Labor law

As a historical background Colombia has its labor law bases to the feudal system created in
Europe. Subsequent to the industrial development that generated protest over the inequality of
working conditions of the workers, they led to the elaboration of regulations that put order to the
abuses of the employers to their workers.

In Colombia, with the abolition of slavery on January 1, 1852, the first initiatives that led to the
creation of regulations and social laws that would become the foundations of the Colombian
substantive labor code emerged. In 1890 the first laws were issued in some provinces that would
give parameters for the duration of working hours, salaries and penalties.

With the arrival of the twentieth century, Colombian labor legislation enters into force through the
issuance of regulations that regulate the duration of daily working hours, the employer's duties to
guarantee the well-being of its employees and the establishment of health and safety conditions
within the work space. In 1905 it was established 60 years as the retirement age and life pension
those who retired from the Supreme Court of Justice.

Subsequently, on June 23, 1928, a reform of the Labor Law was carried out, which increased the
working day to 9 hours, and indicated certain fundamental principles of industrial safety. The
amount of the salary that must be paid daily or weekly is regulated. Thus, the labor law becomes
stronger to the extent that Colombian labor legislation becomes clearer.

Eight years later, “Legislative Act No. 1. Section 2 of Article 20” is promulgated. In this legislative
act the strike is endorsed as a right of workers of private entities. This law is included in the
Political Constitution of 1991 in article 56.

In order to provide greater protection to the rights and duties of workers and employees, the
government creates the Labor Ministries through Law 96 of 1938 that would give the operation of
another institution Social and Compulsory Insurance in Colombia and the Institution of Social
insurance.

In the absence of clear and complete legislation on March 5, 1950, the Substantive Labor Code in
Colombia was created, compiling all the labor standards that had been established in a dispersed
manner until that time. Since then, over time, this code has been reformed according to the
changes in the labor regime that have arisen over time.

With the passing of the years it can be affirmed that the substantive labor code is the most
complete norm of labor nature that is in charge of the individual labor law which regulates the
rights and obligations that workers have with their employer and the rights and obligations that
they have with their workers; and collective labor law regulates the rights and obligations between
employers and workers that are part of a union or professional associations.

That is why the substantive labor code is an instrument of labor law that applies to all workers or
employers in the face of economic work, allowing a social balance so that both parties respect and
manage egalitarian conditions.

There is a classification enshrined in the substantive code of the work, which are:
Individual Law is when the worker is subject to the rules and rules of an employer; Collective Law
of the worker in charge of coordinating relations between the employer and the workers; Social
Security Law consists of payments made by the employer to workers, for their social security,
accidents, illness, old age, disability, or death of the worker; Labor Procedural Law set of rules,
which apply during work benefits; Administrative Labor Law coordinates the state's relations as
employees with its servers; International Labor Law set of rules that leave our country, to
consecrate aspects related to human work; Cooperative Law involving workers to improve the
quality of daily work life.

It must also be affirmed that the labor law is autonomous, since it is a public order right, which
always seeks that our society has a good economic development, since all work that any person
does depends on the development of our country. All individuals have different abilities which
serve for each person to put their skills to the improvement of individuals.

From this, the code regulates the actions of the employer if for any reason it fails to comply with
the rule, it could result in significant sanctions not only economic but also those that directly affect
the commercial activity. Likewise, it is important to mention that according to article 2 of the code,
this must be applied within Colombian territory and for all inhabitants without excluding
foreigners who are working or managing employer functions under the principle of territoriality,
for this reason the legislation that must be To apply is that of Colombia.

In general, it is important to ensure an equivalence between the established norms and what is
sought to be controlled or complied with, since as stated in article 2 of the substantive code of
labor in each country, it is desired to judge, contemplate or implement its own rules for good
management and control of the workplace and social security.

Conclusion Labor law, the son of industrial society, was undoubtedly the legal event of the
twentieth century. The regulation of the capital-labor equation based on a classical contractual
model allowed the development of the production system of modernism. The actuality of the
discipline demands the revision of the scope of subjective protection (from the dependent worker
to the parasubordinate and autonomous workers) and objective (of the work subordinated to the
work) that undoubtedly shows the tendency of extension of the right of the work with the purpose
of regulating the provision of services of the citizens that with their work, in any of its modality as
it is arranged by article 23 of the Political Constitution, they seek to obtain a revenue that allows
them to assume their basic needs. This is how Colombian labor law becomes something recent
and is constantly advancing due to new needs, having a hierarchical sense between employer and
employee, so the ILO ends up being created. Its principles are clear and are defined by its purpose,
state intervention, right to work and freedom of work, obligation, equality of employees, right of
association, right to strike, right to social security and the nature of public order. in labor
standards.