The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security of Argentina has the main objective of serving the governmental administration in the elaboration and execution of pubic policies, but, in the first place to serve citizens acting as a nexus between the state, the government and the society.

Its functions are to elaborate, design, administrate, govern and control policies for all areas of labour and labour relations, employment, vocational training and social security.

The Ministry areas have been established by law of Ministries 22.520 regulated by law 438/92, modified by law 24.190.

The Ministry must assist the President in all issues related to labour conditions and relations, promotion of employment, social security and the legal regime of workers associations and employers associations.

Other tasks of the Ministry are:

• To participate in all issues related with the goals and policies in the area of the Ministry.
• To execute plans, programmes and projects in the area of the Ministry according to the directions of the Executive branch of the government.
• To apply legal norms related to the existence and functioning of the occupational organizations of workers and the organization of the register of employers organizations.

Revista de Trabajo (Labour Magazine)
Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, Argentina. Nueva época, v.1, n. 1, 2005

• To participate in all issues related to collective bargaining and regulate them in all the country.
• To be in charge of individual and collective labour disputes, having the faculty of conciliation and arbitration according to the particular legal norms.
• To participate in the organization, application and control of regimes of labour in the ports and in the sea, air, inland waterway, road and railway transport.
• To participate in the organization, application and control of the work of women and children in relation to learning contracts in all the country.
• To participate in all studies related to psychic and physical tiredness originated in the workplace.
• To participate in the elaboration of general and particular norms referring to health in the workplace in all the country.
• To participate on the application of regulation norms on occupational medicine.
• To participate in the elaboration and application of general and particular norms that refer to occupational safety in all the country.
• To police and inspect the world of labour in all the country.
• To participate in the elaboration and execution of patterns that guide wage policies for the private sector and intervene in the regulation of wages of the public sector.
• Participate in the functioning of the national service of employment and participate in the elaboration of policies related to internal and external migrations according to the need of manpower.
• Participate in the training, further training and retraining of workers.
• To participate in issues related to international organizations in areas related to the Ministry.
• To be in charge of the design and implementation of the unemployment benefits system.
• To intervene in the elaboration of policies on the development of the border areas and participate in the execution of those policies in the areas of the Ministry.
• To intervene in the approval of the collective agreements reached between workers’ representatives and employers.
• To participate in the elaboration, execution and control of social security programmes and regimes on cases of occupational accidents, old age, disability, death, family benefits and other social benefits, as well as in the supervision of the responsible agencies except in those issues related to the Ministry of Health and Social Action.

The Ministry has Employment and Vocational Training Management Units that have the role of promoting the generation of posts and qualification of human resources. The principal tools are the employment and training programmes.

It also has territorial agencies, which are the representation of the Ministry in all the country and are in charge of control of informal labour, labour disputes and all that refers to the labour context.