Amendments to Articles of the Law on the National Institute of Professional Training of Honduras Year 2015

DEFINITION AND MEANING OF TERMS.- For purposes of application of this Law, the terms and deficiencies set forth below have the meaning expressed for each one of them, as follows: 1)...; 2)...; 3)...; 4)...; 5)...; 6)...; 7)...; 8)...; 9)...; 10)...; 11)...; 12)...; 13)...; 14)...; 15)...; 16)...; 17)...; 18)...; 19)...; 20)...; 21)...; 22)...; 23)...; 24) Salary Subject to Contribution (SSC): Monthly remuneration earned by the participant, which serves as the basis for calculating the employer contribution and individual contribution. Amounts occasionally and by mere liberality received by the affiliate and what is given to him in cash or in kind for representation expenses or other purposes to perform a specific service, additional bonifications and compensation for extraordinary working hours do not constitute wages subject to contribution. The Salary Subject to Contribution (SSC) cannot exceed four (4) times the Reference Salary; 25)...;and, 26)...".

OF THE ASSEMBLY.- The Assembly of Participants and Contributors of the Institute of Pensions and Retirements of Employees and Officials of the Executive Branch (INJUPEMP) is created, which for purposes of this Law is called the Assembly and is composed of the following members:

• 1)

  The Secretary of State in the Office of Labor and Social Security, who presides over it and has a casting vote;

• 2)

  The Secretary of State in the Office of Economic Development;

• 3)

  The Secretary of State in the Office of Development and Social Inclusion;

• 4)

  The Secretary of State in the Office of Finance;

• 5)

  One (1) member representing contributors to the Institute from Government Central employees, appointed by the National Association of Public Employees of Honduras;

• 6)

  One (1) member representing contributors to the Institute from Labor Unions; and,

• 7)

  Two (2) members representing retirees by old age and disability, appointed by the National Association of Retirees and Pensioners of Honduras. The members referred to in numerals 5), 6) and 7) must be elected in General Assembly in accordance with their bylaws, following the due process established in the Law and may remain in their functions as member of the Assembly of the Institute of Pensions and Retirements of Employees and Officials of the Executive Branch (INJUPEMP) for a period of two (2) years, and may be reappointed by the entity they represent for an additional period. When the Secretary of State in the Office of Labor and Social Security or his representative does not attend the respective session, the Assembly must be presided over by the State representative in accordance with the order established previously.

OF ORDINARY AND EXTRAORDINARY SESSIONS.- The Assembly must hold Ordinary sessions once (1) every three (3) months and Extraordinary sessions whenever there are urgent matters to address and it is convened by order of the President of the Assembly or, at the request of at least four (4) members. In any case, the convocation must be made to all members of the Assembly through the President Director, specifying the matters to be addressed. The quorum for the celebration of Ordinary or Extraordinary Sessions must be six (6) members. In case the quorum is not met at the first convocation, the President of the Assembly may convene a new session after one hour, with the members present.

PERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION.- The Institutions incorporated into the Institute, in their capacity as employer, must contribute for each of their active participants, fourteen point five percent (14.5%) of the Salary Subject to Contribution (SSC). The percentage of employer contribution will increase gradually, beginning in 2013 with eleven point five percent (11.5%) and after each year one percent (1%) will be added until reaching fourteen point five percent (14.5%) in 2018. In no case shall the amount of employer contribution for any active participant be less than four percent (4%) of the Reference Salary established in this Law. In cases where this minimum contribution is made, for the calculation of Monthly Base Salary (SBM) the salary obtained from the contribution made must be used. The calculation of the value resulting as the minimum limit of employer contribution, from the preceding paragraph, must be adjusted annually, in the first three (3) months of each year, using for such purposes the year-on-year variation observed in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) published by the competent authority.

PENSION FOR OLD AGE OR RETIREMENT... For participants who are active... For participants of the Institute who affiliate to these once this Law has entered into force must accredit compliance with the following requirements: 1) To have reached sixty (60) years of age; and, 2) To accredit a number of fifteen (15) years of contribution to the Institute as an affiliate contributor to the old age branch.

RIGHT TO DISABILITY BENEFIT.- Has the right to a Disability Pension... To comply with the Disability Qualification Period referred to in the preceding paragraph, it is necessary to have contributed thirty-six (36) months, in a timely and proper manner, within the last six (6) years preceding the date of the cause that gave rise to the corresponding benefit or else the date on which the "condition of total and permanent incapacity" is accredited.

