Argentina: Casinos del Chaco loses labor appeal

Argentina's Superior Tribunal of Justice of Chaco has upheld a labor ruling against Casinos del Chaco SA, ordering the casino operator to pay more than ARS13.2m ($9,500) to a former employee after finding irregularities in the registration of her working hours.

The judgment stems from a dispute involving a worker registered as a part-time “games assistant 2” who argued she had consistently worked full-time hours.

Labor Court No. 2 of Presidencia Roque Sáenz Peña ruled in her favor at first instance, finding that the company’s own documentation, including loose sheets used instead of the mandatory labor ledger, contained multiple irregularities, such as missing signatures, retroactively dated authorizations and inconsistencies across records.

The Court upheld the ruling in June 2025, noting that under Argentina’s Labor Contract Law, the burden of proving reduced working hours falls on the employer.

Casinos del Chaco later filed extraordinary appeals challenging both the constitutionality and application of the ruling, but the province’s highest court rejected both filings as procedurally deficient.

Judges Iride María Isabel Grillo and Alberto Mario Modi stated that “mere disagreement regarding the evidentiary assessment made by the appellant is insufficient to activate this instance.”

The General Prosecutor’s Office reached the same conclusion independently, while court costs for the final stage of proceedings were also assigned to Casinos del Chaco. The ruling is now final.

The ruling comes amid broader operational and labor-related changes across Argentina’s provincial gaming sector. In Chubut, Casino de Esquel recently confirmed a round of layoffs affecting workers represented by the ALEARA gaming union, with the company citing financial pressures and restructuring efforts. 

Meanwhile, authorities in Mendoza are moving forward with plans to reorganize the province’s gaming authority after a fire destroyed one of the most important venues, including voluntary retirement and administrative and operational changes aimed at modernizing the regulator’s structure and oversight functions.