worked, deducting the first 3 months as a trial period. If the employee has had 8 years of service he is entitled to compensation even though he resigns of his own volition (art. 13).

The Collective Contract: This type of labor contract binds not only those who executed it, but also those workers who subsequently adhere to it in writing and those who later become members of the contracting syndicate (art. 23). Moreover, the latter is liable for the obligations of each one of its affiliates and shall have a cause of action on their account without the necessity of an express power of attorney (expreso mandato). The assets (patrimonio) of the syndicate serve as a guaranty of its obligations; in case of dissolution: the assets continue subject to the resulting liability (art. 26). In any event, the employer who hires workers affiliated with associations of workers is bound by law to enter into collective labor contracts with such associations whenever they request it (art. 27).

GENERAL LABOR CONDITIONS

On legal holidays (dias feriados) no work of any kind may be performed even though the latter consists of professional teaching or charity, with the exception of those enterprises in which work may not be suspended for reasons of public interest or because of

the nature of the work involved. In this case, the workers shall enjoy a 2 hour period of rest at midday of the holiday (art. 42).

Annual Vacations: Employees or laborers who have had more than 1 year of uninterrupted services, and less than 5, in one enterprise, are entitled to 1 week of annual vacation; from 5 to 10 years, 2 weeks; from 10 to 20 years, 3 weeks, and over 20 years, one month (art. 44). Employees of enterprises which, by their nature, suspend operations at certain periods of the year, do not enjoy the right to vacations, provided that the interruption may not be less than 15 days and that during it they normally receive their salaries (art. 45).

Hours of Work: The actual working day must not exceed 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week; night work may not exceed 7 hours, the latter being understood as the work done between 20 hours (8 p.m.)

and 6 in the morning. Journalistic enterprises, which are subject to special legislation, are excepted from this ruling. However, the workday of women and persons under 18 years must not exceed 40 hours per week. Employees or laborers who occupy positions of supervision or confidence, or who do not work continuously, or who perform duties which, by their nature, cannot be subjected to a fixed workday, are likewise excepted. In such cases they shall have a 1-hour period of rest during the day, and may not work more than 12 hours daily (art. 46).

Salary or Wages: Remuneration or wages is defined as that which the employee or laborer receives for his work. No salary may be stipulated which is less than the minimum wage, whose rates will be fixed according to the kind of work and the zones of the country, by the Department of Labor. Wages will be "proportional to the work, no differences by reason of sex or nationality being made" (art. 52).

Medical Attention: Employers who have more than 80 employees must maintain a permanent medical and medicinal service free of charge to employees and laborers when dealing with occupational diseases (enfermedades profesionales). Employees will receive maximum treatment of 6 months, laborers 90 days. In both cases their jobs will be held for them and they will be paid full salary. At the end of the respective period they will be classified as to incapacity for purposes of compensation. However, if the illness does not result from his work, and the worker has had 1 year of service, he may keep his job for 3 months if he is an employee, and for 30 days if a laborer. If he has from 6 months to 1 year of services, for 30 and 15 days, respectively; if less than 6 months, for 30 and 15 days, but receiving only 25 to 50 percent of his salary, depending upon the case. The preceding periods shall be considered as attendance for purposes of seniority of service (art. 73). When death results from an occupational accident or disease, the employer must pay the costs of interment independently of compensation (art. 74).

SOCIAL INSURANCE

A form of obligatory social insurance will be instituted for the protection of the worker in cases involving occupational risks (riesgo profesional); the premiums will be paid by the employer. Such insurance will also include cases of incapacity, among them those not derived from labor; under these circumstances, the costs will devolve upon the State, the employer, and the insured. The insurer will respond for the total payment of compensation, incomes and pensions, the employer being relieved of his obligation for the respective risk (art. 97 and 98).

LABOR ORGANIZATIONS

The right of "association in syndicates" is recognized. They may be employer, labor or professional, or mixed, industrial or company associations. However, in order to function as such, the syndicate must be of a permanent character, it must have legalized its juridical personality, and it must be organized according to law (art. 99). No syndicate may be formed with less than 20 workers where labor or professional (i.e., union or occupational) syndicates are concerned, nor with less than 50 percent of the workers of an enterprise when dealing with industrial syndicates (art. 103). In no case may public functionaries organize themselves as a syndicate, regardless of their classification or scale of pay, categoria y condicion (art. 104).

BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE

Analysis of Functions and Services

SPECIALTIES DIVISION

XXI

The Specialties Division follows the general service routing that is common to all Industrial Divisions of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. Included among the business groups it serves are those manufacturing and distributing athletic and sporting goods, glass, pottery, office equipment and supplies, toys, brushes, musical instruments, jewelry, clocks and watches, furniture, photographic equipment, cork, medical and surgical goods, and many others. In addition, it is the Bureau's service unit for export advertising, maintaining lists of foreign advertising media and preparing non-technical publications covering advertising methods in foreign countries.

The importation of specialty products into the United States from foreign countries is a matter that is closely followed by American manufacturers and dealers who must meet this competition. To provide current data on many of these items the Specialties Division published monthly statistics of imports by countries of origin. In addition to trade statistics, information is also compiled and published relative to conditions in the foreign producing countries.

