Art. 2 LCL (scope of application of the Law) provides that the provisions of the LCL do not apply to:
- persons employed by the national, provincial or municipal civil service (except where they are expressly included within its scope or within that of collective agreements),
- domestic workers;
- agricultural workers.

In Argentina, there is a legal preference for contracts of unspecified duration or "indeterminate contracts" (art. 90 LCL) and where doubt exists as to the terms and conditions governing a contract of employment, it will be presumed to be an indeterminate contract (art. 27 NEL). The employer is in charge of providing evidence that a contract is a fixed-term contract (art. 92 LCL).

Fixed-term contracts or "determinate contracts" are employment contracts for specified periods of time where the contract duration is expressly written into the contract (art. 90(a) LCL) and contracts concluded for specific tasks that justify the use of a fixed term contract (art. 90(b) LCL).

The Law does not stipulate limitations as to the reasons for concluding a contract for a specified period. However, the is a limitation in the maximum duration of the employment relationship (5 years, art. 93 LCL).

No limitation on the number of FTC, as long as the duration of the employment relationship does not exceed 5 years (art. 93 LCL). The formalization of successive fix term contracts exceeding what is foreseen in art. 90(b)LCL (nature of the task) turns the contract into an u201cindeterminateu201d one (Art. 90 LCL).

Art. 93 LCL

Art. 92bis LCL: the first three months of employment of indeterminate contracts, except for seasonal work referred to in Article 96 LCL, are considered a probationary period.
During this time, either party may terminate the employment contract without justification and without liability for indemnification. Notice requirements must however be observed.
There is no legally established probationary period for FTCs.

See: Art. 17 LCL: general prohibition of discrimination in employment; art. 178 (dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy); art: 181-182 (dismissal on the grounds of marriage).

Argentine law provides special protection from employment termination to some specific classes of workers, including: women, trade union representatives and members, injured workers, workers on the verge of retirement, and those serving in the military.

- A woman worker must notify her employer of her pregnancy and provide a medical certificate stating that her confinement will probably take place within the period indicated. She is to retain her employment during the period indicated and is entitled to the allowances granted by the social security schemes. She must also be guaranteed stability of employment, which will constitute an acquired right from the date on which she notifies her employer of the fact that she is pregnant (art. 177 LCL).It is presumed, in the absence of proof to the contrary, that dismissal of a female worker is carried out on the grounds of maternity or pregnancy if it took place within seven and a half months before or after confinement, if and when the woman has fulfilled her obligation to notify and prove, through certification, the fact that she is pregnant and, if applicable, the birth of the child. Under such circumstances, she should be paid compensation equivalent to one year's wages in addition to any other compensation required by law (arts. 177 and 182 LCL).
- A worker belonging to a board of management or holding representative office in an occupational association with trade status, in bodies which require trade union representation, or holding political office in the Government, is entitled to automatic leave without pay, and the employer must keep his or her job open and reinstate him or her when he or she ceases to perform his or her duties. The worker is to enjoy security of employment throughout the term of office and for one year thereafter, unless there is good cause for dismissal (Act No. 23551 of 14 Apr. 1988 on trade unions, art. 48).

Trade union representatives in an enterprise may not be suspended, have their working conditions changed, or be dismissed throughout their terms of office and for one year thereafter, unless there is good cause for doing so. Security of employment for a trade union representative begins from the time of his or her candidature for a representative office in a trade union is submitted, and he or she may not be dismissed or suspended without good cause, nor may his or her conditions of work be modified for a period of six months. This protection will cease for those workers whose candidature is not officialised in accordance with the applicable electoral process from the moment in which such circumstance is certainly determined.(Act No. 23551, arts. 48 and 50).

•Article 50 Act No. 23551 establishes the special protections for worker representatives: Workers protected by articles 40, 48 and 50 of this Act cannot be suspended, dismissed or have their contractual conditions modified without a judicial decision excluding such protection, in accordance with the procedure established in Article 47. […] When the employer violates the protection established in the abovementioned articles, the worker will have the right to demand before a judge its reinstatement, together with the salaries lost during the judicial procedure, or the reestablishment of its working conditions. […]
•
- Where, on expiry of the periods for which work may be interrupted on account of a bona fide accident or illness, a worker is unable to return to work, the employer should keep his or her post open for one year, counting from the expiry of such periods (art. 211 LCL).

