reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 14 - Regulation of Operation of Commercial Establishments (§§ 301 — 312) › § 304 - Sunday opening and pay

Business establishments, except for those mentioned in § 302 of this title, shall remain closed to the public on Sundays from 5:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. only, without being able to perform any kind of work outside of the hours established in this section, except that, at the discretion of the owner, agent, manager or person in charge of the business, such establishments may perform those tasks that are related to the continuity of their operations and maintenance of their physical facilities. As for drug stores and business establishments operating drug stores, the latter and the former may only sell before 11:00 a.m. on Sundays and on the dates listed in § 302 of this title, prescription drugs, nonprescription drugs, and healthcare devices, as these terms are defined in §§ 407 et seq. of Title 20, and the regulations thereunder, as well as items for baby care, hygiene and grooming, baked goods, school supplies, newspapers, books, magazines, and such other items as the Department of Consumer Affairs may establish by regulation.
All business establishments, as defined in this chapter, except for establishments listed in the following sentence, shall be under the obligation to pay employees working on Sundays a minimum compensation of eleven (11) dollars and fifty (50) cents per hour worked such days.
An exemption on the minimum Sunday compensation clause is hereby provided for business establishments operated exclusively by their owners or their owners’ relatives with second-degree of consanguinity or affinity; business establishments owned by natural or juridical person with not more than twenty-five (25) employees in their weekly payroll, including employees under contract; business establishments operating in hotels, inns, condo-hotels, airports, and sea ports; establishments operating in facilities devoted to cultural, artisan, recreational or sports activities; establishments primarily devoted to the manufacture and the direct sale to the public of prepared meals; book stores or stands or kiosks devoted to the sale of books, magazines, newspapers, and literary or musical recordings or publications; galleries, workshops, centers or kiosks devoted to the sale of Puerto Rican works of art or artisanry items; establishments and farmers’ markets; and business establishments at funeral homes or cemeteries.
History —Dec. 1, 1989, No. 1, p. 633, § 5; Dec. 31, 1997, No. 212, § 3; Nov. 16, 2009, No. 143, § 4.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 14 - Regulation of Operation of Commercial Establishments (§§ 301 — 312) › § 310 - Penalties

All infractions of the provisions of this chapter shall constitute unjust and unfair trade practices or tactics. The Department of Consumer Affairs shall oversee faithful compliance with this chapter, and in terms of open business hour schedules and days, such Department shall impose on violators of this chapter, administrative fines of not less than five thousand (5,000) dollars and not greater than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) per infraction, which moneys shall be covered into the funds of such Department.
History —Dec. 1, 1989, No. 1, p. 633, § 11; Dec. 31, 1997, No. 212, § 4; Sept. 17, 2004, No. 379, § 1; renumbered as § 5 and amended on Nov. 16, 2009, No. 143, § 5.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 14 - Regulation of Operation of Commercial Establishments (§§ 301 — 312) › § 312 - Suspension of effectiveness

The Governor of Puerto Rico may, through executive order, suspend the effectiveness of § 302 of this title upon the occurrence of special circumstances that alter or threaten to alter the social and/or economic order, such as storms, hurricanes, earthquakes, tidal waves, other meteorological phenomena of great force, floods, fires of great proportions, wars, and strikes, among others. In the event of floods, storms, and hurricanes, the suspension may be decreed from the time the first warning advisory is issued and shall cease as soon as the Governor of Puerto Rico so decrees by Executive Order. The suspension of the effectiveness of § 302 of this title may also be decreed by municipal governments. The Executive Order or municipal ordinance issued under the provisions of this section shall indicate, in each case, the reasons that motivated it, and which part of the jurisdiction of Puerto Rico is covered or whether only certain municipalities are thus covered. The term of duration shall in no case exceed sixty (60) days.
History —Dec. 1, 1989, No. 1, p. 633, § 14, renumbered as § 6 and amended on Nov. 16, 2009, No. 143, § 6.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 15 - Safety of Workmen (§§ 321 — 358) › § 346 - Scaffold and ladder regulations

