MAY 1st – WORKER’S DAY – Flower Industry Workers

Today, as the International Worker’s Day is celebrated worldwide, we would like to honor those Flower Industry Workers, by mentioning some relevant information:

As we have seen earlier – minimum 65% of all workers on any Flower Plantation are women. The floricultural farms require at least 12 workers per hectare of flower cultivation, which is a much higher labor requirement than other types of large-scale crops in Ecuador. That mean that 8 out of 12 workers are women, including the administrative personnel.

Being 100% private, the floricola sector in any country works according to the profits. So when international sales fall, the industry is affected and often that also means layoffs. After the crisis of 2012-2014 the sector has recovered considerably.

The current legislation protects the workers of flower farms in many aspects, including untimely dismissal.

Also, modern legislation ensures that workers have a contract, social security, benefits such as vacations and overtime, etc.

Large flower farms, which have up to 300 workers, acquire international certifications, thanks to which they have improved many aspects, including labor: use of safer chemicals, better protection equipment, greater social responsibility.

More flexibility in hiring (2018)

Under the new models, the contracts will be more flexible. Payment of the remuneration can be done daily, weekly, biweekly or monthly by agreement between the parties. In addition, the remuneration may not be less than that established by the Sectoral Commission.

For full-time permanent special work contracts, the working day will have a maximum of 40 weekly hours distributed in up to 6 days a week. Without exceeding 8 hours a day. The supplementary and extraordinary hours will be paid with surcharge of 50% and 100% respectively.