In Salvadoran labor legislation, there are several categories of employees:

• Employed and self-employed
• Full-time employees and part-time employees
• Permanent employees and Temporary employees
• Direct employees and Triangular employment (outsourced and subcontractors employees)
• Special scheme: apprentice, Household employees, Homeworkers, an agricultural worker.
• National employees and foreign employees

It is possible to hire Independent contractors, that in El Salvador are known as Professional Services contractors that are self-employed. The Professional Services Contract is a civil or commercial contract and not an employment contract; therefore, there is no payment for Social Security and pension contributions. The parties in this type of contract are completely independent of one another (independent contractor) and there is no exclusivity in the relationship between the parties. For this category, both parties should meet specials requirements and it is intended for the appointment of a supplier to provide professional, technical or management consulting services as an exchange for a price.

In El Salvador, it is possible to have contracts for an indefinite term or for a fixed term.

a) Indefinite Duration Employment Contracts

These contracts do not have a specific date or timeline as to when the relationship ends. The parties continue to work together until one of them exits the relationship, through either resignation, (valid) termination or retirement.

These contracts are used for permanent employees and imply labor stability. In case of wrongful dismissal and termination without cause, the employee is not legally entitled to receive notice of termination from their employer but has the right to be pay severance and proportional vacation and proportional Christmas bonus.

b) Fixed Term Employment Contracts

In fixed-term contracts, the employment relationship is intended to last for only a specific and definite length of time or until a specific project is completed (Temporary employees). The contract expires at the end of the term or project, ending the employment relationship.

The employee receives the same benefits and salaries as a permanent employee, except for labor stability.

In El Salvador, Fixed Term Employment Contracts are the exception rather than the norm and these are valid only when there is an objective reason for this term, for example, said project or any tasks qualified as temporary, casual or seasonal.

In the early termination of a fixed-term contract, an employer must pay the full cost of the contract if an employer fires the employee without just cause, but in no case, the compensation may exceed the one that would correspond if he had been hired indefinitely.

When the term of the contract lasts more than fifteen days, before the expiration of the contract, employers are required to give a 7 days’ notice before terminating. If the employer fails to comply with the notice, he must pay employees the salary of the remaining days to complete the term.

The challenge with fixed-term contracts is that they carry some legal risk, if there is not an objective or legal reason for a said term or when regularly renew fixed-term contracts, labor Courts may set aside the fixed-term clause and rule that the employee, in reality, is an indefinite-term employee, which is accompanied by associated entitlements and obligations.

According to the Salvadoran Labor Code, the existence of an employment contract is presumed once the person provides services to another individual or entity for more than two consecutive days, under subordination or dependence (legal, technical or otherwise economic) of the employer, in exchange for monetary compensation, even if there is no written contract.

Employment contract, as well as any amendments or extensions, shall be undertaken in writing and in triplicate, each contracting party shall be given one copy and the third should be submitted by the employer to the Ministry of Labor in a period of 8 days after signing.

The employment contract must be written in Spanish and have to include specific information on material provisions of the employment relationship such as personal information of the contracting parties, starting date, salary and benefits, work schedule, name and last name of persons who economically depend on the employee, etc. Subsequent changes to such terms and conditions must be included in writing, to be valid.

The parties may agree that the Employment will be subject to a 30 days probation period, during which time the Employment may be terminated by either party. To be valid, this must in writing.

Salvadoran legislation does not define what constitutes a part-time employee; nevertheless, it does recognize the possibility of working a lower number of hours, which is known in practice as part-time.

Part-time employees hast the right to be paid a pro-rated salary. However workday schedules are a maximum of 8 hours in the day and 7 hours at night and labor legislation recognize that when the workday is less than those hours but more than five, the employer will be obliged to pay at least the minimum wage set.

Local legislation makes no difference between part-time employees and full-time employees, so it would not be possible to differentiate labor benefits.

In El Salvador, in case of transfer of a company there is no need for the new owner of the business to make any offer of employment to the acquired workforce, since according to our commercial code (articles 553 and 557), companies are considered as a set of elements that forms a unit, including in that set of elements the workforce.