All kinds of scaffolds, elevators, hoists, platforms, or ladders, or any other mechanical appliance, whether portable or fixed, placed, or constructed by any person, firm, or corporation in this Commonwealth for the purpose of building, repairing, altering, destroying, or painting any house, building, bridge, viaduct, or any other kind of construction whatever, shall be constructed in a secure, suitable, and convenient manner, and so placed when in operation as to offer proper and adequate protection to the life and limbs of the person or persons working thereon or passing thereunder, and in such manner as to prevent the falling to the ground of any materials or [implements] placed thereon. Every scaffold, platform, or other similar appliance shall be, if possible, at least two feet wide and shall have a safety partition and railing, forming a closed rectangle, which shall be thirty-six (36) inches in height from the floor or surface of said scaffold or platform and shall extend the full length thereof, be solidly constructed and be firm and secure enough to prevent its giving way from the building or construction. The Secretary of Labor and Human Resources or his representatives are hereby authorized to stop any work where the above provisions are being violated, and to require such changes and modifications as he may consider necessary for the protection of the life or limbs of the persons employed in said places, before the work may continue.
History —May 6, 1936, No. 61, p. 314, § 1, eff. 90 days after May 6, 1936.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 15 - Safety of Workmen (§§ 321 — 358) › § 347 - Scaffold and ladder regulations—Notice of use of scaffolds

Any natural or [juridical] person attempting to carry out in Puerto Rico any work where the construction of scaffolds is necessary shall be required to notify the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources in writing within the first five (5) days after commencing work, indicating the nature of the work to be done, the date when such work was commenced, as well as the municipality wherein the work is to be done.
History —May 6, 1936, No. 61, p. 314, § 2, eff. 90 days after May 6, 1936.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 15 - Safety of Workmen (§§ 321 — 358) › § 348 - Scaffold and ladder regulations—Penalties

Any person, or the administrator, superintendent, foreman, majordomo, or representative of said person who violates §§ 346—348 of this title shall be punished by a minimum fine of twenty-five dollars ($25) or by imprisonment in jail for a maximum term of sixty (60) days.
History —May 6, 1936, No. 61, p. 314, § 3, eff. 90 days after May 6, 1936.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 15 - Safety of Workmen (§§ 321 — 358) › § 349 - Acquisition of safety models and devices—1949

The Manager of the State Insurance Fund is hereby authorized to invest, from the reserve funds and surpluses in the State Insurance Fund created by §§ 1—42 of Title 11, the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), or so much thereof as may be necessary, for the acquisition or production of safety models and devices for the agricultural and industrial workmen of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
History —Apr. 25, 1949, No. 84, p. 206, § 2.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 15 - Safety of Workmen (§§ 321 — 358) › § 350 - Acquisition of safety models and devices—1949; purchase or production of models; sale to employers

For the purposes of §§ 349 and 350 of this title, the Manager of the State Insurance Fund may acquire said models and devices through the firms or dealers selling them, or encourage the preparation and production thereof with the collaboration of the Corporation Prison Industries of Puerto Rico, the School of Industrial Arts, and the Occupational Therapy Section of the State Insurance Fund, or any other public or private agency or instrumentality; Provided, That the models and devices so acquired by purchase or produced upon the encouragement of the State Insurance Fund shall, after the efficiency thereof has been established by experiments therefor with the assistance of the Division for the Prevention of Accidents of the State Insurance Fund, be issued at cost to employers subject to Chapter 1 of Title 11.
History —Apr. 25, 1949, No. 84, p. 206, § 3.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 15 - Safety of Workmen (§§ 321 — 358) › § 351 - Safety models and devices, acquisition—1959

The Manager of the State Insurance Fund is hereby authorized to place at the disposal of the Department of Labor and Human Resources, from the reserve and surplus funds of the State Insurance Fund, the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000), or so much thereof as may be necessary, for the purchase or production of safety models and devices for the protection of workmen in agricultural and industrial occupations in Puerto Rico.
History —June 16, 1959, No. 42, p. 107, § 2.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 15 - Safety of Workmen (§§ 321 — 358) › § 352 - Safety models and devices, acquisition—1959; purchase or production; sale to employers

