Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Workmen's Compensation (Accidents) Convention, 1925 (No. 17) - Argentina (Ratification: 1950)

The Committee notes the Government’s report, which contains a reply to the Committee’s direct request of 2007, as well as the observations on the Government’s report submitted by the Confederation of Workers of Argentina (CTA) received on 31 August 2012 and 7 September 2012 and by the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) received on 21 September 2012.

Legislative amendments. The Committee notes that both the CTA and the CGT call for a comprehensive and substantial reform of Act No. 24.557 on occupational risks (LRT) of 1995. The CGT underlines the LRT’s lack of adherence to the national Constitution and the inequality of its reparatory system. The union calls for a more comprehensive law, which would include all occupational diseases and accidents and puts forward a list of solutions that should be addressed, namely: assistance of workers by legal counsel or by a member of the worker’s union before system-specific commissions; unification of criteria used by the medical commissions; amending the criminal code by establishing system-specific penalties; offering the option of lump-sum payments in case of total permanent invalidity; joint liability of the private entities responsible for repairing occupational risks (ART) where employers omitted to communicate to the authorities, knowingly or unknowingly, breaches of hygiene and safety rules which resulted in injuries and prejudice to the workers; mandatory coverage by ART of all work-related contingencies until the medical commission can mediate and there is full compensation of the damage. The CTA deems that ARTs pursue profit-oriented objectives and are therefore interested in reducing the reparations awarded to victims of occupational injuries. The CTA also underlines that the list of occupational diseases included in the LRT is closed and exhaustive, leading to the exclusion of a number of occupational diseases, recognized as such by national courts, and that the problem is aggravated by the absence of a judicial mechanism to review the decisions taken by the Central Medical Commission regarding the application for benefits in cases of occupational accidents and diseases. Given that a worker’s only capital is their labour force, the CTA asserts the need to fully compensate a worker’s physical and mental injury and considers that future legislation should be based on the concept of the full reparation of work injuries, referring in this respect to the guidelines set by the Supreme Court.

With regard to the trade unions’ call for reforming the workmen’s compensation legislation in Argentina, the Committee understands that in October 2012, Act No. 26773 on compensation for damages as a result of employment injury was adopted and that it revises certain aspects of Act No. 24.557. The Committee requests the Government to reply to the comments of the CTA and the CGT and to indicate how current legislation as a whole gives effect to the obligations contained in the various provisions in the Convention.

Article 2 of the Convention. Scope of application. In the comments of 31 August 2012, the CTA denounced the lack of automatic access to medical aid by non-registered workers due to the fact that insurance companies receiving their claims do not have them listed as workers with the employers with whom these insurance companies have agreements. In consequence, non-registered workers have to remedy work-related illnesses and accidents at their own expense. Recalling that the Convention covers all workers, employees and apprentices, the Committee asks the Government to explain in detail how the Convention is applied to workers who are not registered by employers; who guarantees these workers compensation and payment of medical expenses in case of occupational accidents; and what penalties are imposed on the employers who fail to comply with the obligation to insure their workers against occupational accidents.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.

[The Government is asked to reply in detail to the present comments in 2013.]