The Ministry of Culture of Cuba published this Friday the , a regulation that establishes the new rules regarding employment contracting modalities and payment methods applicable to workers in the artistic sector in the country.
The provision appeared in the , pages 157 to 163, and repeals Resolution 44 of June 16, 2014, which had governed labor relations in the artistic sector for over a decade.
The regulation is issued in compliance with Law 189 "Labor Code," approved on July 30, 2026, by the National Assembly of People's Power, whose Final Provision Two expressly assigns to the Minister of Culture the responsibility of establishing the contractual and remuneration conditions for the sector.
According to the text of the resolution, its scope of application includes artists and artistic units in music, performing arts, and audiovisual media, as well as agencies and centers subordinate to the Cuban Institutes of Music, Arts and Cinematographic Industry, the National Council of Performing Arts, EGREM, ARTEX S.A., and the provincial centers and councils of music and performing arts, among other authorized entities.
One of the central tenets of the regulation is the artistic evaluation as an essential requirement to formalize any contract in the sector. "Artistic evaluation is an essential prerequisite for hiring workers in the artistic field, except for the cases of exception provided for in this Regulation," states Article 3.1.
The exceptions include graduates from the professional artistic education system assigned by the Distribution Plan, demobilized military personnel who worked as contracted artists, artists relocated for justified reasons with union agreement, and temporary hires due to urgent needs that do not exceed three months.
The resolution also prohibits employers from hiring artists deemed "devalued."
Regarding contractual modalities, the regulation recognizes three types of contracts: fixed-term —the primary modality, with a maximum duration of one year, renewable—, for the execution of a specific action or work, and open-ended.
Each contract must specify, in addition to the general elements provided in the Labor Code, the artistic specialty, the method of work—individual, collective, or both—the places of activity, the amount and frequency of payment, and the requirements for personal appearance when applicable.
Regarding remuneration, Article 5 establishes three possible avenues: timely payment, equivalent to a monthly salary based on the level of artistic evaluation; performance-based payment, according to the approved amounts; and payment from the commercialization of artistic performances, which are considered personal income.
The regulation also clarifies that the contract can be terminated due to general causes or specific reasons related to the sector, such as demonstrated loss of capacity or the dissolution of the artistic collective.
Resolution 28/2026 is part of a broader regulatory package published in the same Gazette No. 78, which includes the regarding the evaluation of artistic workers and concerning the hiring and marketing of artistic performances, both in Cuba and abroad.
The new will come into effect 90 days after its publication, which sets its actual implementation around mid-December 2026.
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