Countries › Dominican Republic › Guide › 7. Labor and employment › Employment contracts in the Dominican Republic: indefinite by default, narrow exceptions and no formal trial period

Employment contracts in the Dominican Republic: indefinite by default, narrow exceptions and no formal trial period

Last verified: 2026-10-30 · Status: Stable

An oral contract is valid, and every contract is presumed indefinite. Fixed term and project contracts must be written and only fit the cases the code lists. The code has no trial period by that name, but notice and cesantía only start after three months of work.

Key facts

Contract type presumed by law	Indefinite typeLey 16-92 art. 34, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Days to send written contract originals to the labor authority	3 daysLey 16-92 art. 22, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Service needed before notice and cesantía apply	3 monthsLey 16-92 art. 76 and art. 80, as of 2026-10-30 · in force

The rule

1. The employment contract is one where a person agrees, for pay, to give personal service under the dependence and direction of another.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 1, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

2. Either party can demand that an oral contract be put in writing. If the other side refuses, the labor authority summons them, and a dispute goes to the labor court.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 19, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

3. Every contract is presumed indefinite. Contracts for a fixed term or for a specific work or service must be written.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 34, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

4. A written contract is made in four originals: one per party and two sent by the employer to the labor authority within three days. It states the parties, service, hours and place, pay and pay dates, and duration.
Cost to do it: Contracts are exempt from taxes and duties under art. 729.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 22 and art. 24, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

5. Work is permanent when it meets normal, constant and uniform needs of the business and runs on all working days. Such work creates an indefinite contract.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 26, art. 27 and art. 28, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

6. A fixed term is only valid if the nature of the service requires it, if it replaces a worker temporarily, or if it suits the worker's interests.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 33, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

7. If a worker keeps working after the fixed term ends with the employer's knowledge, the contract becomes indefinite from the first day.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 73, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

8. A contract for a specific work is only valid when the nature of the job requires it. Moving to another work of the same employer within two months of the last one finishing makes the relationship indefinite, as does belonging to crews rotated between works.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 31, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

9. A contract to meet a temporary peak or accidental need ends without liability if the service ends before three months. After that the employer pays cesantía under art. 80.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 32, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

10. Seasonal contracts end without liability when the season ends, but if the work runs past four months the worker gets the economic assistance in art. 82. Seasonal contracts in the sugar industry count as indefinite.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 29 and art. 30, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

11. A written contract can only be changed in writing. It can change by law, by collective agreement or by mutual consent. The employer may adjust how work is done only if the change is reasonable, leaves essential terms intact and causes no harm.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 20, art. 41 and art. 62, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

12. A worker may serve more than one employer at different hours.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 9, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

13. If a worker leaves an employer that paid for training, within twice the training period and at most two years, a new employer that hires the worker in that period shares civil liability with the worker.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 75, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

Contract	When allowed	How it ends	Written?
Indefinite	Default for permanent work	Notice, dismissal, resignation or agreement	Optional
Fixed term	Nature of service, replacement, worker's interest	On the agreed date, without liability	Required
Specific work or service	Nature of the job requires it	When the work ends, without liability	Required
Temporary peak or accidental	Temporary need	Without liability before three months, cesantía after	Follow art. 34
Seasonal	Work lasting only part of the year	End of season, assistance after four months	Advised

Contract types under arts. 25 to 34

Worked example

A distributor hires ten staff on one year fixed term contracts for its ordinary warehouse work. The work is permanent, so the fixed term does not fit art. 33 and the workers can argue they are indefinite.

Step by step

Default to an indefinite contract unless a listed exception clearly applies.
Write the contract with the art. 24 content.
Send the two originals to the labor authority within three days, where the employer uses a written contract.
Reflect hours and pay in the schedule poster and roster.
Keep the changes in writing.

Common traps

The first three months are not a free pass for everything: only notice and cesantía wait for that date, and earned salary, vacation and Christmas salary rights still apply.
Rolling fixed terms over ordinary work usually fails.
Letting a fixed term run on after its end date converts the contract back to its first day.
A foreign worker's contract must be written to be registered. See the foreign workers page.

Sources

Código de Trabajo and complementary norms, Ministerio de Trabajo

← Employing people in the Dominican Republic: what a new employer must do and what a worker really costsMinimum wage in the Dominican Republic: four company sizes, sector tariffs and the 2026 tables →

Get rule changes weekly

Free. One email a week from The LatAm Thread.

One more step after you press the button: we take you to Substack, where your email is already filled in. Confirm there to start. No spam, unsubscribe anytime, we never share your address. By subscribing you agree to the privacy policy.