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The Council of Ministers of Cuba approved Decree 149/2026, which modifies the Labor Code Regulations to regulate the treatment of workers declared interrupted, in a context of massive labor disruptions caused by the energy and fuel crisis that paralyzes large sectors of the state enterprise system.
The decree, signed by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz on April 14 and published this Thursday in Official Gazette No. 46, completely rewrites Article 78 of Decree 326 of 2014 and repeals Decree 50 of 2021, which was until now the current regulation on this matter.
The official justification of the regime is "to preserve the workforce in the entities and to ensure the protection of workers who cannot be relocated after the second month of work interruption."
The new scheme is tiered and makes each step dependent on the completion of the previous one.
If the interruption can extend for two consecutive months or more without a foreseeable solution, the head of the entity is required to process the declaration of available workers.
When activity is resumed, that same manager must prioritize evaluating the workers they declared available for rehire, as long as they meet the requirements.
Only in exceptional circumstances, after exhausting all relocation options, the interrupted workers will receive a salary guarantee.
The decree establishes that this guarantee is equivalent to 60% of the basic daily salary starting from the second month of interruption, "calculated continuously or not until their reassignment."
The approval of that special treatment corresponds to the Council of Ministers when the funding falls under the State Budget, but it is delegated to the head of the company when it assumes the cost, following an evaluation by the Board of Directors, agreement with the union organization, and analysis at the General Assembly of Members and Workers.
The decree also establishes monitoring and oversight obligations: the National Labor Inspection Office will oversee the actions of employers to achieve the relocation, and the Minister of Labor and Social Security must report monthly to the Council of Ministers on the results.
The municipal offices of Labor and Social Security are responsible for reconciling vacant positions, managing labor mobility between municipalities, and providing employers with information on job offers.
The Minister of Labor, Jesús Otamendiz Campos, acknowledged on May 16 that the fuel crisis has caused massive labor disruptions in the state sector.
The context in which this regulation is approved is characterized by a sustained deterioration of the Cuban labor market: the employed population fell from 4,912,492 people in 2020 to 4,680,928 by the end of 2022, a reduction of over 231,000 jobs, while official unemployment rose from 66,196 to 84,700 people during the same period.
The average state salary was 6,930 Cuban pesos in 2025, equivalent to about 13 dollars at the informal exchange rate, making 60% of that salary a figure that hardly meets the basic needs of a Cuban family amid widespread inflation and shortages.
The regulatory framework for interrupted workers begins with Law 116 (Labor Code, 2013), continues with the Decree 326 of 2014, the Decree 351 of 2018, and Decree 50 of 2021, and is now updated with Decree 149, which comes into effect upon its publication in the Official Gazette.
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