Healthcare Labor Lawyer: Clinics, Hospitals and Nursing Homes (CCT 122/75)
If you work at a clinic, a hospital, a nursing home, or a private diagnostic center, CCT 122/75 — the collective bargaining agreement negotiated by FATSA, Argentina's healthcare workers' federation — applies to you. You can claim wage differences from a wrong job category, mishandled shift and rotating-shift pay, the shorter workday for hazardous nursing duties, and, if you were dismissed, severance calculated on your real earnings rather than the bare base wage.
Were you fired from a clinic, or are your shifts calculated wrong?
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1. Your Agreement and the Add-Ons That Have to Be on Your Payslip
The agreement governing the industry is CCT 122/75. It is signed by the Federación de Asociaciones de Trabajadores de la Sanidad Argentina (FATSA) with the Confederación Argentina de Clínicas, Sanatorios y Hospitales, ADECRA, the Cámara Argentina de Clínicas y Establecimientos Psiquiátricos (CACEP), the Asociación Argentina de Establecimientos Geriátricos (AAEG), and CEPSAL. Every ratified wage agreement is registered expressly "under Collective Bargaining Agreement No. 122/75," and with it the labor authority sets the average wage figure your severance cap is built on. Over time the bargaining table grew: diagnostic imaging and lab chambers, emergency medicine and home-care chambers, and home hospitalization chambers all negotiate with FATSA too. If you work for an emergency medicine company or in home hospitalization, you fall under CCT 122/75.
The industry's specific pay items are not something the payslip invented. When it ratified FATSA's agreement with the chambers, the labor ministry listed the concepts that make up the industry's wages: a rotating shift premium, a seniority premium, a meal or cafeteria premium, a uniform-laundry premium, a daycare premium, and a loyalty insurance benefit. If you work rotating shifts and your payslip does not show the rotating shift premium, that is a concrete, month-by-month wage difference.
Those premiums make up half of your severance. Article 245 of the LCT, as amended by Article 51 of Ley 27.802, published 3/6/2026, is calculated on the best monthly, normal and regular wage earned and paid in each calendar month, and it defines both terms: a concept is regular if it was earned in at least six months of the last calendar year, and, for variable items such as overtime or monthly bonuses, it is normal to take the average of the last six months — or the last year, if that favors you. The annual bonus, vacation pay, and bonuses not paid monthly are excluded. Translated to healthcare: the rotating shift premium you collected in eight of the last twelve months counts toward the base; the one you were paid in three scattered months does not.
The cap applies on top of that base, and it cannot exceed three times the average union wage. But the reform added a floor: the cap can never push the base below 67% of your best normal, regular wage. That 67% did not come from just any industry: it comes from "Vizzoti, Carlos A. v. AMSA S.A." (Supreme Court of Argentina, 9/14/2004), a healthcare case. The plaintiff was a medical director with twenty-six years of seniority, and the healthcare agreement's cap cut his severance to under ten percent of what he was owed. Twenty-two years later, that standard is now written directly into Article 245.
Three Distinctions That Change the Outcome of Your Claim
- CCT 122/75 does not cover everyone who works at the clinic: physicians employed at private-sector facilities fall under CCT 619/11, between AMAP and ADECRA, with their own pay scale and cap. Nursing staff, orderlies, housekeeping, technicians and administrative staff fall under CCT 122/75.
- A public hospital is not private healthcare: if your employer is a municipal, provincial or national hospital, you fall under a public-employment statute, not the LCT or CCT 122/75. The classification decides everything from how you file a claim to which court hears it.
- A hazardous classification is not paid: it is offset with a shorter workday. A hazard classification does not create a bonus; it creates a six-hour daily or thirty-six-hour weekly workday, with no pay cut and no overtime allowed (Article 200 LCT).
2. Shifts, Night Work and Hazardous Nursing Duties
The hazard classification for nursing comes from the statute, not the collective agreement. Article 24 of Ley 24.004, the Nursing Practice Act, classifies six groups of tasks as hazardous, for purposes of reduced hours, leave, retirement, working conditions and protective equipment: intensive care unit work; neuropsychiatric unit work; work carrying a risk of infectious disease; work in areas exposed to ionizing or non-ionizing radiation; oncology patient care; and emergency services. The same statute allows that list to be expanded.
