El Salvador

LABOUR RIGHTS INDEX 2022

Trade Union Indicator

The Labour Rights Index 2022 (LRI 2022) is a de-jure index covering 135 economies and structured around the working lifespan of a worker. In total, 46 questions or evaluation criteria are scored across 10 indicators. The overall score is calculated by taking the average of each indicator, with 100 being the highest possible score. The Index uses a rating system, ranging from “Total Lack of Decent Work” to “Decent Work”. The Labour Rights Index aims at an active contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, by providing necessary (complementary) insights into de jure provisions on issues covered in particular by SDG8 (Decent Jobs), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and SDG 16 (Strong Institutions). The Index is based on national labour legislation, applicable on 1 January 2022. The Index does not take into account COVID-19 related labour market measures in its scoring.

El Salvadore’s overall score is 61.5 out of 100. The overall score for El Salvadore is lower than the regional average observed across Latin America and The Caribbean (71). Within the Latin America and The Caribbean region, the highest score is observed for Paraguay (82.5).

El Salvador ratified Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) in 2006 and Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) in 2006.

Labour Rights Index 2022

61.5/100

LRI Country Score

25/100

Trade Union Indicator

8.73 %

Trade union density rate (%)

4.6 %

Collective bargaining coverage rate (%)

4.42

SDG indicator 8.8.2

3

ITUC Global Rights Index 2022 Ratings

Question

Answer

Score

Legal Basis

Violation

Does the law allow workers to form and join unions of their own choice?

No

0 §7 & 47, Constitution 1983; §204-219 & 248 of the Labour Code 1972; CEACR C87 Obs. 2020

Does the law allow workers to bargain collectively with employers through their representative unions?

No

0 §39, Constitution 1983; §268-287, Labour Code 1972; Presidential Decree No. 64 of 2009; CEACR C98 Obs. 2019

Does the law provide for the right to strike?

No

0 §48 of the Constitution 1983; §527-538 & 553 of the Labour Code 1972; CEACR C87 Obs. 2020

Does the law prohibit employers from terminating employment contracts of striking workers?

No

0 §48 of the Constitution 1983; §535 of the Labour Code 1972; USDOS CRHRP 2021

No Violation Found

Textual sources

A : National Law

National Labour Legislation

B : CEACR

CEACR: ILO Committee of Experts on Application of Conventions and Recommendations (latest report)

C : ITUC

ITUC: ITUC Global Rights Index 2022

D : USDOS

USDOS: US Department of States' Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2021

LRI Country Score
The Labour Rights Index has 10 indicators and 46 sub-indicators. The LRI Country score averages 10 indicators and ranges between 0 and 100. The lowest and highest scorers are Nigeria (29/100) and Belgium/Greece (96/100). https://labourrightsindex.org/

Trade Union Indicator
The trade union indicator is composed of 4 sub-indicators. Scoring is done through the binary method (0 or 1). The score ranges between 0-100.

Trade union density rate (%)
The trade union density rate conveys the number of union members who are employees as a percentage of the total number of employees in the country. For updated statistics on trade union density, please check ILOSTAT.

Collective bargaining coverage rate (%)
The collective bargaining coverage rate conveys the number of employees whose pay and/or conditions of employment are determined by one or more collective agreement(s) as a percentage of the total number of employees in the country. For updated statistics on collective bargaining coverage, please check ILOSTAT.

SDG indicator 8.8.2
SDG indicator 8.8.2 measures national compliance with fundamental labour rights (freedom of association and collective bargaining or FACB). It ranges from 0 to 10, with 0 being the best possible score (indicating higher levels of compliance with FACB rights) and 10 the worst (indicating lower levels of compliance with FACB rights). It is based on six ILO supervisory body textual sources and national legislation.
For an updated assessment on SDG indicator 8.8.2, please check ILOSTAT.

