Regarding the Draft Labor Code (ll).

Among the most common types of employment are part-time, temporary, fixed-term contracts, self-employment, self-employment, remote work, and home-based work.

What are atypical forms of employment?

Traditionally, labor legislation has been based on a «standard» employment relationship: continuous, full-time, and based on direct subordination between employer and employee. Employment is considered atypical when it differs from this classic model.

Among the most common types are part-time work, temporary work, fixed-term contracts, self-employment, self-employment, remote work, distance work, and home-based work.

At the same time, new forms of employment have emerged as a result of technological and economic developments, such as work on digital platforms, freelance work, virtual collaborative environments, and flexible work.

Although these are not the central focus of this text, they are an example of the current challenges for labor legislation.

A first reading of the draft bill raises the key question: will these atypical activities be supported by employment contracts or will they be considered service contracts?

The answer is fundamental, as it determines the type of labor, salary, and social security protection afforded to workers.

Cuban labor legislation regarding atypical employment

Cuba is no stranger to regulating some of these forms of employment. Forms such as contract for the execution of a project, fixed-term contracts, and home-based work already existed. These arrangements allow for the temporary replacement of another worker or the performance of specific tasks for an agreed period.

The principle of job stability remains the cornerstone of the system’s protection, but the draft bill recognizes that economic reality demands greater flexibility. Therefore, it maintains atypical forms such as fixed-term or project-based contracts, in which rights and obligations end once the agreed-upon objective has been achieved. In this regard, one of the new features of the Draft Bill is the incorporation of self-employment as a form of non-subordinate work, as set forth in Article 9.

This establishes that self-employed workers work on their own account, without being subordinate to an employer or other persons, with rights and obligations primarily related to social security, administrative law, and the economic and financial system.

Likewise, Article 58 recognizes the possibility of engaging in multiple activities, that is, exercising more than one job simultaneously: self-employed or under a subordinate relationship. This implies being subject to different social security regimes.

Author: Lydia Guevara Ramírez, M.Sc. and Dr Osvaldo Manuel Álvarez .