The consequence is set by the LCT. Where the hazard classification applies, Article 200 imposes a workday of six hours a day or thirty-six hours a week with no pay reduction, and it flatly bans overtime. It is worth being precise here: the classification is an administrative act based on medical findings — it is not decided by the clinic, nor declared by a judge on their own initiative. The claim is built on the administrative act that covers the facility or area, plus evidence that you actually worked there.
The night shift has its own calculation. The night shift runs from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. and lasts seven hours. When day and night hours are combined, each night hour is worth one hour and eight minutes of a day hour, or generates an eight-minute credit per hour. In twelve-hour shifts starting at 7:00 p.m., that calculation is skipped almost systematically.
Outside a hazard-classified workday, hours beyond the legal or agreement limit are paid with a 50% premium on regular days and 100% on Saturdays after 1:00 p.m., Sundays and holidays. And if the clinic does not produce time records, that omission works in favor of the workday you allege (Articles 52 and 55 LCT). Shift schedules, the guard duty log, time clock records, and the group chats used to coordinate coverage are all evidence.
3. The Claims We See Most in Clinics, Hospitals and Nursing Homes
Misclassified job category. This is the industry's number one claim. Ley 24.004 recognizes two nursing levels, professional and assistant, and each is classified differently on the pay scale. A nursing assistant paid as housekeeping staff, a licensed professional nurse paid as an assistant, a lab or blood bank technician paid as administrative staff — these are all wage differences that carry over month after month and compound through your bonus, vacation pay, and severance.
Shifts and days off that don't add up. Twelve-hour shifts covered as if they were eight, compensatory days off that never arrive, worked holidays recorded as an ordinary day, and the classic "I'll make it up with a day off" that never happens.
A trimmed Article 245 base. Premiums that disappear from the payslip in the last few months, a department transfer that drops the rotating shift premium, and settlements calculated on the union base wage instead of your real pay.
Conditions specific to the industry. The healthcare workforce's body wears out in a recognizable pattern: lower back pain and herniated discs from manually moving patients, shoulder injuries from bed-to-gurney transfers, varicose veins from prolonged standing, sharps injuries and biological risk exposure, and psychological burnout in the ICU and emergency departments. It enters through Ley 24.557: file with the ART, and if there is a dispute, the jurisdictional medical board is the required first step (Ley 27.348), with disability assessed under the schedule in Annex I of Decreto 659/96, now replaced by Decreto 549/2025.
"For-cause" dismissals after a clinical incident. When something goes wrong with a patient and the clinic looks for someone to blame, Article 22 of Ley 24.004 is the rule almost no one invokes, and it changes the case: an employed nursing professional or assistant cannot be held liable for harm caused by a lack of essential supplies, inadequate staffing in number or qualification, or inadequate facility conditions. A dismissal built on an incident that happened during a staffing shortfall does not hold up, and it becomes a dismissal without cause, with full severance owed.
4. Step by Step, in Order
Gather your paperwork. Payslips from the last twenty-four months, your shift schedule or coverage grid, your credential, your degree or certification, and proof of your professional license. If you can get the administrative act declaring your area hazardous, better: it is the hardest piece of evidence to obtain later.
Audit your classification. Your real job category against the CCT 122/75 pay scale, the industry's add-ons against what actually shows on your payslip, and your declared schedule against your actual hours worked.
Send a written demand. The free labor telegram is available to employees at no cost (Ley 23.789). The demand has to be specific: which item, what period, what approximate amount, and what deadline. A vague telegram will not support a constructive dismissal later.
SECLO. In the City of Buenos Aires, mandatory conciliation under Ley 24.635 comes before the lawsuit: it is free, a conciliator is assigned at random, the hearing is scheduled within ten days of the appointment, and starting the process suspends the statute of limitations for six months. A ratified settlement has the effect of a final judgment.
Lawsuit. Before the National Labor Courts. Amounts owed are updated under the criterion set by Article 54 of Ley 27.802 when it amended Article 276 of the LCT: variation of the Consumer Price Index plus 3% annual interest, from the date each amount became due until payment.
5. Mistakes That Cost You Money
Signing your final settlement without objection. Sign it "under protest" and note which items you dispute.
Believing the premium buys the extra hours. A closed-area premium does not authorize twelve hours in the ICU when the work falls under the hazard classification.
Accepting a shift or department change without putting it in writing. That change is often exactly what later lowers your severance base: document it the same day.
