Violation of the Principles of Equality and Non-Discrimination Regarding the Labor Rights of Foreign Workers in Bolivia

Abstract

Labor regulations in Bolivia are widely dispersed, both in the number of regulatory bodies and in the time frame in which the regulations were approved. Likewise, these norms are disaggregated in regulatory bodies of different range: the primary law on this matter which is the General Labor Law (LGT) dating from 1939, and other subsequent norms with the character of laws, supreme decrees or ministerial resolutions, that, consecutively, have regulated, modified or complemented the labor regime, generating a set of regulations that in many cases are not consistent with each other. With the entry into force of the new Political Constitution of the State in February 2009, certain labor regulations have not been adjusted to the new constitutional precepts in labor matters. This is the case of article 3 of the LGT, which introduces limitations regarding the maximum number of foreign workers and their level of specialty, contradicting the principles of equality and non-discrimination widely recognized and that govern labor matters; so this double limitation imposed by the LGT can be considered contrary to the labor rights recognized by the Constitution, international treaties, and other laws on the matter.