When the employer disposes of all or part of his business, whether by way of sale or otherwise, all the rights and obligations of the employee accrued or accruing shall be binding on the new owner.

Contract assignment is regulated in a single article included in the Labor Code, which regulates specifically the legal effects of the "employment substitution", with the new owner assuming all of the duties under the contract, such as health care benefits, job responsibilities, bonuses, etc. In this regard, the business operation of the company continues either completely or partially and therefore the company remains the employer of its employees and there is no effect on contracts of employment since all rights and liabilities in respect of current employees transfer to the new owner.

Contract assignment is regulated in local labor legislation and permits the substitution of the employer, with the new owner assuming all of the employment obligations under the contract, without effecting employment contracts.

In addition, there is no legal provision or case law that requires to make any consultations to any public entity, employees, unions or employees with special legal transfer protection (Union Board Members, Pregnant employees, etc) as long as the transfer of the company cannot produce any change in the employment conditions such as workplace, salary and other benefits.

If there is any change in the working conditions initially agreed, the employee will be entitled to compensation for dismissal.

Yes, the transfer of the company cannot produce any change in the employment conditions such as workplace, salary and other acquired labor rights.

The employer does not in most cases have the right to unilaterally change employment conditions specified in the employment agreement. However, terms and conditions of employment may be amended by the employer unilaterally without the employee’s consent, only if such amendment will confer greater benefits to the employee.

Any change in the employment contract shall be agreed upon between the parties either explicitly or implicitly. The legislation regulates as an implicit consent when there is a validation of the act, when employees do not make a claim in 30 days since a unilateral change (being able to do so), for example, when without just cause the employer to reduce salaries or performs any act that produces the same effect, or transfers employees to a position of lower category, or allocate employees to perform a job of a different nature than the one agreed in the contract and the employee.

If there is any change in the working conditions initially agreed upon, the employee will be entitled to compensation for dismissal.

El Salvador does not follow the at-will employment doctrine. However, employers are allowed to terminate without cause paying a severance package, provided that the employer does not have special protection as a union leader or pregnant employee, among others.

In cases of dismissal without cause or wrongful termination, employees will be entitled to payment of one month’s salary for each year of service (up to a maximum of four minimum wages), plus a proportional Christmas bonus and vacation bonus.

However, if at the time of dismissal the employee has completed one year of work and is entitled to paid vacation time, but still has not enjoyed it, said employee must be compensated with an amount equal to the corresponding vacation period.

In El Salvador, the employer has no obligation to reinstate a dismissed employee; this only applies as a conciliatory measure agreed between the parties.

the Labor Code establishes stability for pregnant employees, employees during the 6 months after maternity leave, employees with disabling chronic diseases (for example, kidney failure or cancer), union leaders, or employees who for some reason have their contract suspended for example for being on vacation or in sick leave. These provisions stated that the unjustified dismissal or justified dismissal (even paying 100% of the labor benefits) does not lead to a valid termination of the contract, until after the term of guarantee of job stability ends.

There is no specific protection for whistleblowers as such in local labor legislation; however, every employee is protected against dismissal without cause or wrongful termination.

Currently, El Salvador does not have a law that specifically regulates data protection. However, there are certain provisions in other laws (dispersed regulation) that regulate this right.

Specifically in relation to employment in the private sector, are the following:

1. Salvadoran Constitution

The Constitution provides in Article 2 that all persons have the fundamental right to life, physical and moral integrity, liberty, security, work, property and possession, and to be protected in the conservation and defense of the same. The right to honor, personal and family privacy, and personal image are guaranteed. Moral damages are compensated by law.

2. The Labor Code

his normative is in force since 1972 that regarding personal data of employees, allows each employer to process the personal data of their employees for payroll purposes without the need for the consent of the employee. Labor Code also prohibits employers to neither disclose the diagnosis of HIV / AIDS employees nor committing any act, which directly tends to restrict employees' rights.