The services of the Specialties Division are particularly useful and valuable to smaller manufacturers in export trade promotion. Individual export market surveys are made and, with the assistance of the foreign offices, it is generally possible to find satisfactory foreign representatives for practically every firm that seeks service of this kind. In the domestic field many inquiries are received for general and specific data on production, distribution, consumption, sales practices and related phases of the industries which are served. To answer the more general inquiries, information sheets have been prepared on praetically all industrial groups. These provide a summary of sources of information on the various phases of specialty industries; many of them include statistical data on production, employment, exports and imports. Specific inquiries are given individual treatment. An attempt is being made to provide detailed data through trade studies conducted in cooperation with business men and trade associations.

This division is unique in that, in addition to commodity services, it is responsible for the export advertising activities of the Department of Commerce. Current information is compiled and published on many phases of this subject. Foreign advertising media are classified as to newspapers, magazines and trade journals. Data given include frequency of publication, size, reader interest, circulation, et cetera. Printed booklets on advertising methods are available covering Argentina, Brazil, Sweden and the Union of South Africa. Similar studies are under way for other countries.

THE

PLACER MINING LAW OF ECUADOR

By Miles Hammond, Division of Commercial Laws

The July issue of COMPARATIVE LAW SERIES carried an article discussing the General Mining Law of Ecuador. This law was promulgated on February 5, 1937, and with it, concurrently, appeared the Placer Mining Law providing for the regulation of hydraulic mining operations.

A translation of the Placer Mining Law follows:1

FEDERICO PAEZ, Charged with the Supreme Command of the Republic, Considering: That it is urgent and necessary to set up special legislation for hydraulic mining operations such as would make their development feasible and to differentiate among zones for free development, reserve, claims, and concession decrees the following:

[blocks in formation]

Article 1. Gold in de tritic deposits which is found in transported earth, in sluices, banks, and river beds, actual or abandoned in rivers, in deposits of marshy basins, and sea beaches, which may be found in different regions of the national territory, may be extracted by anyone, provided that he subjects himself to the provisions of the present law.

Article 2. Placer miners for gold are required to register in the Commission of Mines, for which object that entity will send to provincial governors special forms in order that interested persons may easily comply with this requirement.

Article 3. For the personal registration card placer miners

shall pay a fee of 10 sucres each year.

Article 4.

Only those persons who comply with the requirements of articles 2 and 3 of this law may work at placer mining.

Article 5. The placer miner who has not registered in conformity to the requirements of article 2 of this law and is nevertheless found working shall be fined 25 sucres for the first offense, 50 sucres for the second, and 100 sucres for the third, without prejudice as to a corresponding prison sentence in accordance with the current police laws of the province.

Article 6. This law is applicable to all placer gold miners in the Republic who have become such before or after its promulgation. Only those are exempted who have acquired this profession through a special title in conformity to the laws in effect prior to the promulgation of this law.

This is a free translation made primarily for readability and ready comprehension. It adheres as closely as this objective and the Spanish idiom permit, however, to the original Spanish text.

177914 0-39- 3

CHAPTER II

Zones of Free Development

Article 7. Zones of free development are those which the State designates as such or those which, prior to the promulgation of this law, were worked by citizen groups without meeting legal requirements.

Article 8. In order to work in these zones, placer gold miners must comply with the requirements established in chapter I of the present law.

Article 9. In zones considered open for free development, the State shall not grant concessions to any class of persons or societies intending to do placer mining except in cases in which a previous and detailed study of the area sought has been made as well as a technical examination of the proposal, and it is considered that the granting of the concession would conform to national interests. Article 10. Whoever complies with the conditions laid down in chapter I of this law may wash gold without limitation in those localities declared open to free development.

Article 11. Placer miners referred to in this chapter shall not en ter zones which are not open to free development, under penalty of being fined in conformity to the police law currently in force and of suffering the cancelation of their permits.

Article 12. Placer miners may make use of their permit only within the confines of one province and in zones declared open to free development within that province. Consequently, in order to work in another province and in similar zones, a new permit must be obtained such as would permit these activities to be followed.

CHAPTER III

Placer Mining Claims

Article 13. Claims may be filed on placer mines and to the gold which they produce, in those places given in article 1 of this law only when they are in zones declared by the State to be in reserve or open to free development.

Article 14.

Every natural or juridic person, capable of acquiring property in Ecuador may file claims covering placer mines in conformity to the provisions of the present law.

Article 15. The State exercises direct, inalienable, imprescriptible ownership over placer mines being empowered only to grant the right of usufruct to them for a determined period of time to private persons and companies who desire to exploit them.

Article 16. No person may file claims on more than 20 pertenencias in any one province.

Article 17. A pertenencia, i.e., the plot granted to an interested person for exploitation in placer mining, shall comprise 25,000 square meters, surveyed in the manner requested by the claimant, breadth being measured by the bed of the river.

the

Article 18. Claims must be filed with the Commissioner of Mines in keeping with the requirements of this law and of the stamp law; and to them shall be attached the certificate of payment for the current year from the Treasury of the Province of Pichincha of the

« PreviousContinue »