The Council of State approved the , which allows foreign trade representatives established in Cuba to directly hire workers without having to go through intermediary state employment entities.
The regulation was published this Friday in the , along with its implementation regulation: the Resolution 62/2026 from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, issued on September 22.
The decree repeals Decree-Law 384 of 2019, which for years required that Cuban workers in foreign representations be hired exclusively through state entities authorized by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS).
The reform is not complete: diplomatic missions, consulates, international organizations, press agencies, international schools, and foreign officials are still required to hire through those intermediary entities.
Only foreign commercial representations —defined in article 1, section h) of the decree— have the option to contract directly or, alternatively, to continue using authorized employer entities.
When a commercial representation chooses direct hiring, it assumes the role of employer and is subject to all labor and social security legislation in force in Cuba.
If, on the other hand, they turn to an employing entity, both parties must sign a written Labor Supply Contract, which includes the purpose, term, duration of the trial period, and payment for the service.
The also states that the remuneration of workers cannot be lower than the salary scale set by current legislation.
Another relevant provision requires the incorporation of at least one Cuban worker for each foreign worker involved in the provision of services, both when an employing entity is involved and when the representation contracts directly.
Self-employed workers are excluded from this framework: they can market their products and services to foreign representations through economic contracts, without the need to establish a labor contract.
The change is part of the 176 Economic and Social Transformations presented by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz before the National Assembly in June 2026, which explicitly included the elimination of the mandatory use of employer entities to select and hire personnel in foreign investment, branches, and representative offices.
This same logic had already been applied last September to companies with foreign capital when the MTSS published Resolution 56/2026 in Gazette No. 73, eliminating mandatory state intermediation in that sector and repealing Resolution 33/2020.
The system that is now being partially dismantled has its roots in the 1990s: the Cuban worker signed a contract with a state entity—not with the foreign company or representation—and that entity collected payments in foreign currency while paying the worker in national currency, allowing the state to capture the difference.
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