The Department of Labor and Human Resources, through its Labor Accident Prevention Bureau, may acquire said models and devices from firms or dealers selling them, or may encourage the preparation and production thereof with the collaboration of the Prison-Industries Corporation of Puerto Rico, the School of Industrial Arts, and the Section of Occupational Therapy of the State Insurance Fund, or any other public or private agency or instrumentality. The models and devices so acquired by purchase or produced under encouragement of the Department of Labor and Human Resources, once [they have] established their efficiency through experiments ad hoc, shall be sold at cost to the employers subject to §§ 1—42 of Title 11. The proceeds of the sales made shall be repaid into the trust fund created to carry on the program.
History —June 16, 1959, No. 42, p. 107, § 3.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 15 - Safety of Workmen (§§ 321 — 358) › § 353 - Maximum authorized loads

It is hereby prohibited and declared illegal that a human being should lift, transport or bear on his person any kind of a load weighing more than the limits the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources may establish by regulation.
History —May 22, 1968, No. 49, p. 81, § 1; June 22, 1975, No. 40, p. 97, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 15 - Safety of Workmen (§§ 321 — 358) › § 354 - Penalties—Generally

Every person allowing, compelling, employing or inducing another person to lift, transport or bear on his person any load weighing more than the limits the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources may establish by regulation, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment in jail for not more than ninety (90) days, or by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25), nor more than one hundred dollars ($100), or both penalties, in the discretion of the court.
History —May 22, 1968, No. 49, p. 81, § 2; June 22, 1975, No. 40, p. 97, § 2.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 15 - Safety of Workmen (§§ 321 — 358) › § 355 - Penalties—For employers

Every employer, superintendent, timekeeper or person in any way in charge of any laborer, who may request, permit, compel or induce said laborer to lift, transport or bear on his person any load weighing more than the limits the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources may establish by regulations shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment in jail for not more than ninety (90) days or by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25) nor more than one hundred dollars ($100), or by both penalties in the discretion of the court.
History —May 22, 1968, No. 49, p. 81, § 3; June 22, 1975, No. 40, p. 97, § 3.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 15 - Safety of Workmen (§§ 321 — 358) › § 355a - Penalties—For illegal dismissal or onerous conditions

Every employer who fires, suspends, lowers the wages, demotes or imposes or attempts to impose more onerous working conditions on one of his employees, or who refuses to hire or rehire a person because he refuses to lift, transport or bear on himself any kind of a load weighing more than the maximum limits established by law or by regulation of the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources of Puerto Rico:
(a) Shall incur civil liability:
(1) For a sum equal to two times the amount of the damages the act has caused to the employee or applicant for employment;
(2) or for an amount of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), in the discretion of the court, if the pecuniary damages cannot be determined;
(3) or for two times the amount of the damages caused if said amount is lower than one hundred dollars ($100), and
(b) shall also be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500), or by imprisonment in jail for a term of not less than thirty (30) days nor more than ninety (90) days, or by both penalties, in the discretion of the court.
The court, in the judgment it may render in civil actions initiated under the preceding provisions, may direct the employer to reinstate the worker in his employment, and to cease and desist [of] the action in question.
History —May 22, 1968, No. 49, p. 81, added as § 3-A on June 22, 1975, No. 40, p. 97, § 4.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 15 - Safety of Workmen (§§ 321 — 358) › § 356 - Powers of Secretary

The Secretary of Labor and Human Resources is hereby vested with full powers to regulate hereafter everything relative to the matter covered by §§ 353—358 of this title, introducing those other standards that the new scientific advances and medical discoveries may so advise, regulating the authorized maximum weights both for adults and minors without making distinction as to sex, providing that every person, whether an adult or minor, lift, transport or bear on himself only that weight that he can individually lift, transport or bear in such a way as to avoid undue fatigue and a very great effort, so that there shall be no danger to his health and security at any time; providing likewise regulations to these effects for the pregnant woman so that her health or that of the child shall not be affected; and providing moreover regulations for any kind of provisional disability. In the approval and drafting of the regulations authorized by §§ 353—358 of this title, the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources shall be governed by the proceeding established for those same purposes by Act May 5, 1939, No. 112.
History —May 22, 1968, No. 49, p. 81, § 4; June 22, 1975, No. 40, p. 97, § 5.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 15 - Safety of Workmen (§§ 321 — 358) › § 357 - Weight-lifting sport

