COVID-19 and Labour Law: Panama

Abstract

Panamanian authorities acted quickly to address expected public health and workplace effects of the pandemic before the country saw its first confirmed case of COVID-19. Panama’s National Assembly enacted legislation to allow telework and the labor ministry issued a Circular on February 27, 2020 to provide guidance to employers and workers on how to prevent infection from COVID-19 in the workplace, followed by several Decrees establishing guidelines to deal with the impact of the pandemic on workplaces. The government of Panama issued a national-level state of emergency declaration on March 13, 2020. In addition to public health and workplace measures adopted in short succession in March 2020, the Panamanian government adopted a financial aid package to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic.