Labor Ministry shuts down 24 Chinese-owned businesses in the Dominican Republic over labor abuses

The Dominican Republic's Ministry of Labor ordered the closure of 24 Chinese-owned businesses and placed 77 more under scrutiny after uncovering serious violations of the Labor Code during an eight-day inspection operation. Minister Eddy Olivares Ortega presented the results this Tuesday, October 20, at a press conference in Santo Domingo.

The operation covered 101 establishments in the National District and the provinces of Santo Domingo, San Pedro de Macorís and La Altagracia, where inspectors drew up 1,016 violation reports. The 24 shutdowns were ordered under Resolution 04/2007 over conditions posing imminent danger to workers, including defective electrical installations, staircases without railings, poor ventilation, uninhabitable restrooms and the absence of fire extinguishers, first-aid kits and emergency signage.

The most troubling finding, according to the minister, was that 91 of the 101 inspected businesses dismissed their employees before they completed three months of service, a practice aimed at preventing them from accruing rights such as vacation time and severance pay. In addition, 53 companies denied the mandatory weekly day of rest, 52 failed to pay the annual bonus, 37 did not compensate overtime hours and 33 violated the 80-20 rule on the proportion of Dominican and foreign workers.

"We are not going to tolerate this. This cannot happen in any company. It does not matter where it comes from or what it does," Olivares warned, assuring that the government will strictly enforce labor legislation on every company operating in the country.

Photo: El Diario del Sur

Source: El Diario del Sur