Sections 353—358 of this title shall not apply to the weight-lifting sport.
History —May 22, 1968, No. 49, p. 81, § 5, eff. 90 days after May 22, 1968.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 15 - Safety of Workmen (§§ 321 — 358) › § 358 - Safety of laborers regulation

Sections 353—358 of this title by no means limit the faculty vested in the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources by other laws to regulate everything relative to the safety of laborers, provided no distinction is made on account of sex.
History —May 22, 1968, No. 49, p. 81, § 7; June 22, 1975, No. 40, p. 97, § 6.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361 - Short title

Sections 361—361aa are hereby designated as the “Occupational Safety and Health Act” by which name it shall be cited.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 1; June 24, 1977, No. 116, p. 295, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361a - Statement of purposes

The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in Article II of its Bill of Rights guarantees that each employee shall be entitled to be protected against health and personal hazards in his work or employment.
(a) The Legislature of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico declares it to be its purpose and policy, through the exercise of its powers to provide for the general welfare, to guarantee as far as possible to each employee in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resources and thereby minimize family and personal accidents and the financial losses resulting from labor injuries and diseases:
(1) By authorizing the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources to adopt any federal standards established for occupational safety and health.
(2) By providing for the development and approval of other occupational safety and health standards.
(3) By providing an efficient enforcement program which shall include a prohibition against giving advance notice of any inspection, and sanctions for any individual violating this prohibition.
(4) By conferring to the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources full responsibility and authority to enforce all the provisions of §§ 361—361aa of this title and all the occupational safety and health standards, rules, regulations and orders promulgated hereunder.
(5) By encouraging employers and employees in their efforts to reduce the number of occupational safety and health hazards at their places of employment, and by stimulating employers and employees to institute new and to perfect existing programs for providing safe and healthful working conditions.
(6) By providing that employers and employees have separate but mutually dependent responsibilities and rights with respect to achieving safe and healthful working conditions.
(7) By promoting the joint efforts of workers and employers to reduce injuries and diseases arising from employment.
(8) By providing for appropriate reporting procedures with respect to occupational safety and health which procedures will help achieve the objectives of §§ 361—361aa of this title and to accurately describe the nature of the occupational safety and health problems.
(9) By providing for effective and unified methods for the compilation of occupational safety and health statistics and data related to the occupational safety and health field in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, including agencies, instrumentalities and municipalities of the Puerto Rico Commonwealth Government.
(10) By providing for training programs to increase the number and competence of the personnel engaged in the field of occupational safety and health.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 2.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361c - Applicability

Sections 361—361aa of this title shall apply to every employment performed in any workplace in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 4.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361d - Power to contract with the Government

The Secretary of Labor and Human Resources shall have the power and authority to enter into such agreements or contracts, including bargaining and grants arrangements, with the Federal Secretary of Labor and Human Resources and other agencies of the United States and of the different states of the United States, as well as with the departments, agencies, instrumentalities and dependencies of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and its municipalities, as may be necessary to achieve the purposes of §§ 361—361aa of this title.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 5.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361e - Duties of employers, employees and owners

