This Sunday, November 1st, the Duty-Free stores (tax-free) operated by the Institute of Social Assistance (IMAS) are operating again at 100%, after 8 months of decreeing the borders closure due to the emergency caused by COVID-19.
Faced with the total opening of the borders and the reactivation of commercial activity at the Juan Santamaría and Daniel Oduber international airports, more than 50 people who work in the Duty Free will return to their full time jobs, which was reduced as of July by 75%.
The reduction of the working day was applied after exhausting the possibilities of accumulating hours under the swap modality, established in article 11 of Law No. 9832, Law of Authorization of Reduction of Working Hours before the Declaration of National Emergency.
With the restrictions on the borders, sales have suffered an unprecedented decrease, affecting the generation of profits that are used for social investment. Company personnel have not been exempt from this situation, with whom from the beginning they have worked closely to make decisions that represent less impact due to the circumstances.
An exciting return to business
“We are excited to once again offer the range of high-quality and good-priced products that we have in the Duty-Free stores at airports, a means of generating income for the most vulnerable families in the country,” said Juan Luis Bermúdez Madriz, Minister of Human Development and Social Inclusion and Executive President of IMAS.
“We are also delighted by the return of all the collaborators to the entirety of their work schedules. Together with them and their families, they have gone through difficult times and decisions due to the Pandemic, but today we see the fruit of the Costa Rica Work and Take Care Strategy”, he added.
The only Tax Free Stores in the country’s international airports are operated by the IMAS, in accordance with Law 4760 (IMAS Creation Law), which grants the institution the exclusive exploitation of duty-free stalls in ports, borders and international airports.
The institution’s Commercial Companies program aims to contribute to the financial sustainability of social investment programs by generating economic resources in duty-free stores.
