A group of former employees of the Dominican Republic’s national lottery that were let go in August 2020 have called for further protests to fight for employment benefits. They will meet on March 12 to urge the national lottery to give them answers on the issue.
The former employees argue that it is unfair that they were fired during a pandemic, and revealed they haven’t received any of their benefits yet, even though the lottery has to follow Law 41-08, which obliges the State to remunerate employees within 90 days from the start of the process.
According to local outlet CDN, the former employees demand to be paid their ‘benefits as soon as possible,’ or ‘they will force a permanent protest, until the Administrator Luis Maisichell Dicent recognizes that we have a right by law.’
Additionally, they said that this is a move from the Lotería Nacional to deny them the right to receive the benefits.
“Violations of the law and abuse against employees that were fired by the national lottery don’t start here, we had to wait 45 days for the entity to deliver the labour certification that the Ministry of Public Administration (MAP) requires to plan and calculate our benefits,” they said.
Back in February, Maisichell Dicent said that the lottery situation in the country ‘got out of control’ due to the number of games that are currently offered.
“In that sense, what needs to be done is that all these shops are subject to a tax regime, [that the only way] they will disappear. What you have to do is have the courage to face that situation,” he said.