(a) Each employer shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment free from recognized hazards which are causing or may cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.
(b) Each employer shall provide and insure the use of safety devices, safeguards and the personal protective equipment that may be prescribed or required by the Secretary, or that may be reasonably necessary, without any cost to any employee.
(c) Each employer shall comply with the occupational safety and health standards promulgated under §§ 361—361aa of this title and with the rules, regulations and orders issued pursuant thereto.
(d) Every employer must notify the Secretary of Labor or the person designated by him/her when a serious or fatal accident takes place within eight (8) hours following the accident. The Secretary shall determine the method of notification.
(e) Each employee shall comply with the occupational safety and health standards and with all the rules, regulations and orders issued pursuant to §§ 361—361aa of this title which are applicable to his own actions and conduct.
(f) Each employee shall use and take care of the personal protective equipment furnished to him by his employer.
(g) No employee shall remove, displace, damage, destroy, take or fail to use any safety device or safeguard which has been furnished or provided to be used in any employment or place of employment, nor in any way interfere with said safety device while it is being used by another person, nor shall any employee interfere with the use of any method, process or system adopted for the protection of employees, nor fail or neglect to do everything that may be reasonably necessary to protect the safety and life of himself as well as of other employees. Noncompliance with this subsection on the part of the employee shall not relieve the employer from his duties under §§ 361—361aa of this title.
(h) Each owner of any premises used in whole or in part as a place of employment shall comply with all the occupational safety and health standards and all rules, regulations and orders issued pursuant to §§ 361—361aa of this title, with respect to those parts of the premises under his control and not under the control of the employer. Failure to comply therewith shall make the owner of said premises subject to the enforcement proceedings and the penalties applicable to employers under §§ 361—361aa of this title. Such owner shall have the same rights as an employer under §§ 361—361aa of this title. Nothing in this section shall be construed to relieve an employer of his duties under this section.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 6; Dec. 19, 2002, No. 281, § 5, eff. 30 days after Dec. 19, 2002.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361f - Duties and powers of the Secretary

(a) It shall be the duty of the Secretary to administer and enforce §§ 361—361aa of this title and he shall have the following powers and duties:
(1) To adopt, approve, amend or repeal in whole or in part any occupational safety and health standard, rules and regulations relating to the protection of the safety and health of the employees at their place of employment.
(2) To establish and prescribe any safety devices or systems, safeguards, personal protective equipment or other protective means or methods to insure the protection of the safety and health of the employees at their place of employment.
(3) To establish a program for the approval of any specific safety device, safeguard or personal protective equipment as he may deem necessary.
(4) To provide for the development of scientific research and training programs and for the compilation and analysis of statistics and related data in the field of occupational safety and health.
(5) To establish, amend or repeal any administrative proceedings or rules and regulations which he may deem necessary or adequate for the proper administration of §§ 361—361aa of this title or to carry out his responsibilities thereunder.
(6) To impose administrative fines for violations of §§ 361—361aa of this title or of the standards, rules, regulations and orders adopted or promulgated pursuant to such sections.
(7) To carry out any other activities or programs which he may deem necessary or proper to achieve the purposes of sections 361—361aa of this title.
(8) To promote the establishment of safety committees at work places constituted by workers or labor unions, and employers.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 7; Dec. 19, 2002, No. 281, § 6, eff. 30 days after Dec. 19, 2002.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361g - Federal standards established

(a) The Secretary may adopt, in his discretion, any established federal standard, or amendment thereto, in whole or in part, as may be applicable to the working conditions in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and which he may determine will assure the greatest protection of the safety and health of the affected employees. In the event that the Secretary adopts an established federal standard, or amendment thereto, there existing in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico a standard promulgated or in force under §§ 361—361aa of this title related to the same matter, the existing standard shall be set aside immediately after the adoption and effective date of the established federal standard, or amendment thereto. In any of the preceding cases, the Secretary shall not be required to follow the procedure established in §§ 361h and 361j of this title, except to give public notice of his acts.
(b) Notwithstanding the promulgation requirements of Act June 39, 1959, No. 112, any established federal standard, or amendment thereto, adopted by the Secretary, shall take effect thirty (30) days after it has been filed with the Department of State of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in the English language only, and the other requirements of said sections are met. The Secretary shall file before the Department of State the Spanish version of said standard or amendment not later than two (2) years after the original filing date.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 8; June 24, 1977, No. 116, p. 295, § 2; Dec. 19, 2002, No. 281, § 2, eff. 30 days after Dec. 19, 2002.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361j - Public notices and publication of standards, rules, regulations and orders of variances