INADMISSIBILITY OF DISABILITY BENEFIT.- Pension or Disability Aid benefits must not be granted in the following cases:

• 1)

  ...;

• 2)

  ...;

• 3)

  ....;and, 4) When total and permanent incapacity has occurred to the participant without accrediting the Qualification Period established in this Law. The inadmissibility established in numeral 4) of this Article does not apply to active or voluntary participants whose disability derives from an accident or illness of any kind, provided that it is not comprised in any of the inadmissibilities 1), 2) and 3) above and as such is corroborated and determined by the Disability Committee.

GUARANTEE OF GRANTING TO BENEFICIARIES... Provided that the deceased participant does not generate pensions of any kind, a single payment must be granted for an amount equivalent to the greater of: eighteen (18) times the Monthly Base Salary or thirty-six (36) times the pension as applicable, and the value of the separation benefit that would have corresponded to him according to what is established in Article 73. The benefit must be granted to the beneficiaries designated by the participant, according to the distribution that he has established. In the case that the deceased participant generates pensions of any kind, the contingent value of such benefits must be established. Provided that the updated contingent value of such benefits is less than eighteen (18) times the Monthly Base Salary or thirty-six (36) times the pension as applicable, and to the value of the separation benefit that would have corresponded to him according to what is established in Article 73, the greatest of these differences must be granted, as a single payment, to the beneficiaries designated by the participant, according to the distribution that he has established. In any case...".

FUNERAL AID EXPENSES.- The beneficiary or the natural person who demonstrates having made the arrangements and funeral expenses related to the death of an active or voluntary participant, retiree or a participant in suspension who meets the qualification period to be eligible for a disability pension has the right to this benefit. The amount of such benefit is up to eight (8) times the average minimum salary, established at the moment of entry into force of this Law and adjusted based on the year-on-year variation observed in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) published by the competent authority. In the case...".

INCOMPATIBILITY OF ENJOYING A PENSION WITH THE PERFORMANCE OF PAID POSITIONS... Retirees who suspend payment of their pension may choose to request their incorporation into the Institute with the same conditions as active participants; upon completion of the incompatibility, the Institute of Pensions and Retirements of Employees and Officials of the Executive Branch (INJUPEMP) shall adjust the amount of the pension in accordance with the Regulations issued for such purposes.

RESOLUTION OF INCOMPATIBILITY OF ENJOYMENT OF A PENSION DUE TO PERFORMANCE OF PAID POSITIONS.- In cases where the Director determines the existence of incompatibility, either ex officio or at the request of a party, the retirement must be suspended by the Institute for the time the incompatibility lasts; upon completion thereof, the benefit must be enabled with the same value received at the time of the incompatibility, plus the revaluation that corresponds, without prejudice to what is established in Article 83 of this Law. The participants...".

To Reform Articles 2 numeral 24); 8; 10 first and seventh paragraphs, 28; 49 third paragraph, 56 second paragraph, 59 numeral 4) and final paragraph; 71 second and third paragraphs; and 72; as well as the following additions: a paragraph to Article 83; and a sentence at the end of the first paragraph of Article 84.

INCORPORATION AS VOLUNTARY PARTICIPANT.- Participants in suspension who wish to continue being protected by the Institute under the figure of voluntary participant may request their incorporation six (6) months after the entry into force of this Decree. Once this period has elapsed, only the participants included in Article 30 of this Law may be incorporated.

To Repeal Article 53 of the LAW OF THE INSTITUTE OF PENSIONS AND RETIREMENTS OF EMPLOYEES AND OFFICIALS OF THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH (INJUPEMP), contained in Decree No. 357-2013 of January 20, 2014.

To Repeal Decree No. 46-2014 dated June 26, 2014 that contains the suspension of the provisions in Decree No. 357-2013, containing the Law of the Institute of Pensions and Retirements of Employees and Officials of the Executive Branch (INJUPEMP), relating to the deduction on the thirteenth and fourteenth months.

