Argentina's 2026 labor reform (Ley 27.802): what changes for employers

Ley 27.802, the Labor Modernization Law, was passed by Congress on February 27, 2026 and applies from its publication on March 6, 2026, unless an article sets another date.[1] It was promulgated by Decreto 137/2026 the same day[7] and rewrote dozens of articles of the employment statute, the Ley de Contrato de Trabajo, along with the labor procedure, union and collective bargaining laws.[1]

It builds on Ley 27.742 of July 2024, which raised probation from three to six months, created a regime for independent workers with up to three collaborators and repealed the fines for unregistered employment.[8][9]

The reform rewrote the pay rules of the employment statute:[2]

• Pay in dollars: salaries may be agreed and paid in pesos or in a foreign currency, always by credit to a bank account in the employee’s name with no fees or withdrawal limits.
• Variable pay: employers may add merit or organization-based components by collective, individual or unilateral decision and change them without creating acquired rights.
• Benefits without contributions: comprehensive health plans paid in kind joined the social benefits that are not salary, and reimbursements of phone and internet costs used for work, documented travel expenses and certain equity or profit-sharing plans are not pay.
• Digital payslips and records: payslips may be signed digitally or electronically, and payment records may be kept digitized for the two-year labor and ten-year social security limitation periods.

• Hours banks: collective agreements may average working hours and set hours banks, within the 48-hour weekly maximum, 12 hours’ rest between days and 35 hours’ weekly rest, and employer and employee may agree in writing on a scheme to compensate overtime with time off.[2] The 8-hour day and 48-hour week did not change.[10]
• Vacation: still granted between October 1 and April 30 with at least 30 days’ written notice, and it may now be split by agreement into blocks of at least seven days.[2]
• Sick-leave certificates: they must state the diagnosis, treatment and days of rest and be signed digitally through authorized electronic-prescription platforms, and the employer may have the worker examined by its own doctor.[2]
• Telework: the remote-work law, Ley 27.555, is repealed from January 1, 2027 and governs telework agreements until then.[1]

• Severance base: severance is still one month’s salary per year of service or fraction above three months, but the base now counts only pay accrued and paid monthly, without the SAC, vacation pay or non-monthly bonuses; variable items use the average of the last six months, or of the year if that is better for the worker.[2]
• Cap and floor: the base is capped at three times the collective agreement’s average monthly salary, a limit already in the 2004 text of the article,[9] but it can never fall below 67% of the employee’s own pay, a floor now written into the statute, and severance is never less than one month’s salary.[2]
• Exclusive remedy: severance is the only compensation for dismissal without cause and extinguishes any other claim tied to the dismissal, including civil damages, except claims based on criminal offenses.[2]
• Probation: no notice and no end-of-month payment are owed when employment ends during probation, where employers used to give 15 days’ notice.[2][9]
• Resignations and mutual terminations: a resignation needs a paper or digital telegram or an appearance before the labor authority, and a mutual termination a notary deed or a judicial or labor authority with the worker present.[2]
• Work certificates: due within 45 business days of the end of employment, at the employer’s premises or digitally.[2]
• Litigation: unpaid labor credits are updated by consumer prices plus 3% a year, judgments may be paid in up to 6 monthly installments, or 12 for small and medium companies, and court costs and fees at first instance are capped at 25% of the award.[2]

Each private employer opens one account, managed by an entity of its choice authorized by the securities regulator, and pays into it 1% of pay as a large company or 2.5% with an SME certificate.[1][11] The same amount is deducted from its social security contributions, so the total does not rise, except for workers hired under the RIFL incentive, who generate no deduction.[12][4] The government may raise the rates to 1.5% and 3% with the approval of a congressional committee.[1] Contributions start with the December 2026 accrual period, after two postponements.[13][3]

The account can pay severance and related termination payments for workers registered at least 12 months before the termination, but only after it has received twelve monthly contributions,[1][13] so it cannot fund a dismissal before late 2027 (calculated). It does not change the severance rules, and the employer stays fully liable whatever the account balance.[1]

The Labor Formalization Incentive Regime (RIFL) cuts employer contributions for 48 months to 2% for pensions, the employment fund and family allowances, plus 3% for PAMI, for eligible employment relationships that start and are registered between May 1, 2026 and April 30, 2027.[1][4] The worker must have had no registered job on December 10, 2025, or have been unemployed for the six months before the hire, or have last worked in the public sector; former monotributo contractors qualify under the same conditions.[4] Companies that became employers on or after December 10, 2025 can place up to 80% of their staff under the regime,[4] and it does not apply to employers listed in the public registry of labor sanctions or to abusive replacement of staff.[1]

A separate program lets employers regularize unregistered or under-registered employment that began before the law’s promulgation, with forgiveness of fines and penalties.[1]

Yes. On March 30, 2026 a national labor court suspended more than 80 of its articles at the request of the CGT union confederation.[14] On May 8 a federal administrative judge lifted that injunction, holding that reviewing the law’s constitutionality exceeded the scope of a precautionary measure,[5] and in July the federal administrative court of appeals rejected the CGT’s appeal, according to press reports.[6] We found no ruling on the merits by November 2, 2026. Until the Supreme Court decides, workers can still challenge specific articles, such as the severance base, in their own cases.

• Paying in dollars is legal, but the dollars must reach an Argentine bank account in the employee’s name.[2]
• Dismissal costs are more predictable, because the severance base leaves out the SAC and bonuses and severance is the only compensation for dismissal without cause.[2]
• A new subsidiary can use the RIFL for up to 80% of its staff hired through April 2027, and should budget the FAL from December 2026.[4]
• Telework agreements made under Ley 27.555 need a review before January 1, 2027.[1]
• Contractors: invoices or bank payments still remove the legal presumption of employment, but a contractor who works under real dependence can prove an employment relationship.[2]

The Argentina hiring guide covers contracts, holidays, contractors and data protection, and the Argentina cost guide calculates what an employee costs with and without the RIFL.