(a) Prior to the approval, amendment or revocation of any rule or regulation, the Secretary shall give public notice of the proposed action by its publication in two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The Secretary shall grant the interested parties a period of thirty (30) days after publication to submit written data or comments.
(b) Except as provided in §§ 361g, 361h(e) and 361 l of this title, all standards, amendments, orders revoking the same, rules and regulations, once approved by the Secretary shall take effect thirty (30) days after their promulgation.
(c) The Secretary shall give public notice of all the orders of variances under §§ 361m and 361n of this title, by publication of a notice of the action taken in two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico within twenty-five (25) days subsequent to the date of issuance.
(d) The Secretary shall provide, on the basis of the request for and availability thereof, a reasonable number of copies of the standards, rules, regulations and orders of variances, which may be printed by the Department to the persons affected thereby. The Secretary may sell additional copies thereof at reasonable prices.
(e) The Secretary shall keep copies of the standards, rules, regulations and orders of variances, to be examined by any interested persons and the public in general, in the offices of the Department. The Secretary may destroy any records or documents dealing with standards, rules, regulations or orders of variances which are no longer in force.
(f) All standards, rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to §§ 361—361aa of this title shall be in force and shall be prima facie reasonable and lawful until otherwise decided by a competent court of justice, or until amended or revoked by the Secretary and no standard, rule or regulation in force shall be declared ineffective, illegal or void because of any omission of a technical character existing therein.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 11.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361k - Records

The Secretary shall keep an accurate record by any means available for keeping records of each public hearing and the documents relating therewith held before the Secretary as authorized herein. The Secretary shall also keep record of any action taken as a result of such hearings.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 12.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361l - Emergency occupational safety and health standards

(a) The Secretary shall provide, without regard to §§ 361g, 361h and 361j of this title (excepting subsections (d) and (e) of § 361j of this title) for an emergency temporary standard to take effect immediately after publication of a notice in two (2) newspapers of general circulation in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, without regard to the requirements of Act June 30, 1957, No. 112, if he determines:
(1) That the employees are exposed to grave danger from exposure to substances or agents determined to be toxic or physically harmful or to hazards not covered by other existing standards, and
(2) that such emergency standard is necessary to protect employees from such danger.
(b) At the first opportunity the Secretary shall file such emergency temporary standard with the State Department for promulgation. Each emergency temporary standard as herein provided, shall be effective for a period not exceeding twelve (12) months.
(c) Within the period of twelve (12) months after its effective date, such standard may be superseded by a standard promulgated in accordance with §§ 361—361aa of this title.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 13.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361n - Permanent variances

Any affected employer may apply to the Secretary for an order authorizing a variance from a standard promulgated under §§ 361—361aa of this title. Affected employees shall be given notice of each such application and of the opportunity to participate in a hearing. The Secretary shall issue such order if he determines, on the basis of the record, after opportunity for an inspection where appropriate and a hearing, that the proponent of the variance has demonstrated by a preponderance of the evidence that the conditions, practices, means, methods, operations or processes used or proposed to be used by the employer will provide to his employees employment and places of employment which are as safe and healthful as those which would prevail if he complied with the standard. The order so issued shall prescribe the conditions the employer shall maintain, and the practices, means, methods, operations and processes which he shall adopt and utilize to the extent they differ from the standard in question. Such an order may be modified or revoked upon request of an employer, of employees, or motu proprio by the Secretary, in the manner prescribed for its issuance under this section at any time after six (6) months from its issuance.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 15.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361o - Procedure to review standards or orders for variances

Any person who may be adversely affected by a standard promulgated under §§ 361—361aa of this title, or by an order for variance issued under § 361m or 361n of this title, may, at any time prior to the sixtieth (60th) day after the effective date of such standard or order, file a petition challenging the validity of such standard or order with the Court of First Instance, San Juan Part, of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, for a judicial review of such standard or order. A copy of the petition shall be forthwith transmitted by the petitioner to the Secretary. The filing of such petition shall not, unless so ordered by the court, operate as a stay of the standard or order. The determinations of the Secretary shall be conclusive if supported by substantial evidence in the record considered as a whole.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 16; June 24, 1977, No 116, p. 295, § 4.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361q - Investigative powers