This Decree shall enter into force as of the date of its publication in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta". Given in the city of Tegucigalpa, municipality of the Central District, in the Meeting Hall of the National Congress, on the fourth day of the month of December of two thousand fourteen. ANTONIO CESAR RIVERA CALLEJAS PRESIDENT MARIO ALONSO PÉREZ LÒPEZ SECRETARY JOSÉ TOMÁS ZAMBRANO MOLINA SECRETARY To the Executive Branch. Therefore: Let it be executed. Tegucigalpa, M.D.C., January 28, 2014. JUAN ORLANDO HERNÁNDEZ ALVARADO PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC The Secretary of State in the Offices of Labor and Social Security. Executive Branch EXECUTIVE DECREE NUMBER PCM-017-2015 THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC IN COUNCIL OF MINISTERS, WHEREAS: The attraction, promotion and protection of investment in the Projects denominated "Project of Operation, Functioning, Financing and Administration of the Vehicle Registry at the National Level and Implementation of Vehicle Inspection Centers, Supply of License Plates, Granting of Driver's Licenses, Modernization of the System of Sanctions for Traffic Violations and Modernization of Fine Collection" within said trust contract was defined, as its precedents and scope, the obligation to modernize and integrate property rights systems, in order to guarantee the security and transparency of registrable transactions and linked administrative procedures, including that of the Vehicle Property Registry, which includes motor vehicles, motorcycles and similar items, as well as liens and preventive annotations that are established thereon. In the aforementioned Decree-Law, the Trust Contract was approved, executed between the Property Institute (IP), the Commission for the Promotion of the Public-Private Partnership Alliance (COALIANZA) and Banco Atlántida, S.A., as Trustee, for the Project of the Property Administration System of the Republic of Honduras. Within said trust contract, it was defined, as its precedents and scope, that with the fee of the Property Institute (IP), a property administration system shall be operated and maintained that includes the services of Real Property Registry, Commercial Registry, Intellectual Property Registry, Special Registries and others that the IP created or incorporated. Real Property Cadastre and Notarial Protocol. WHEREAS: Although there exist in the same fiduciary bank two trusts for the Property Institute (IP), the vision of integral unity and unification of the registrable activities carried out by the Property Institute (IP), its associated centers and other strategic allies must prevail, and these must be carried out under a vision and coordinated and coherent criteria, in such a way that the existing trusts adhere to legal reality and in order to achieve that the Property Institute (IP) must comply as required by law. WHEREAS: Within the functions of the Trustee, in both trusts, is that of tendering, selecting, awarding and contracting an operating administrator or, even, a non-profit institution for the execution of technical support, with the purpose that it must provide the services of Real Property Registry, Commercial Registry, Intellectual Property Registry, Special Registries and others that the IP created or incorporated. Real Property Cadastre and Notarial Protocol. WHEREAS: Although there exist in the same fiduciary bank two trusts for the Property Institute (IP), the vision of integral unity and unification of the registrable activities carried out by the Property Institute (IP), its associated centers and other strategic allies must prevail, and these must be carried out under a vision and coordinated and coherent criteria, in such a way that the existing trusts adhere to legal reality and in order to achieve that the Property Institute (IP) must comply as required by law. WHEREAS: Within the functions of the Trustee, in both trusts, is that of tendering, selecting, awarding and contracting an operating administrator or, even, a non-profit institution for the execution of technical support, with the purpose that it must provide the services of Real Property Registry, Commercial Registry, Intellectual Property Registry, Special Registries and others that the IP created or incorporated. Real Property Cadastre and Notarial Protocol. WHEREAS: Within the functions of the Trustee, in both trusts, is that of tendering, selecting, awarding and contracting an operating administrator or, even, a non-profit institution for the execution of technical support, with the purpose that it must provide the services of Real Property Registry, Commercial Registry, Intellectual Property Registry, Special Registries and others that the IP created or incorporated. Real Property Cadastre and Notarial Protocol. WHEREAS: Within the functions of the Trustee, in both trusts, is that of tendering, selecting, awarding and contracting an operating administrator or, even, a non-profit institution for the execution of technical support, with the purpose that it must provide the services of Real Property Registry, Commercial Registry, Intellectual Property Registry, Special Registries and others that the IP created or incorporated. Real Property Cadastre and Notarial Protocol. WHEREAS: Within the functions of the Trustee, in both trusts, is that of tendering, selecting, awarding and contracting an operating administrator or, even, a non-profit institution for the execution of technical support, with the purpose that it must provide the services of Real Property Registry, Commercial Registry, Intellectual Property Registry, Special Registries and others that the IP created or incorporated. Real Property Cadastre and Notarial Protocol. Implementation of Vehicle Inspection Centers, Supply of License Plates, Granting of Driver's Licenses, Modernization of the System of Sanctions for Traffic Violations and Modernization of Fine Collection. Within said trust contract, it was defined, as its precedents and scope, the obligation to modernize and integrate property rights systems, in order to guarantee the security and transparency of registrable transactions and linked administrative procedures, including that of the Vehicle Property Registry, which includes motor vehicles, motorcycles and similar items, as well as liens and preventive annotations that are established thereon. In the aforementioned Decree-Law, the Trust Contract was approved, executed between the Property Institute (IP), the Commission for the Promotion of the Public-Private Partnership Alliance (COALIANZA) and Banco Atlántida, S.A., as Trustee, for the Project of the Property Administration System of the Republic of Honduras. Within said trust contract, it was defined, as its precedents and scope, that with the fee of the Property Institute (IP), a property administration system shall be operated and maintained that includes the services of Real Property Registry, Commercial Registry, Intellectual Property Registry, Special Registries and others that the IP created or incorporated. Real Property Cadastre and Notarial Protocol.