ITUC Global Rights Index 2022 Ratings
The ITUC Global Rights Index depicts the world’s worst countries for workers by rating 148 countries on a scale from 1 to 5+ on the degree of respect for workers’ rights. Violations are recorded each year from April to March. For a detailed description of ratings and methodology, please follow the link.

To find an ITUC affiliate in your country, please check the LINK:

Violations

ILO Committee of Experts on Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR)

CEACR C98 Obs. 2019

Articles 2, 4 and 6. Legislative issues pending for several years. The Committee recalls that for several years it has been making comments on certain provisions of domestic law with the aim of bringing them into conformity with Articles 2, 4 and 6 of the Convention:
– acts of interference: section 205 of the Labour Code and 247 of the Penal Code so that the legislation explicitly prohibits all acts of interference under the terms prescribed by Article 2 of the Convention;
– requirements to be able to negotiate a collective agreement: sections 270 and 271 of the Labour Code and sections 106 and 123 of the Civil Service Act so that, when no union covers more than 50 per cent of the workers, the right to collective bargaining is explicitly granted to all unions, at least on behalf of their own members;
– revision of collective agreements: section 276(3) of the Labour Code to ensure that the renegotiation of collective agreements while they are still in force is only possible at the request of both parties concerned;
– judicial remedies in the event of the denial of the registration of a collective agreement: section 279 of the Labour Code to specify that judicial remedies are applicable against decisions of the Director-General not to register a collective agreement;
– approval of collective agreements concluded with a public institution: section 287 of the Labour Code and 119 of the Civil Service Act, which regulate collective agreements concluded with a public institution, to replace the requirement for prior ministerial approval by a provision envisaging the participation of the financial authorities during the process of collective bargaining, and not when the collective agreement has already been concluded;
– exclusion of certain public employees: section 4(1) of the Civil Service Act so that all public officials who are not engaged in the administration of the State enjoy the guarantees provided for in the Convention.
The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it plans to address these recommendations in the Higher Labour Council, which has recently been reactivated, and requests the technical assistance of the Office in this regard. Hoping to be able to note progress in the near future and noting that the Government requests the technical assistance of the Office, the Committee urges the Government to, with prior tripartite consultation, take the necessary steps to ensure conformity of the above provisions with the Convention.

Violations

ILO Committee of Experts on Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR)

CEACR C87 Obs. 2020

Articles 2 and 3. Legislative reforms pending. For several years, the Committee has been requesting the Government to take the necessary measures to amend the following legislative and constitutional provisions (…)
-article 221 of the Constitution of the Republic so as to limit the prohibition of the right to strike in the public service to officials exercising authority in the name of the State and those who perform their duties in essential services in the strict sense of the term (while recalling that it is also possible to restrict the exercise of the right to strike through the establishment of minimum services in public services of fundamental importance);
-section 529 of the Labour Code so that when a decision is taken to call a strike, only the votes cast are taken into account, and also that the principle is recognized of the freedom to work of non-strikers and the right of employers and managerial staff to enter the premises of the enterprise or establishment, even where the strike has been decided upon by an absolute majority of the workers; and
-section 553(f) of the Labour Code, which provides that strikes shall be declared unlawful “where inspection shows that the striking workers do not constitute at least 51 per cent of the personnel of the enterprise or establishment,” which is inconsistent with section 529(3) of the Labour Code and which restricts excessively the right of workers’ organizations to organize their activities in full freedom and to formulate their programmes.
In this respect, the Committee notes that the Government duly notes the above-mentioned recommendations, indicates that consideration could not be given to proposals for reform owing to the inactivity of the Higher Labour Council over six years, and states that, with the reactivation of the latter, these, and other proposals for labour legislation reform, will be submitted to it. The Committee duly notes that, as specified by the Government, ILO technical assistance has been requested in this regard. Hoping to be able to note progress in the near future on these long pending legislative reform matters, the Committee urges the Government, following tripartite consultation, to take the necessary measures to ensure conformity of the above provisions with the Convention.