The lawyer specializing in labor law and founder of the Laham law firm, Dr Sandra Laham, explains the scope and benefits of the law that recognizes sports professionals as workers and grants them coverage for occupational risks.
What motivated you to dedicate yourself to labor law and the labor law of athletes?
The law came into my life from a very young age, the product of a family situation that led me to swear that no worker would be taken away from what is theirs by right. Within the law, one of the specializations in which I perfected myself was on labor, specifically because workers often do not know that when they have an accident at work as well as on the way from home to work or vice versa, they have the right to make a claim to the ART before the SRT (SUPERINTENDENCE OF WORK RISKS) or before the JUSTICE to be paid compensation for the disability resulting from the accident suffered or for the occupational disease suffered.-
Athletes are workers just like a factory worker, a supermarket cashier, a bank employee, etc. By having a contract and a salary, they must enjoy the benefits of an ART and if they suffer an accident they must be compensated.- Few know this. I began to study in more depth the law applied to damages in sports, that made me begin to take dimension about that labor sector.
What challenges and opportunities does labor law for athletes present in Argentina and in the world?
There is a lot of ignorance in this regard about the rights that athletes have at the work level, generally at the beginning of their careers they are unaware that they are within a work structure that covers them, such as in the event of accidents suffered in the practice of their discipline or also in the journey from their homes to training.
It is fertile ground to explore and develop more inclusive measures by the judicial system, as well as to inform. In Argentina, as in other Latin American countries, information is limited and this violates the rights of these workers.
What advice would you give to young athletes who want to start or develop their professional career?
My advice is that they understand that as professional athletes, they are protected by labor law, they must be aware that although they are doing a sport, they are no longer doing it as a hobby and they are doing it in a registered manner within the labor framework. It is important that they know that within the work framework they have an ART that in the event of an accident they must be compensated in case there are consequences from that accident. In the case of not having ART, it is a right that they must demand.
What changes or reforms do you consider necessary or convenient to improve the employment situation of athletes in Argentina?
There is a need for much more dissemination and presence in the media on this topic. I insist that a “hobby” is confused with a professional career. Athletes start their careers at a young age as a hobby, but when they begin their professional careers, they find themselves within the labor system and that requires having the appropriate information to be able to act if necessary. Soccer players, for example, in the event of an injury while in a match, must be treated by the ART and if there are after-effects, they must receive compensation for the accident that occurred.-
My law firm helps in the claims process to ensure that the ART’s duties and obligations to the worker are met. I have a team of excellent medical examiners to help the victim throughout the claim process. – This ensures the worker that their rights are respected both in the technicalities of the legal and in regards to the medical part and to be able to assess thus correctly the disability.- Ensure that the worker’s right is always respected.-
by CEDOC