In the discharge of his duties the Secretary shall have power to avail himself of the technical services of any of the officers of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico which in his judgment may be necessary to carry out the purposes of §§ 361—361aa of this title. The Secretary shall also have power to summon witnesses, administer oaths, receive evidence, issue subpoenas and make compulsory the appearance of parties and witnesses, and the introduction of evidence; he may, personally or through officers designated to that effect, visit and examine any place of employment; and for his citations and investigations he may use the services of the justices of the peace, of the District Court and Court of First Instance, prosecuting attorneys, marshals of the District Court and Court of First Instance, employees of the Department of Labor and Human Resources or of the Police Department. In case of contumacy, failure or refusal of any person to obey an order of the Secretary requiring the attendance and testimony of parties or witnesses or the production of evidence under oath, any District Court or Court or First Instance of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall have jurisdiction to issue to such person an order requiring him to appear to produce evidence as and when so ordered, and to give testimony relating to the matter under investigation or at issue. In case any person refuses access to the Secretary or his representative to any place of employment, or interferes with or limits an investigation or inspection as provided in § 361p of this title, the Secretary shall file a petition in any District Court or Court or First Instance for an order requiring that person to permit access to the place of employment described in the petition or to cease and desist from interfering with or limiting said inspection or investigation. The court shall forthwith issue the order required under penalty of contempt. Disobedience of such order may be punished by that court as a contempt thereof.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 18.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361r - Citation

(a) If, upon inspection or investigation, the Secretary or his authorized representative understands that an employer has violated a requirement of § 361e of this title, or of a standard, order, rule or regulation promulgated thereunder, he shall issue with reasonable promptness a citation to the employer. Each citation shall be in writing and shall describe in detail the nature of the violation, including a reference to the provision of the act, standard, rule, regulation or order allegedly violated. Furthermore, the citation shall fix a reasonable time for the abatement of the violation. The Secretary may prescribe procedures for the issuance of a notice in lieu of a citation with respect to minimum violations which have no direct or immediate relationship to safety or health.
(b) Each citation issued under this section, or a copy or copies thereof, shall be prominently posted, as prescribed in regulations issued by the Secretary, at or near each place where the violations referred to in the citation occurred.
(c) No citation shall be issued under this section after the expiration of six (6) months following the discovery of a violation during an inspection.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 19.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361t - Examiners

(a) The Secretary shall appoint one or more examiners to hear and decide challenges of citations and proposed penalties pursuant to §§ 361r and 361s of this title. The appointment, terms of employment and compensation of the examiners shall be made in accordance with the applicable regulations of the Personnel Office of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(b) A reasonable opportunity for a hearing shall be promptly granted to all the parties and a full record of the proceedings shall be taken. The examiners shall investigate and develop all the facts concerning the controversies and shall receive and consider evidence without regard to the statutory rules of evidence. The Secretary shall adopt regulations to govern the hearing procedure consistent with the provisions of due process of law. A record shall be kept of all the testimony and proceedings of the hearing, but the testimony need not be transcribed unless further review proceedings are instituted.
(c) The examiner may order testimony to be taken by deposition in any proceedings pending before him at any stage of such proceedings. Any person may be compelled to appear and depose, and to produce books, papers or documents in the same manner as witnesses may be compelled to appear, and to testify and produce like documentary evidence before the Secretary. Witnesses summoned by the Secretary or his examiners or whose depositions are taken under this subsection, as well as the persons taking them, shall be entitled to the same fees that are paid for like services in the courts of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(d) An examiner shall hear and make a determination upon any proceeding instituted before the Secretary and upon any motion in connection therewith, and shall make a report in writing of any such determinations, which shall constitute his final disposition of the proceedings. The decision of the examiner shall become the final order of the Secretary within thirty (30) days after such decision is notified by the examiner, unless it is reviewed by the Secretary pursuant to § 361s(c) of this title.
(e) Complaints, orders and other proceedings and documents of the Secretary, his examiners or other agents, may be served personally or by mail, or by telegraph or by leaving a copy thereof at the main office or place of business of the person who is sought to be served. Return service of the server describing the manner in which it was executed shall constitute proof thereof.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 21; June 24, 1977, No. 116, p. 295, § 6.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361w - Confidentiality of secrets on industrial processes

