Every country in the world has laws on its books to protect employees from harm. These range from legislation protecting whistleblowers from retaliation and requiring employers to put in place reporting channels, to laws guaranteeing equal rights to temporary agency workers. In this section, we’ll discuss some of the most important laws protecting employees in Argentina.
There are no specific regulations protecting whistleblowers in Argentina. Private-sector companies must comply with the Corporate Liability Law, which makes private legal entities criminally liable for crimes of corruption. However, this only includes a recommendation to implement a whistleblowing policy, not an obligation.
Criminal laws provide whistleblowers with a reduction of penalties with respect to crimes against the public administration. Companies can also be offered a reduction of penalties if they have a compliance policy that protects whistleblowers from retaliation.
Countries around the world have data privacy and protection laws designed to protect individuals and their personal data. Organisations are required to adhere to strict guidelines on storing, processing, and handling data related to their employees and customers. While laws differ from one country to another, most of them are well aligned with global standards such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU.
The main law protecting data in Argentina is the Ley de Protección de los Datos Personales or LPDP. This law is set up to protect personal data stored in files, registers, data banks, and other technical storage facilities.
As in many other countries, employers in Argentina need a legal basis for processing their employees’ data. Consent can theoretically be a valid legal basis as long as it is prior, informed, and expressly given either in writing or electronically. However, consent granted by employees can be challenged due to the imbalance of power in the employment relationship. Employers can also process employee data without consent as long as this is necessary for the employment relationship.
Employers who only need an employee’s service for a limited period sometimes hire additional labour through temporary work agencies. Many countries, including Argentina, have strict rules on when temporary agency workers may be employed and how they must be treated.
In Argentina, temporary agency work is only permitted in specific circumstances and is subject to certain conditions. For example, an employer may hire a worker through a temporary work agency for the following reasons:
When a worker is hired by a temporary work agency in Argentina, they are employed by the agency on an indefinite-term ‘discontinuous’ contract. This contract remains in place but is suspended without pay when the worker is not on assignment at a client company. Contracts can be suspended for a maximum of 45 successive days and 90 days per one-year period. If a contract is suspended for longer than this, the worker is entitled to terminate the contract with 24 hours’ notice and receive compensation for dismissal without just cause and payment in lieu of notice.
When an agency finds a potential placement for a worker, they must offer it to them in writing. Each one must be within a 30-km radius of the employee’s home. Employees are not obliged to accept certain types of work, such as night work or work under unhealthy conditions unless they have already agreed to perform this type of work for the agency.
When a worker is engaged through a temporary work agency in Argentina, the client company must pay them at least the remuneration paid to its own employees in the same category.
Client companies engaging temporary agency workers in Argentina must ensure that the number of temporary workers represents a reasonable and justified proportion of the total workforce. They can also only use temporary agency workers for an appropriate period, with specific limits set by collective bargaining agreements.
Employees in Argentina have the right to equal opportunities, regardless of demographic factors like their sex, age, or race. This is guaranteed by Argentine anti-discrimination law.
The primary anti-discrimination legislation in Argentina is Law No. 23,592, which explicitly prohibits discrimination based on the following protected characteristics:
Other grounds, such as age and disability, are protected under other anti-discrimination legislation in Argentina and provisions of the Argentine Constitution.
Employees who have experienced discrimination in Argentina can report to the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism (INADI), a specialized agency that receives and investigates complaints. They can also pursue legal action through the courts, potentially seeking compensation for damages.
Employers in Argentina have a responsibility to provide a safe and healthy workplace, including protecting employees from harassment. These responsibilities include establishing and implementing clear policies that prohibit any form of discrimination, and proactively promoting a culture of respect and inclusion. Employers should also provide regular training on harassment and discrimination and take any claims of discriminatory behaviour seriously.
The Argentine Constitution contains various provisions that apply to employees, including the right to equal pay for equal work. Argentina has also ratified the Equal Remuneration Convention No. 100 of the International Labour Organization (ILO), which guarantees equal remuneration for men and women.
