Escrito por:
On January 27, 2022, the Plenary of the Constitutional Court issued Judgment No. 16-16-IN and Joined Cases/22, declaring Article 2 of the Organic Law for the Promotion of Youth Employment, enacted in 2016, unconstitutional. The challenged provision had reduced the monthly internship stipend from an amount not lower than the applicable sectoral minimum wage to an amount not lower than one-third of Ecuador’s Unified Basic Salary.
In its decision, the Constitutional Court applied the principle of non-retrogression, concluding that the amendment represented a clear regression in the protection afforded to internship stipends and that the legislative process had not been supported by sufficient justification to adopt such a regressive measure.
The Court ordered deferred effects, granting the National Assembly a maximum period of two years to enact new legislation consistent with the principle of non-retrogression. This deadline expired in January 2024 without the enactment of the required legislative reform.
A bill to amend the Internship Law has since been introduced before the National Assembly; however, it has not yet been approved.
For further information or labor and employment advice, please contact Tobar ZVS at laboral @ tzvs.ec.
© TobarZVS
This publication contains information of general interest and does not constitute legal opinion on specific issues. Any analysis will require legal advice from the Firm.