Countries › Dominican Republic › Guide › 7. Labor and employment › Termination and severance in the Dominican Republic: desahucio, cesantía, dismissal for cause and resignation

Termination and severance in the Dominican Republic: desahucio, cesantía, dismissal for cause and resignation

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

An employer can end an indefinite contract without cause by giving notice and paying cesantía of up to 23 days of salary a year, with no cap on years. Dismissal for cause needs one of 19 listed grounds, notice to the labor authority in 48 hours and proof in court. Late severance adds one day of salary for every day of delay.

USD figures use the Banco Central de la República Dominicana reference selling rate of RD$60.9007 per US dollar for 29 October 2026, as shown on its home page on the verification date, rounded to the cent.

Key facts

Minimum notice, 3 to 6 months of service	7 daysLey 16-92 art. 76, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Notice after one year of service	28 daysLey 16-92 art. 76, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Cesantía per year, one to five years	21 days of payLey 16-92 art. 80, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Cesantía per year, five years or more	23 days of payLey 16-92 art. 80, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Cap on years counted	None yearsLey 16-92 art. 80, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Deadline to pay notice and cesantía	10 daysLey 16-92 art. 86, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Penalty for late payment	One day of salary per day of delay textLey 16-92 art. 86, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Deadline to report a dismissal to the labor authority	48 hoursLey 16-92 art. 91, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Maximum salary from claim to judgment	6 monthsLey 16-92 art. 95, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Exchange rate used for USD conversions	60.9007 DOP per USDBanco Central reference selling rate, as of 2026-10-29 · in force

The rule

1. Contracts end without liability by mutual consent, by completion or by impossibility. With liability they end by notice (desahucio), dismissal or resignation (dimisión).Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 68 and art. 69, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

2. Mutual termination is only valid if done before the labor authority or a notary.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 71, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

3. Either party can end an indefinite contract by notice without giving a reason.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 75, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

4. Notice is at least 7 days after 3 to 6 months of work, 14 days after 6 to 12 months and 28 days after one year. It runs the same for both sides.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 76, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

5. The employer gives notice in writing and tells the labor authority within 48 hours. During notice the worker keeps full pay and gets two half days off a week. Pay in lieu replaces notice that is skipped or short.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 77, art. 78 and art. 79, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

6. Cesantía is 6 days of ordinary salary after 3 to 6 months, 13 days after 6 to 12 months, 21 days per year after one to five years and 23 days per year after five years. Fractions of a year over three months are paid on the same short service scale. Years before the 1992 code count at 15 days.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 80, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

7. Cesantía is owed even if the worker starts with a new employer at once.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 81, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

8. The base is the average ordinary salary of the last year or fraction. Overtime is left out, and service includes holidays, vacations and suspensions.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 84 and art. 85, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

9. A monthly average salary converts to a daily figure by dividing by 23.83.Decreto 258-93, Reglamento del Código de Trabajo, art. 14, 1993-10-01 official text · verified 2026-10-30

10. Notice pay and cesantía are free of income tax and cannot be seized, save for special cases. They fall due within ten days of termination, and each day of delay costs one extra day of salary.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 86, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

11. Notice by the employer has no effect during a guaranteed period, a suspension for a personal reason of the worker, vacation, pregnancy and the three months after birth, or for workers with union protection.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 75, art. 232 and art. 392, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

12. Dismissal for cause must rest on one of 19 grounds, such as dishonesty, intentional damage, two absences in a row or in a month without permission, disobedience, a final prison sentence, or inefficiency in the first three months. The burden of proof is on the employer.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 87 and art. 88, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

13. The right to dismiss lapses 15 days after it arises. The employer must tell the worker and the labor authority the cause within 48 hours and cannot add causes later. A dismissal not reported in time is deemed without cause.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 90, art. 91, art. 92 and art. 93, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

14. If the dismissal is held unjustified the employer pays notice and cesantía plus salary from the claim date to final judgment, up to six months.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 95, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

15. A worker can resign for cause on the 14 listed grounds, including unpaid salary or illegal pay cuts, with 15 days to act and 48 hours to report to the employer and authority. If the cause is proved the employer pays as for unjustified dismissal. If not, the worker owes notice pay.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 96 to art. 102, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

16. Economic assistance of 5 days, 10 days or 15 days a year is paid when a contract ends by death or incapacity of the worker, or death or incapacity of the employer that ends the business.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 82, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

17. Unused vacation is paid at any termination, and a worker can ask for a certificate with dates, job and salary.Ley 16-92, Código de Trabajo, art. 70, art. 182 and art. 184, 1992-05-29 official text · verified 2026-10-30

18. Ley 187-07 treats sums workers received each year up to 1 January 2005 as final settlement of benefits. Those contracts were ended by law on that date. It addressed the old practice of ending contracts every December.Ley 187-07, art. 1, 2007-08-06 official text · verified 2026-10-30

Service	Notice	Cesantía	Economic assistance
Under 3 months	None	None	None
3 to 6 months	7 days	6 days	5 days
6 months to 1 year	14 days	13 days	10 days
1 to 5 years	28 days	21 days a year	15 days a year
5 years or more	28 days	23 days a year	15 days a year

Scales in arts. 76, 80 and 82, in days of ordinary salary

Worked example

An employer gives notice to a worker with six full years at RD$60,000 a month (US$985.21). The daily salary is RD$2,517.83. Notice in lieu is 28 days, or RD$70,499.37 (about US$1,157.61). Cesantía is 23 days × 6 years = 138 days, or RD$347,461.18 (about US$5,705.37). The total of RD$417,960.55 (about US$6,862.98) is tax free, and accrued vacation and the proportional Christmas salary come on top.
The same payment is 15 days late: the employer adds 15 × RD$2,517.83 = RD$37,767.52 (about US$620.15).

Step by step

Check for protected status: pregnancy, union protection, vacation, suspension.
Decide between notice and dismissal for cause on the evidence you hold.
Notify in writing and file with the labor authority within 48 hours.
Compute the average ordinary salary of the last year.
Pay within ten days and get a receipt.
Report the exit in SUIR and DGT-4.
If you settle, sign before a notary or the labor authority.

Common traps

A dismissal for cause that fails costs up to six extra months of pay, so an uncertain case is often cheaper as notice.
Art. 86 is a running clock with no stated limit, so a delayed cheque can grow fast.
Cesantía has no cap on years in the code.
Private releases that are not before a notary or the labor authority risk being ineffective under art. 71.
The 2024 to 2026 reform debate did not change cesantía: see the tracker.

Sources

← Social security in the Dominican Republic: TSS contributions, caps, fines and pension portabilityContract suspension and workforce reductions in the Dominican Republic: the tools short of severance →

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