do business in the Dominican Republic - Pellerano & Herrera

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DOING BUSINESS INTHE DOMINICAN REPUBLICSubsidised regime, which applies to unemployed or disabled persons andshall be financed by the State; andMixed regime, which applies to independent professionals, and shall befinanced by the beneficiary and the State.Under the contributive regime, coverage is provided as follows:1. Insurance of Old Age, Disability and Survival (Pensions),2. Health Insurance (for the worker and his family), and3. Labour Risks Insurance.The employer shall finance 70% of the cost of pensions and health insurance,while the worker will contribute the remaining 30%.The employer shall finance100% of the insurance against labour risks.Furthermore,employers must pay 0.4%of salaries to contribute to the Fund of Social Solidarity established in the law.c) Amount of Contribution. Pensions shall be financed with 7.5% of the worker'ssalary.The maximum insurable salary shall be an amount equivalent to twentynational minimum salaries. The employer shall pay 5.37% and the worker2.13% of the above costs.Health insurance shall be financed with 10% of the worker's salary. Here themaximum insurable salary shall be an amount equivalent to ten national minimumsalaries.The employer shall pay 7% and the worker 3% of the above costs.However, Law 87-01 provides for a gradual process of five years before reachingthat level of contribution, which is currently in its second year and is paidas follows: 2.13% for the employer and 5.37% for the workers, for a total of7.5%.Labour Risk Insurance, which covers accidents at the place of work or work-relatedillnesses,shall be financed with 1% of the worker's salary,plus an additional contributionranging up to 0.6% of the salary, depending on the type of activity andlevel of risk at work, all of it at the employer's charge. It should be noted that thelaw provides for the possibility of a reduction of the applicable rates as an incentiveto the improvement of safety conditions at the installations of the company.d) Obligations of Employers. Employers are obliged to make the respective paymentsto the Treasury of Social Insurance within the first three working days ofeach month.They are also obliged to register workers with the SDSS, and to givenotice of the salaries and their amendments.They will be liable for the damagescaused to the worker and his family for the failure to comply with their legal obligations.e) Elimination of Double Insurance. Before the passing of Law 87-01 employersand workers were obliged to make contributions to IDSS, but due to the deficienciesof the public system, many employers paid in addition private insuranceto their employees. From November 2002 this situation will change, because oneof the fundamental principles of the new social security law is the prohibition ofdouble insurance affiliation.104
Pellerano & HerreraAttorneys at law3ENVIRONMENTALPROTECTION105LAW 64-00The legal framework that had provided for environmental protection in theDominican Republic before the year 2000 was comprised of several special laws,presidential decrees, resolutions and administrative measures, which were oftencontradictory and lacked a truly scientific character. Therefore, although comprehensivelyregulated,natural resources were not effectively protected in the country.After the signature and ratification of several international agreements, such asthe Vienna Convention (Ozone Layer Protection), the Rio Agreement (BiologicalDiversity) and other important agreements, one of the main challenges of theDominican Republic was the modernisation of its policies and laws on environmentalprotection.In October 1999 a bill for a General Law on Environment and Natural Resourceswas submitted to Congress approval, to be passed as Law 64-00 on 18 August2000. In addition, special laws in areas such as tourism, electricity and telecommunications,pay particular attention to environmental concerns.PRINCIPLES AND OBJECTIVESLaw 64-00 recognises the importance of the protection, preservation and sustaineduse of natural resources for the well-being of humanity, underlining theneed of special protection for the unique, but fragile, threatened and deteriorated,natural resources of the country, and of urgent measures to correct the deforestationand dry conditions currently prevailing throughout the national territory,and to prevent, control and repair the degradation of the environment.Under Law 64-00 the effective protection of the environment is placed as anessential duty of the State, which must for such purposes adopt an integral policyto be executed with the participation of all institutions related to naturalresources, as a way to concentrate all, until then scattered, efforts, and thusensure the effectiveness thereof.The State assumes the responsibility of protecting and restoring the environment,and shares it with society in general and with each individual in particular.In this manner, the law provides for the mandatory inclusion of environmentalprograms in all social and economic development programs.Furthermore, the law recognises the principle of precaution by providing that “lackof scientific absolute certainty shall not be called as a reason not to adopt preventiveeffective measures in any activities having a negative influence on the environment”.The main objective of Law 64-00 is “to provide rules for the protection, improvementand restoration of the environment and natural resources, by ensuring thesustained development thereof”.Law 64-00 regulates soil, water and air contamination, dangerous products, elementsand substances, domestic and municipal waste, human settlings and soniccontamination. It also regulates the granting of rights by the SEMARN and/ormunicipal authorities for the use of natural resources, including the use of soil,water, coastal and sea resources, forests, caves and mineral resources.
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FOREWORDA place to invest ...The Do
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