Understanding what you can and can’t do as an employer is one of the biggest challenges of hiring in Argentina. Get it wrong, and you could face legal action and damage to your reputation.
Our solutions protect both you and your workers, thanks to our team’s in-depth knowledge of local and international labour laws. That means you can stop worrying about compliance issues and focus on getting the job done.
The main employee protection laws in Argentina include the Labour Contract Law (Law 20.744), Anti-Discrimination Law (Law 23.592), Law 27.580 on workplace violence and harassment, and Personal Data Protection Law (Law 25.326). Employee rights are also protected under the National Constitution.
The Labour Contract Law (LCT) covers key employment rights such as working conditions, pay, leave, termination and protection against unfair treatment.
Law 23.592 prohibits discrimination, while Law 27.580 approved ILO Convention 190 on violence and harassment at work. Law 25.326 applies to the collection, storage and use of employees’ personal information.
Employers may also need to follow collective bargaining agreements and sector-specific rules. Companies using temporary workers must comply with the rules that apply to temporary employment agencies and their workers. Since March 2026, employers must also consider the changes introduced by Law 27.802, the Labour Modernisation Law, and its implementing regulations. These changes affect matters including employment intermediation, temporary workers, subcontracting and the allocation of employment liabilities.
Argentina does not have one general whistleblower law covering all private-sector employees. Instead, protection can come from employment, anti-discrimination and corporate compliance laws based on the circumstances of the report and any action taken against the employee.
Law 27.401, Argentina’s corporate criminal liability law, encourages companies to have internal reporting channels and policies protecting people who report misconduct from retaliation as part of an integrity programme.
Employees who are dismissed or treated unfairly after making a report may also have protection under Argentina’s Labour Contract Law. Anti-discrimination protections under Law 23.592 may apply where the treatment is discriminatory.
For employers, a practical approach is to have a confidential reporting process, an anti-retaliation policy and a documented procedure for investigating reports. Companies should also check whether additional rules apply to their industry or sector.
Employees in Argentina are protected against workplace discrimination and unequal treatment based on characteristics such as sex, race, nationality, religion, political or union opinion, and economic or social position. Law 23.592 prohibits discriminatory acts that restrict a person’s rights and allows affected individuals to seek an end to the discriminatory conduct and claim damages.
Argentina’s Labour Contract Law (LCT) also prohibits discrimination between employees and requires equal treatment for workers in comparable situations. Employers can make legitimate distinctions based on factors related to the work, such as performance or other objective employment criteria, but these cannot be used as a cover for discrimination.
These protections apply across employment decisions including recruitment, pay, working conditions, promotion and termination. Employers should base employment decisions on job-related factors and maintain records supporting decisions where employees in comparable roles are treated differently.
Employers in Argentina can monitor company email, computers and other workplace systems, but employees must be informed about the monitoring, and their privacy and personal data must be respected.
Employers should have a written monitoring policy explaining what may be monitored, how monitoring is carried out and how collected information will be used. Monitoring should be related to a legitimate workplace purpose and should not extend unnecessarily into an employee’s private communications or personal information.
Employee data is protected under Law 25.326, Argentina’s Personal Data Protection Law. Employers must follow its requirements when collecting, storing, accessing or using employee information. Employees also have constitutional protections covering private correspondence and communications. Argentina’s data protection authority, the Agencia de Acceso a la Información Pública (AAIP), oversees compliance with personal data protection requirements.
Employers in Argentina must provide equal pay for equal work and cannot discriminate against employees when setting salaries or other remuneration. Article 14 bis of Argentina’s National Constitution establishes the principle of equal remuneration for equal work. The Labour Contract Law (LCT) also requires equal treatment of employees in comparable situations.
Pay differences can be permitted when there is a valid work-related reason, such as differences in responsibilities, seniority or performance. Employers cannot pay employees differently because of sex or another protected characteristic. Law 23.592 provides additional protection against discrimination, including discrimination that affects an employee’s pay.