3. The General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy in the European Union (EU)

As a rule, since it is an EU regulation, which is not an international treaty, it is not part of the Salvadoran legal system, so compliance by any administrative or judicial authority in our country is not mandatory. However, in accordance with article 3, this regulation applies to the processing of personal data to EU citizens working in El Salvador.

4. Local case law

There is no specific data protection law; however, the Constitutional Court of El Salvador recognized the right to informative self-determination of personal data in a landmark case between The Salvadoran Association for the Protection of Data and the Internet ('INDATA') v. Equifax de Centroamerica ('DICOM'). In this decision it is mention for the first time in the country the need to protect the right to self-determination of citizen personal data in private or public registries or databases against the menace of non-authorized and inappropriate use and access, enabling any individual to make claim about it. Also regulates the collection and processing of the data, to whom and motive the data shall be transferred, who is responsible for this information and determined that right to privacy as a part of the private sphere of the individual, but cannot be separated from the social context it is performed, which implies that such right can be limited by the social needs and public interests.

Salvadoran law protects employees from discrimination. This protection can be found at different levels of our legislation:

1) the Salvadoran Constitution, which sets forth that all individuals must receive a similar treatment, as well as similar remuneration for a similar job performed;

2) Pursuant to Salvador Labor Code, the employer must give all employees the same treatment in similar conditions. There is discrimination when there is unequal treatment in the workplace based on race, color, religion, national origin or sex. However, it could be potentially acceptable in case it serves the benefit the employee (i.e. Positive discrimination to access promotion) but it is no common in the country.

Labor law stated that employees in the same company developing the same work under identical circumstances shall be entitled to earn equal salaries regardless of sex, age, race, color, nationality, political opinion or religious belief. In case of default by the employer, the employee is entitled to require equal payment before the Ministry of Labor. A recent reform incorporates the obligation to apply equitable processes of career plans for women and people with disabilities within the company.

According to the Salvadoran Labor Legislation, there are several rights as follows:

• Sick Leave
• Vacation Leave of 15 days
• Paid holiday leave, according to Salvadoran calendarization.
• Maternity Leave of 16 weeks
• Paternity Leave of 3 days
• Adoption Paid Leave of 16 weeks
• Bereavement and Dependent Care Leave
• Leave to Fulfill Public of Other External Obligations
• Domestic violence paid leave

There has been no change in the past 12 months.

In Salvadoran labor legislation, there is no specific regulation regarding restrictive covenants, except for the protection of confidentiality and non-disclosure.

However, in local practice, restrictive covenants are used as contractual terms contained in an employment agreement o separated agreement for non-competition that restrict an employee from accepting a similar position with a competitor of the original employer, non-solicitation that prohibit the employee from contacting and/or soliciting the business of employer clients and customers, Covenants that limit the ability of a former employee to solicit their previous co-workers and Protection of confidentiality and non-disclosure of trade secrets, business information and intellectual property.

A non-disclosure agreement or NDA is permitted in the country and it is widely regulated in labor, criminal matters due to industrial secrets and intellectual property. In cases where NDA derives from an employment relationship, local case law recognizes the employment agreement and NDA as independent of each other, since although the NDA was signed as a result of an employment relationship, the first guarantees the rights and obligations of the employees and their employment relationship; and the second, guarantees the protection of the employer's industrial or commercial secret, even after an employment relationship has ended. The judicial jurisdiction of the NDA is commercial and not labor.

Non-competition is not specifically regulated in the legislation, but they are not prohibited. However local case law recognizes that its purpose is to prevent the knowledge and information acquired by employees, due to the position held in the company, from placing a new employer in an advantageous situation at the time of competing with the old employer. The challenge with the non-competition covenant is that in some cases the courts can set aside this covenant on the grounds that this would unfairly impact someone's ability to earn a living. Local case law has dismissed cases in which the employee has operational functions such as shoemakers, receptionist, and call center agent among others similar. In this regard, it is important to note that for their validity it is required that these types of clauses have and prove an effective industrial or commercial interest that justifies said clause so that it does not constitute a default on labor autonomy that hinders the development of employees in the labor market.

