The Council of Ministers of Cuba approved the , which establishes the Regime of Offenses and Penalties in Labor and Social Security matters, published this Friday in the , pages 150 to 157.
The regulation, signed by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz on September 4, applies to all employers based in the national territory, "regardless of the sector in which the activity is carried out," as stated in its first article.
The decree classifies violations into two categories: serious and very serious.
Among the serious violations are the use of fixed-term contracts to cover permanent work, forcing employees to remain in their jobs beyond the legal time limit, terminating the employment relationship without legally established causes, employing adolescents aged 15 to 17 without the appropriate authorization, applying work shifts that exceed the legally permitted hours, and violating vacation periods, weekly rest, and paid breaks.
It is considered very serious violations to employ people without a work contract, to impose working hours on adolescents that exceed legal limits, and to fail to investigate workplace accidents and incidents.
The sanctions include fines ranging from 10 to 200 pesos for individuals and from 201 to 1,000 pesos for legal entities, in addition to the permanent closure of the establishment and the definitive shutdown of equipment or machinery.
The competent authority to determine the commission of an infraction and impose sanctions is the head of the Inspection Department of the provincial and territorial branches of the National Office of Labor Inspection (ONIT), whose inspectors have a maximum period of ten working days to communicate the outcome of their actions to the relevant authority.
The decree also stipulates that if the detected facts could lead to criminal liability, the authority refrains from taking administrative action and files a complaint with the competent authority.
Sanctions expire one year after being notified if they are not enforced or if efforts to ensure compliance are not made, and no liability is required when "the causes and effects no longer exist at the time of inspection."
The Decree 179 is the complementary regulation that Article 500 of the , mandates to issue in order to regulate labor infractions and their enforcement procedure.
That Code, approved on July 30, 2026, and published in the same Official Gazette No. 78, incorporates provisions such as telework, multiple employment with a limit of 13 hours per day, and the right to digital disconnection, and will come into effect approximately in December 2026, ninety days after its publication.
La Gaceta No. 78 contains a total of 14 regulations, including resolutions from the ministries of Culture, Education, Finance and Prices, Public Health, and Labor and Social Security, which together shape the new legal labor framework in Cuba for the period starting this year.
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