Collective bargaining agreements are also important in Argentina because many set minimum salaries, job categories and other remuneration requirements for particular industries. Employers should therefore check the applicable agreement when setting or reviewing employee pay.
Temporary and agency workers in Argentina are entitled to employment protections including pay, working conditions and applicable statutory and collective bargaining rights. For agency workers, the temporary employment agency must be properly registered, and the assignment must meet the permitted grounds for temporary work. These include replacing an absent employee, temporary increases in activity and other exceptional business needs.
Temporary workers must receive at least the applicable statutory or collectively agreed minimum wage. Under the 2026 rules, workers employed by a temporary employment agency must also receive remuneration equivalent to that paid to the user company’s permanent employees in the same employment category and with the same seniority.
Argentina also places responsibilities on both the temporary employment agency and the company where the employee performs the work. The agency remains the worker’s registered employer. However, the user company can be jointly liable for employment and social security obligations accrued during the period in which the worker actually provides services to it. Employers should therefore check that the agency is properly authorised and that the arrangement complies with the Labour Contract Law and Decree 407/2026.
Employers in Argentina should have policies and processes covering discrimination, equal treatment, workplace harassment, employee privacy, pay, reporting concerns and other employment rights.
These policies need to follow the Labour Contract Law and Argentina’s anti-discrimination and data protection requirements. Employers should also have a process for preventing and responding to workplace violence and harassment in line with ILO Convention 190.
Employee data and workplace monitoring should be handled in line with Argentina’s privacy rules. Companies should also provide a way for employees to report concerns and have those reports reviewed appropriately.
Employment practices should be reviewed when Argentine labour requirements change, including policies used for temporary workers, remote employees and other working arrangements.
Employers in Argentina must take steps to prevent and address violence and harassment at work, including sexual and gender-based harassment.
ILO Convention 190 primarily requires Argentina to implement laws, policies and enforcement measures addressing workplace violence and harassment. For employers, practical compliance measures include having workplace policies that prohibit violence and harassment, informing employees about expected behaviour and providing a process for reporting and responding to complaints.
The protections are not limited to conduct inside the physical workplace. They can also cover work-related communications, business travel, work events and digital communications connected with employment.
Employers should investigate complaints appropriately and protect the privacy of the people involved. Managers and employees should also understand how to report concerns and what happens after a complaint is made.
Argentina ratified ILO Convention 190 through Law 27.580, which applies alongside the country’s existing employment and anti-discrimination protections.
Remote and teleworkers in Argentina have the same anti-discrimination and equal-treatment protections as employees working on site.
Employers cannot discriminate against remote employees based on sex, race, religion, nationality, political or union opinion, or other protected grounds. Argentina’s Labour Contract Law also requires equal treatment of employees in comparable situations.
These protections apply to pay, benefits, promotion, training, performance management and termination, regardless of whether the employee works remotely or at the employer’s workplace.
Argentina’s telework rules also require remote employees to receive the same rights as comparable on-site employees. Employers should therefore apply the same employment criteria to remote and office-based staff and make sure differences in treatment are based on the role or working arrangement rather than the employee’s protected characteristics.
CXC supports fair treatment of employees in Argentina by managing local employment requirements covering pay, benefits, leave, working conditions, employee protections and termination.
Through our Employer of Record service, we employ workers locally and manage their employment in line with Argentine requirements. This includes applying relevant employment terms, statutory benefits and leave entitlements and supporting local HR administration.
We also help manage requirements affecting different working arrangements, including remote and temporary work, and update local employment processes when regulations change.
Employees have local support for employment and HR questions, while your HR team has one point of contact for managing Argentine employment requirements. This can be particularly useful for global companies that do not have their own local HR or employment team in Argentina.
Speak to our team to learn more about managing employees in Argentina with CXC.
With our EoR solution, you can engage workers anywhere in the world, without putting your business at risk. No more worrying about local labour laws, tax legislation or payroll customs — we’ve got you covered.
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