In Cuba, unlike other countries, “there is no trend towards multiple employment,” even though since 2009 it has been legalized as a work alternative.
According to the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Marta Elena Feitó Cabrera, this is due to free health and education services. They also affect, as comments in Cubadebate pointed out, the bureaucracy, the rigidities and the lack of knowledge of what is regulated.
The discreet figure recorded by the MTSS has remained stable in recent years: just over 100,000 Cubans have had a secondary job annually. More than 85,000 are self-employed linked to the state sector, Ingrid Travieso, Director of Employment of that agency reports.
Given the decrease in the economically active population due to the increase in the number of retirees and the incidence of emigration (updated official data would help to better analyze the panorama), multiple employment could be seen as a way to cover "absences" and improve household income.
What are the rights of moonlighters? What does the law say?
A week ago, Cubadebate inquired about the experience of its readers with multiple employment and many doubts were received in the comments. Marta Rodríguez left several questions and in one of them, she asked whether or not a worker could multiple employment in his own workplace.
The answer is yes and it is in article 28 of the Labor Code, in force since 2014, according to which "employers can enter into contracts with workers linked to other employers, as well as with their workers, to perform tasks other than the usual ones in different working hours, by means of a fixed-term contract or for the execution of a job or work”.
The rule says that workers, after fulfilling the duties of the position they hold, can perform other tasks, but always formalized by means of a contract. In other words, you can exercise what is commonly known as moonlighting, although this term does not appear explicitly in Cuban legislation.
Olgalidi Alpón, an expert in Politics at the Legal and International Relations Directorate of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, recalls that the opportunity to have more than one job arose in 2009 due to the labor force deficit in the country in certain activities such as services cleaning.
That year, Decree Law No. 268 eliminated the existing limitations in labor matters and opened the possibility for workers to enter into an additional contract, in their own entity or in another, after fulfilling the duties of their position. Although the Labor Code later repealed this norm, practically all of its postulates were included.
One of the guarantees included in the law – Alpón refers – is that you can work in several jobs, as long as the daily rest is fulfilled. "In general, they are part-time contracts and it is designed to be done in tasks other than the usual ones."
The entities have the obligation to verify that the schedules do not coincide. “In no case is it expected that the worker will occupy a position and carry out the work of another position during the same working hours,” the expert clarifies.
However, in the opinion of Yasser, one of the readers who sent his opinions to Cubadebate, this condition is a limitation.
“Many times –he says–, companies or entities need a worker to cover another job in the same eight hours, even in the same center. Hence, the worker often does tasks that are not in his contract, but he is not paid for it, because these extra activities are not recognized.
Yasser adds that “there are those who, in addition to their position, cover that of another colleague who is on a mission or has left, but this is not recognized either. Also with remote work or teleworking, where, more than working hours, what is measured are results or productivity, there are people who can attend several jobs at the same time. Therefore, I believe that flexibility is needed on the subject of moonlighting to better take advantage of and stimulate productivity”.
Another reader agrees with this criterion: “There are company directors who are more concerned about attendance than production, and I ask myself, what is it that our country lacks, that we workers are located, sitting in a chair , or that we are taking advantage of the time and producing?
Regarding multiple employment, the Code establishes several exceptions. For example, it is not conceived for those workers who have short hours, such as miners and linemen. "They are -explains Alpón- workers who are subjected to strong physical activity and, therefore, have reduced hours and receive full salary. There it is not conceived that the worker has more employment.
Neither is multiactivity authorized for women on pre- and post-natal maternity leave and for those who are enjoying Social Security protection due to illness.
In any case, for each of the jobs, the salary, vacations, sick pay, maternity leave and all the other benefits granted by labor legislation are received, specifies the MTSS specialist.
Regarding moonlighting in the culture sector, a topic that Cubadebate will address in another paper, Alpón specifies that article 76 of the Labor Code empowers the head of that body to issue rules on hiring, in consultation with the MTSS and in agreement with the corresponding union organization.
The same happens in the areas of medicine, teaching and sports, because they are activities with specific characteristics.
For Julio, another reader who left his opinion on our website, multiple employment has been positive. "It is the opportunity to acquire more salary at the cost of honest work, while obtaining more experience and professional growth in less time."
In the opinion of this electrical engineer, there are aspects that can be improved, one of them being bureaucracy. "On more than one occasion, the work contracts took months, even having to start without being paid for a matter of responsibility and commitment to the project."
According to his experience, this type of contract has salary limits, "even if you work and deliver a larger production, you are limited to charging less for being multiple employees."
It also has time limits. "Every six months you have to go through all the bureaucracy" with the corresponding paperwork, he says.
Another reader, Erlan, also considers that the rule should be made more flexible, since currently officials (legal advisers, auditors, economists, etc.) of any company cannot hold multiple jobs and are only allowed teaching activities. “Now there are new economic actors and I don't see anything wrong with any professional having a second job in this sector”.
The expert in Politics from the Legal and International Relations Directorate of the MTSS clarifies that these professionals can hold multiple jobs, but they must request authorization from the authority that appointed them.
Decree Law 13, "Work System with State and Government Staff and their Reserves", approved last year, establishes that "when the staff provides services outside of their position, position or regular work activity, in another entity, on a temporary basis for up to one year, which may exceptionally be extended for one more year, during which time he maintains the title of the position he occupies in his entity of origin and his work relationship, for which a decision is required of the head or empowered body, with the authorization of the cadre, upon request of the head of another body, national entity, local body of People's Power or other entity.
The Minister of Labor and Social Security, Marta Elena Feitó Cabrera, explained at the Round Table on August 31, 2021 that, based on what is established in the Labor Code, "people could contract with various economic actors."
“The basic thing is that the discipline, the days and the work content be complied with,” he said.
At that time, Feitó Cabrera reported that there was a group of workers carrying out moonlighting “within the state sector itself and, furthermore, within the state and non-state sector, mainly as self-employed, and, to a lesser extent, in some cooperatives doing jobs in the terms that are established of three months for punctual works”.
In the midst of the complex crisis facing the country, with high inflation that "eats" the purchasing power of salaries, multiple employment could be for some, more than an option, an obligation.
Therefore, it is urgent to eliminate all obstacles, objective and subjective. For this purpose, it will be essential to deflate once and for all the bulging workforces in many entities and ensure that payments really promote productivity, quality and efficiency.