Laura Mateus

Practice Areas

Employment and Labor

Career

Laura is a Partner in the Labour and Employment team and has been with Dentons since 2015. She permanently advises local and foreign companies regarding their operations, especially in individual and collective labour matters, social security, litigation and immigration law in Colombia.

Laura has extensive experience providing permanent legal, preventive and strategic advice in the management of individual and collective labour relationships concerning the Colombian labour law market. She represents multiple local companies in various ongoing labour litigation cases.

Laura has a graduate degree in Labour Law from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.

Experience

Confidential Client: Advising on evaluating the consequences of adopting new compensation schemes (considering labour and tax law and its implications for the employees and the company), promoting efficiency in the employee’s income and payroll cost.

Confidential Client: Advising on the best alternative to transfer a relevant number of employees between two companies. The scope of work included drafting the assignment of employment agreements, recommendations concerning transfer with the social security and payroll tax entities, equalization of benefits, etc.

Confidential Client: Advising on reviewing and implementing the best immigration options for the entry and permanence in Colombia of several foreigners whose presence was essential for the implementation and start-up of an important mining project. We accompanied the process of requesting permits before the professional boards to allow the foreigners to perform activities related to regulated professions in Colombia (e.g., engineering).

National and international companies: Permanent legal advice regarding hiring, benefits, social security, compensation plans, dismissals, among other labor law matters.

Various companies: Permanent advice to various companies in immigration law especially regarding the regularization of some of their foreign employees in Colombia.

ONGC Videsh Limited Sucursal Colombia: Permanent training for national and foreign personnel in relevant and high-impact matters regarding individual labour law and social security issues.

Upfield Colombia SAS: Legal advice regarding the employer substitution process of a relevant number of workers of the Cali production plant.

Hyland Colombia S.A.S., Grifols Colombia S.A.S.: Legal advice on the adequacy of global policies regarding: (i) remote work; (ii) flexible work; (ii) employment manuals and (iv) workplace harassment, among others, under the Colombian labour legislation.

Microsoft Branch Colombia, Derco Colombia, Ericsson de Colombia, Grupo Wpp, Kantar, Grupo Sancho: Legal advice in the implementation of remote work as a permanent form of service provision.

Applus Servicios Tecnológicos S.L.U: Legal advice and due diligence in labour matters with regard of the acquisition of K2 Colombia SAS, a Colombian company with more than 300 direct workers.

Transcontinental Printing 2007 Inc.: Legal advice and due diligence in labor matters with regard of the acquisition of Banaplast, a Colombian company. During the advice, we managed to reduce the labour contingencies that could have arisen during the acquisition process.

Confidential: Legal advice regarding the potential declaration of existence of a Business Unit which could imply the obligation to unify the levels of compensation and the extension of the extralegal benefits granted in the collective bargaining agreement of one of the companies with respect to the others.

Confidential: Legal advice in the cease of operations of a branch of a foreign company, which implied the negotiation and termination of all its direct workers labour contracts.

Confidential: Planning and closure strategy of two operating sites of a nationally recognized company that operates in the health sector. This process included the negotiation and termination of more than 50 labour contracts, some of them subject to special constitutional protections.

Confidential: Representation of multiple local and foreign companies, against claims made by direct workers and / or independent contractors, regarding the potential existence of reinforced labour stability privileges (reinstatements), illegal outsourcing, salary impact of extralegal benefits, reimbursements for complaints of labor harassment, coexistence of employment contracts, among others.

Confidential: Legal advice to multiple local companies regarding several investigations carried out by the Ministry of Labour.

Confidential: Advice against the possible unionization of workers of a Colombian company as a response for a potential purchase to be performed by a foreign company.

Awards

Education