Employment
Código de Trabajo Ley 116/2013 with state-mediated hiring for investors
Ley 116/2013, the Código de Trabajo, governs the employment relationship, providing for written contracts, a standard 40-hour week and annual paid leave, with the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba as the single recognised trade union confederation. Foreign investment entities generally engage Cuban staff through a state employment agency rather than directly, and the agency is the formal employer. The MIPYME reforms have widened direct private employment for the first time in decades.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — National; workplace labour justice organs, then municipal courts
- Deadline — Probation: up to 180 days for suitability, depending on the post
- Deadline — Annual leave: one month of paid leave per year of work
- Deadline — Labour justice: claims heard by the órgano de justicia laboral at the workplace before the courts
Governing law
- Ley 116/2013 Código de Trabajo
- Decreto 326/2014Reglamento del Código de Trabajo
- Ley 105/2008 de Seguridad Social
- Decreto-Ley 44/2021trabajo por cuenta propia
In practice
The state employment agency model is the single most important practical feature for a foreign employer, because it means the investor pays the agency in convertible terms while the worker is paid in local currency, and the investor cannot simply hire or dismiss directly. Disputes are first heard by an elected labour justice organ inside the workplace, so internal procedure precedes any court involvement.