It is recommended that these covenants be signed before signing the employment contract and prior to the start of the employment relationship.

However, if during the employment relationship the employer implements the signing of these covenants and the employee refuses to sign them, is important to mention that according to local law this is not regulated as cause for termination. Nevertheless, employers are allowed to pay a severance package as indemnity for termination without cause provided that the employer does not have special protection as a union leader or pregnant employee, among others.

According to Salvadoran Pension Savings System Law, there is a pension scheme of 15% of every employee's monthly wage for contributing to their individual savings account in the pension fund, of which 7.25% will be contributed by the employee (withhold in payroll) and 7.75% by the employer.

In relation to the amount of the pension, it will be calculated with the funds contributed to the individual savings account plus profitability gained, divided between 20 years. If the retired person lives longer than this period, the solidarity pension fund will be activated to continue financing the pension for life, even if the person does not have money left in their individual savings account.

The age of retirement is 55 years for women and 60 years for men; however, the age will be reviewed every five years.

According to the Salvadoran Labor Legislation, there are several benefits as:

• Entitlement to the national minimum wage rate
• Maximum working hours of 8 hours per day and 44 hours per week at daytime, and night shift of 7 hours per day and 39 hours per week
• The extraordinary wage for working overtime, night shift, weekend and in holydays
• Sick Leave
• Vacation Leave of 15 days
• Paid Holidays, according to Salvadoran calendarization.
• Maternity Leave of 16 weeks
• Paternity Leave of 3 days
• Adoption Paid Leave of 16 weeks
• Bereavement and Dependent Care Leave
• Leave to Fulfill Public of Other External Obligations
• Domestic violence paid leave
• Christmas bonus
• Social Security Contribution
• Pension fund Contribution
• Special protection against dismissal for pregnant employees and until six months after maternity leave, union leaders, employees with chronic disabling illnesses, among others

Salvadoran Pension Savings System Law provides benefits at the scheme's normal retirement age, which is 55 years for women and 60 years of age for men. This age is revisable every five years.

However, this does not entitle the employer to terminate the contract with cause.

According to Salvadoran law, employees can retire, get their pension benefits and to continue working continue to be employees beyond retirement age, but ceasing obligation for the employee and the employer to make contributions to the pension fund and social security.

There is no local legal regulation that requires people to be vaccinated.

However, in accordance with the provisions in the General Law on Risk Prevention in Workplaces and its Regulations Company may order preventive measures necessary to protect the health of the employer to avoid the spread or contagion of diseases. In this sense, the employer may facilitate, encourage, motivate, promote and recommend but not force employees to be vaccinated.

Yes in the case of employees who are not classified as a vulnerable group for COVID-19. If these employees do not return to the workplace for more than two consecutive days and do not have a justified reason, they can be terminated for just cause.

Employees with vulnerable medical conditions, during COVID-19 pandemic, should be protected from the risks of contagion and have job stability according to the law of "Temporary Provision to Protect Employees with Vulnerable Medical Conditions against COVID-19" in force until May 29, 2021.  Employees with a vulnerable medical condition are:

• Employees over 60 years old with chronic disease;
• Women in a high-risk pregnancy;
• Employees with chronic degenerative diseases;
• Employees with chronic kidney failure;
• Transplanted Employees;
• Employees with complicated pulmonary and systemic arterial hypertension;
• Employees diagnosed and undergoing treatment for cancer;
• People with immunosuppressant treatment;
• Employees with decompensated chronic lung diseases;
• Employees with morbid obesity;
• Employees convalescing from COVID-19 in their first month of recovery;
• Employees with a vulnerable medical condition may stay at their respective homes in order to avoid contagion. These employees, depending on the type of their functions, should be assigned activities under the modality of teleworking.

If the position does not allow teleworking, they must have a prescription for medical leave duly authorized by the ISSS (Salvadoran Social Security Institute) and will have the right to receive the corresponding subsidy from the ISSS. Consequently, they cannot be affected in any way at work if they are authorized not to attend their workplace during the validity of this law.