Impugnación administrativa del visto bueno laboral y jerarquía normativa en el Ecuador.

Abstract

This research analyzes the legal issues and normative antinomy caused by Ministerial Agreements No. MDT-2024-041 and No. MDT-2025-043, issued by the Ministry of Labor of Ecuador, which unconstitutionally introduced an administrative appeal procedure for the visto bueno process through secondary regulation. The main objective of this study is to demonstrate how this secondary regulation violates the principle of statutory reservation and normative hierarchy established in Articles 132 and 425 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador, by altering the summary and single-instance procedural framework traditionally established in the Labor Code. Using a qualitative methodology based on legal-dogmatic, descriptive, and comparative analysis, this study examines the relevant statutory provisions, administrative law doctrine regarding executive rule-making power, and comparative legal frameworks in Colombia, Chile, and Peru. Furthermore, the study includes practical cases from labor and inspection practices in Guayaquil, highlighting and showing unjustified delays in administrative decisions. The suspension of severance payments, and conflicts over jurisdiction in Labor Judicial Units mainly on arguments about non-exhaustion of administrative remedies. The study concludes that the visto bueno ruling issued by the Labor Inspector is not a regular administrative act to which the supplementary double-instance rule under the Organic Administrative Code (COA) should be applied.