Not reporting a workplace accident to the ART "to avoid trouble." The needlestick that goes unreported and the back pain endured for three months are the two most common ways to lose a solid claim.
Letting time run out. Labor credits prescribe after two years (Article 256 LCT): every month that passes, you lose the oldest month of the claim.
Resigning because "it's a small industry." Private healthcare in Buenos Aires is a tight circle, and the fear of being marked weighs heavily. But resigning turns full severance into a mere final settlement: if the reason is a breach by the clinic, the right path is to send a demand and, only if it goes unanswered, treat yourself as constructively dismissed.
6. Frequently Asked Questions About Working in Healthcare
What collective bargaining agreement applies to me if I work at a private clinic or hospital?
CCT 122/75, which FATSA, the healthcare workers' union, signs with the Confederación Argentina de Clínicas, Sanatorios y Hospitales, ADECRA, CACEP (psychiatric facilities), AAEG (nursing homes) and CEPSAL. It covers nursing staff, orderlies, housekeeping, general services, technicians and administrative staff.
I am a physician employed at a hospital. Does CCT 122/75 apply to me too?
No. Physicians in the private sector have their own agreement: CCT 619/11, between AMAP and ADECRA, with its own pay scale and severance cap. Confusing the two is one of the most costly payroll mistakes in the industry.
I work in the ICU. Does my workday have to be six hours?
Article 24 of Ley 24.004, the Nursing Practice Act, classifies nursing work as hazardous in intensive care, in neuropsychiatric units, where there is risk of infectious disease, in areas with radiation exposure, in oncology care, and in emergency services. Where that classification applies, Article 200 of the LCT sets a workday of six hours a day or thirty-six a week with no pay cut and bans overtime.
Does the closed-area premium replace the shorter workday?
No. The premium is money; the reduced workday is a non-waivable working condition. Collecting an extra payment does not authorize the clinic to keep you in the ICU for twelve hours if your task falls under the hazard classification.
Do healthcare industry premiums count toward my severance?
It depends on the test under Article 245 of the LCT, per Article 51 of Ley 27.802, published 3/6/2026. An item is regular if it was earned in at least six months of the last year; for variable items, it is normal to average the last six months or the last year, whichever favors you. The annual bonus, vacation pay, and bonuses not paid monthly are excluded.
They took me off the rotating shift right before firing me. Do I lose that premium from the base?
That is exactly the discussion the new wording opens up. If the premium was earned in at least six months of the last year, it counts toward the base. If the shift change was made without an operational reason, right before your dismissal, you can argue the maneuver cannot benefit the party that engineered it. That is why it is worth putting something in writing the day your shift changes.
The clinic pays me as housekeeping staff, but I am a nursing assistant. What can I claim?
Wage differences based on job category. Ley 24.004 recognizes two nursing levels, professional and assistant, and each is classified differently on the pay scale. Your category is determined by the work you actually do and your degree or certification, not by whatever the company wrote on your payslip.
I hurt my back moving patients. Does that go through workers' compensation or against the clinic?
The first channel is Ley 24.557: file a claim with the ART, and if there is a dispute, the jurisdictional medical board is the required first step (Ley 27.348). Disability is assessed using the schedule in Annex I of Decreto 659/96, now replaced by Decreto 549/2025. The ART rejecting the claim does not close it.
They want to fire me for cause over an incident with a patient, but there were not enough supplies or staff.
Article 22 of Ley 24.004 is explicit: an employed nurse cannot be held responsible for harm caused by a lack of essential supplies, inadequate staffing in number or qualification, or inadequate facility conditions. Keep your supply requests and staffing schedules.
How is the night shift calculated on call?
The night shift runs from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. and lasts seven hours. In a mixed shift, each night hour equals one hour and eight minutes of a day hour, or generates an eight-minute credit per hour. In twelve-hour shifts that start at 7:00 p.m., that calculation is almost always skipped.
Do I have to go through SECLO before filing a lawsuit?
Yes, if the claim is filed in the City of Buenos Aires. Ley 24.635 requires mandatory conciliation; it is free for the employee, and starting it suspends the statute of limitations for six months.
What does the firm charge for a healthcare industry claim?
The consultation and the payslip audit are free, and we work on a contingency fee basis: our fees come out of the recovery. If you do not collect, you do not pay fees.