Legal Counsel at SECLO Hearings

At a SECLO hearing both sides must appear assisted by their own lawyer: Section 17 of Law 24,635 requires it. Without counsel the conciliator will not discuss the settlement and simply sets a new date. Your lawyer rebuilds the real value of your claim, negotiates under a contingency fee capped at 10%, and keeps you from signing for less than the law recognizes.

What the Law Requires About Legal Counsel at the SECLO Hearing

SECLO — the Servicio de Conciliación Laboral Obligatoria, Argentina's mandatory labor conciliation service, created by Section 4 of Law 24,635 — is the administrative stage every worker in the City of Buenos Aires must exhaust before suing their employer in the National Labor Courts. For the procedure as a whole — how it is filed, who may claim, which matters are excluded — see our general guide to SECLO mandatory conciliation. This page focuses on one specific and frequently underestimated point: what your lawyer does inside the hearing itself.

Section 17 of Law 24,635 is the rule that governs representation: "The parties shall be assisted by a lawyer or — in the case of workers — by the trade union for the activity holding official union status, or — in the case of employers — by their representative organizations." The duty does not fall on the worker alone: it reaches the employer too, who must appear assisted by its own attorney, agent, or employers' association.

Section 10 of Decree 1169/96 (as worded by Decree 1347/99, the implementing regulation of Law 24,635) adds a requirement distinct from legal assistance: the parties must appear in person at the hearing. Where the respondent is a company, it may be represented by a legal representative or an agent holding authority to settle — a director, partner, administrator, manager, or senior employee — without the notarial power of attorney that representation in ordinary litigation demands.

When one of the parties shows up without counsel, the conciliator does not move on to the substance of the claim. A record is drawn up noting the appearance without assistance and a new hearing date is set. The process is delayed, but the law does not allow labor rights — non-waivable under Section 12 of the LCT (Argentina's Employment Contracts Act) — to be negotiated without an admitted lawyer present to advise each side on what it is signing.

How the Hearing Unfolds With Legal Counsel, Step by Step

Before the scheduled date, your lawyer has to rebuild the real value of your claim — length of service, best regular monthly pay, notice, the balance of the month of dismissal, seniority severance under Section 245 LCT, wage differences, or the penalties of Law 24,013 for unregistered employment — so you know what one hundred percent of a court award would look like. Without that calculation up front, there is no way to judge whether the company's offer is reasonable or short.

1. Check-in at the front desk: you attend with your national ID and your lawyer with a current CPACF bar registration. If the respondent is a company, its representative proves the capacity invoked with the corresponding instrument.
2. Opening of the hearing before the conciliator: if either party appears without counsel, a new date is set and the fact is recorded, following the mechanics of Section 10 of Decree 1169/96.
3. Negotiation round: the conciliator brings the positions closer; your lawyer sets the real calculation against the other side's offer and leaves on the record the items still in dispute.
4. If there is a settlement: it is documented in a special record signed by the conciliator, the parties, and their lawyers (Section 21, Law 24,635), detailing amounts, payment dates, and agreed fees.
5. Approval: the settlement goes up to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, which within three (3) days must approve it if it amounts to a fair composition of rights under Section 15 of the LCT — recently clarified by Law 27,802 — (Sections 22 and 23, Law 24,635), or raise objections that the conciliator must try to cure within no more than ten (10) days (Section 24).
6. If there is no settlement: the conciliator has twenty (20) business days from the first hearing to complete the task, extendable by up to fifteen (15) more days if both parties agree (Section 18, Law 24,635); once the term runs out without a deal, the closing record is issued and the way to court is open.

You can go deeper into each leg of this circuit — the other side failing to appear, the percentages usually negotiated, and how long payment actually takes — in our guides on what happens if the company does not show up at the hearing, what percentage settlements pay at SECLO, and how long it takes to collect a signed settlement.

Common Mistakes When You Attend the Hearing Without Proper Advice

• Taking the lawyer the company suggests: that creates a direct conflict of interest. Counsel must answer only to the person who hires them, never to the party on the other side of the table.
• Signing without having calculated the full settlement: accepting a "round" figure without checking it against Section 245 LCT, the penalties of Law 24,013, or the wage differences owed almost always means giving up money the law recognizes.
• Not asking for the extension when more information is needed: Section 18 of Law 24,635 allows up to fifteen extra days by mutual agreement; many workers sign in a hurry to close the matter on the first date.
• Ignoring the risk of the non-appearance fine: missing the hearing without notice or justification costs 100% of the conciliator's fee (Section 19) and, if the claimant does it twice, closes the procedure without leaving the way to court open.
• Not putting the contingency fee agreement clearly on the record: if the percentage agreed with your lawyer is not expressly stated in the record, disputes can arise later about the net amount you collect.
• Assuming the company does not need counsel: Section 17 requires legal assistance for the respondent as well; if it appears without a lawyer, the hearing does not advance for that side either and the process is delayed all the same.

Frequently Asked Questions About Legal Counsel at SECLO Hearings