- Where a worker fulfils the qualifying conditions for retirement pensions and begins the necessary formalities, the employer must maintain the employment relationship until the appropriate fund grants the benefit, for a maximum of one year (art. 252 LCL).

- An employer must keep a worker's post open if the latter is obliged to perform compulsory military service because of an ordinary call-up, mobilization or special call-up, and must continue to do so from the date of the call-up and until 30 days after the completion of the service (art. 214 LCL).

Art. 235 LCL.

Art. 231 (b) LCL: Statutory notice period:
- 15 days notice to employees on probation period (up to three months of service)
- 1 months for those employees with more than three months and less than five years of service
- 2 months for those employees with over five years of service.

According to article 231 LCL this is the compulsory minimum notification period, but the parties can agree on a longer one.
Fixed term contracts must follow article 94 LCT, according to which parties need to inform the other party of the end of the contract between 1 and 2 months before the agreed deadline, except if the contract is for the duration of less than one 1 month. If the advance notice is not observed, it will be presumed the conversion of the contract to an indeterminate one, except if an explicit renovation of the contract has been agreed.

Please note, however, that these rules do not apply to small and medium sized companies which are defined as those companies which up to 40 employees and a maximum annual turnover of such an amount set out by a special monitory commission (Comisión Especial de Seguimiento) for each activity or sector (art. 83 SMEL).
In those companies, the employer is only required to give an advance notice of one month to the employee, regardless of the length of service (art. 95 SMEL).

Art. 98 NEL: threshold for the application of the crisis prevention procedure.

If such threshold is not reached, the crisis prevention procedure is not compulsory. Dismissals on economic grounds or shortage or reduction of workforce that affect totally or partially the personnel (As observed in article 247 LCT) must follow, however, National Decree 328/88 which develops article 247 LCT.

This relation between the crisis prevention procedure (art 98-105 NEL) and Decree 328/88 can be found in article 4 Decree 265/2002 on Enterprises in Crisis.

Art. , 100, 101 NEL.

Art. 99, 100 NEL.
Art. 1 Decree 328/88

Art. 99, 100, 101 NEL.
Article 3 Decree 328/88

Art. 103 NEL: If the parties reach an agreement, they will notify the Ministry of Labour, who shall in turn within 10 days, either authorise the agreement or reject it by means of a substantiated decision.
If the Administration does not make a decision within 10 days, the agreement will be considered authorised.

Art 247 LCL: Where a dismissal is ordered for reasons of force majeure or on account of a shortage or reduction of work that is duly proved to be beyond the employer's control, the first workers to be dismissed will be those with the shortest length of service.
With regards employees that joined the enterprise during the same semester, those with less family obligations will be dismissed before, even if that alters the job tenure order.
Art. 51 Ley de Asociaciones Sindicales: Workeru2019s representatives enjoying employment permanence Will not be able to invoke this protection in cases of general suspension or ceasing of the Enterprise activities. In those cases where there is no general suspension of activities, but staff reduction by way of suspensions and dismissals in which the job tenure order shall be observed, workers enjoying employment permanence protection as established in the present law will be excluded from this order.

Art. 247 LCL: Where a dismissal is ordered on account of a reduction of work that is duly proved to be beyond the employer's control or for force majeure, the worker is entitled to receive compensation equal to half that provided for in cases of dismissal without good cause (= 1/2 compensation for unfair dismissal).

Art. 245 LCL

Mandatory conciliation is foreseen in Art. 1 of Act 24.635 (Ley Nu00ba 24.635 - Procedimiento laboral. Conciliaciu00f3n obligatoria previa. Modificaciu00f3n de la ley 18.345)

Act available at:
http://servicios.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/35000-39999/36739/norma.htm

Art. 20, Organization and Procedures of National labour Justice, Act No. 18.345.

Voluntary arbitration is foreseen in Art. 28 of Act 24.635 when mandatory conciliation fails (Ley Nu00ba 24.635 - Procedimiento laboral. Conciliaciu00f3n obligatoria previa. Modificaciu00f3n de la ley 18.345)

Act available at:
http://servicios.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/35000-39999/36739/norma.htm

See also Article 149ff Ley Nacional de Empleo (Ley 18.435)