Correct employee selection is not always done
Be sure you screen out very carefully prospective employees before hiring them. Once you've had them for sometime the labour laws make it expensive to get rid of them. The employee is due annually a two weeks vacation, a thirteenth month salary payment at Christmas and a minimum raise every six months as the government may decree. You have to sign them up in the government's social security health-care system. The employer contributes 23% of the worker's salary while the employee himself puts up 9%. Adequate employee protection is beneficial for both employee and employer.
It's usually a good idea to insure the employee against labour accidents and this can be done at the National Insurance Institute. When the worker is to be separated from his job, the employer must give him a one month's notice with salary and then severance payment amounting to one month's salary for every year employed. Also must be computed the proportional part of vacation time and Christmas payment due him. However, if the employee has been fired for a good reason, no severance payment is due.
If the employee is not satisfied with the way his severance pay was computed, he can appeal to the Labour Tribunal and have his case studied and decided there. Although the Tribunal is supposedly very legal, my personal feeling is that there's a tendency to decide in favour of the employee or "the weakest one". The Labour Code is very specific in defining the obligations of both employee and employer and it's recommended you buy a copy of the Code and keep it handy for future reference. Or you might consult your lawyer.
Not too many professional managers are yet available for good management
If your business grows to a point where you alone can't handle the management because of its complexity or because it's taking
too much of your time, then look for someone who bas experience in money matters and can handle the day to day details which the business requires. But in looking for one is not easy. You might run a small ad in daily La Nación calling for resumes, ask friends for suggestions or go directly to some of the universities that have a strong business management department. Some private job placement agencies now exist; previously they were prohibited by law. The Ministry of Labour has its own bolsa de trabajo (job pool) which can be accessed by private enterprise when looking for persons to fill specific jobs.
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