(a) All information reported or otherwise obtained by the Secretary or his representative in connection with any inspection or procedure under §§ 361—361aa of this title which contains or which might reveal a secret on industrial processes shall be considered confidential, except that such information may be disclosed to other officers or employees concerned with carrying out §§ 361—361aa of this title, or when relevant in any proceeding hereunder. In any such proceedings the Secretary or the court shall issue such orders as may be appropriate to protect the confidentiality of secrets on industrial processes.
(b) Any person who acting as official or employee of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or of any of its municipalities, or of any department, agency, instrumentality or dependency thereof, publishes, discloses, reveals or makes known in any manner or to any extent not authorized by the Secretary, any information brought to him in the course of his employment or official duties or by reason of any inspection or investigation made by, report or record made to, or filed with, such department, agency, instrumentality, dependency, officer or employee thereof and said information deals or is connected with the secrets on industrial processes of any person or employer, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both, and shall be removed from his office or employment.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 24.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361y - Administrative organization

(a) The Secretary shall establish or designate an administrative unit within the Department of Labor and Human Resources to enforce the provisions of §§ 361—361aa of this title. All authority, responsibilities and administrative functions of the Accident Prevention Bureau of the Department, as well as all the regular employees of said Bureau covered by the Personnel Act of Puerto Rico, may be transferred by the Secretary to the newly-created created.
The regular personnel of the Accident Prevention Bureau, if transferred, shall retain their status and all vested rights under the provisions of the Personnel Act of Puerto Rico, Act No. 345 of May 12, 1947, as amended.
(b) The Secretary may designate any other employees deemed necessary to achieve the purposes of §§ 361—361aa of this title and their appointment and removal from service shall be conducted pursuant to the applicable regulations of the Personnel Office.
(c) The Secretary shall have authority to contract professional services, specialized technicians and any other persons deemed necessary to achieve the purposes of §§ 361—361aa of this title.
(d) The executive and administrative duties of the administrative unit mentioned in subsection (a) shall be discharged by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health which shall be composed of the following units:
(1) The Occupational Safety and Health Bureau.
(2) The Education and Promotion Division.
(3) The Elevators and Boilers Registration and Inspection Section.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 26; July 23, 1998, No. 165, § 1.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361z - Employee training and education

(a) The Secretary is authorized to carry out, directly or by grants or contracts, training and information programs to comply with the purposes of §§ 361—361aa of this title.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 28.
2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361aa - Removal of or discrimination against employees

(a) No person shall remove or in any way discriminate against an employee because that employee has filed any complaint or instituted or caused to institute any proceeding under or connected with §§ 361—361aa of this title or has testified or may testify in any of such proceedings or because he has exercised in his own or for another’s benefit, any right granted hereunder.
(b) Any employee who believes that he has been removed or otherwise discriminated against by any person in violation of subsection (a) may file a complaint before the Secretary alleging such discrimination. Upon receipt of such complaint, the Secretary shall order that an investigation be carried out as he may deem appropriate. If from the result of the investigation the Secretary determines that the provisions of subsection (a) have been violated, he shall institute action against said person in the proper District or Court of First Instance of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. In any of such actions, the District or Court of First Instance of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall have jurisdiction, for cause shown, to enjoin violations of this subsection and to order any appropriate remedy, including reemployment or reinstatement of the employee to his former employment with retroactive pay.
(c) Within ninety (90) days from the receipt of a complaint filed under this subsection, the Secretary shall notify the complainant of his determination under subsection (b).
(d) Any judicial action instituted under this section shall be independent and separate from the action of any employee to recover compensation for wrongful discharge pursuant to Act No. 50 of Apr. 20, 1949.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 29.