2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THREE - Executive (§§ 1 — 9311) › Chapter 51B - Human Resources Administration System (§§ 1461 — 1468p) › Subchapter VI - Compensation (§§ 1464 — 1464b) › § 1464b - Specific norms

The following norms shall only apply to non-unionized and management employees or to employees excluded from §§ 1451—1454a of this title, who work in the public service.
(1) Each appointing authority, with the advice and endorsement of the Office, may develop and incorporate into its regulations compensation methods that conform to its budgetary capacity, as certified by the Office of Management and Budget, that recognize the productivity, efficiency, and quality of the work carried out by the employees. These alternate compensation methods may be used to: retain the most suitable personnel, obtain qualified personnel for positions for which it is difficult to recruit, and motivate employees.
(a) Acknowledgment certificates for the work performed.
(b) Bonuses for productivity, to be twenty percent (20%) of the salary earned biweekly.
(c) Bonuses for the performance of a work team.
(d) Activities in which the employee is informed of the success obtained by the agency and employee acknowledgement activities.
(e) Training in and outside of Puerto Rico.
(f) Scholarships for graduate and undergraduate studies.
(g) Gym, health unit, cafeteria and child day care facilities.
(h) Lodging, meal and uniform benefits for all employees who so require due to the nature of the service they render.
(i) Granting bonuses for punctuality and attendance. Said bonus shall be independent and separate from any payment corresponding to excesses in leaves accrued.
(j) Bonuses for employees who retire from the system.
(k) Days or hours granted without charge to any leave.
(2) All employees have the possibility of developing professionally, whether by their own initiative or by efforts of the organization. Some compensation methods that promote this activity are:
(a) Additional compensation for abilities. — To the extent in which employees develop and apply abilities alternate to their main function, an additional compensation may be granted, to be part of the salary.
(b) Development of competencies. — To the extent in which the agency knows which are the competencies required to obtain an excellent performance from employees, it may select and form individuals who attain said level of performance. As a result, when employees perform at an optimum level, the global performance of the agency is maximized. This premise implies that all employees that succeed in implementing the new working processes desired by the agency and who succeed in being an agent of continuous innovations and change, shall obtain a compensation for competency.
(c) When recruiting personnel, a financial incentive may be incorporated as part of the basic salary. The same shall be adjudicated in classes where high levels of education and experience are required.
(d) Granting adjustments in salaries subject to performance and productivity evaluations.
(3) Non-unionized and management public employees who have held a regular job during an uninterrupted period of three (3) years in the service, without having received any other raise, shall receive a raise of up to five percent (5%) of their salary or its equivalent in intermediate rates. For this, the employee must have provided satisfactory services during the term of three (3) years as evinced by their evaluation sheets. The appointing authority shall send written notice to all employees who do not meet this consideration. The notice shall include the reasons for which the employee is not being granted the aforementioned raise and shall admonish him/her of his/her right to appeal before the Appeals Committee.
(4) Raises for meritorious services. — A compensation which is part of the salary and is granted to acknowledge the outstanding performance of employees. This raise shall be of one (1), two (2) or three (3) compensation rates in the schedule to which the job of the employee is assigned. In order to be entitled to this raise, the employee must have carried out the functions of his/her job for twelve (12) consecutive months in the service before the date of the granting thereof and his/her evaluations must conform to the amount of raise to be granted. Any period of time worked by the employee while under a transitory appointment in a job of equal classification may be credited toward completing the period established for eligibility.
As general rule, these shall not exceed seven percent (7%) of the employee’s salary. In exceptional cases in which it is evinced that the employee has contributed directly toward achieving the goals and objectives of the agency, a raise of up to twelve percent (12%) may be granted.
When for budgetary reasons, the raise granted cannot be given in its full amount, a partial raise may be granted and at any time, within the twelve (12) following months, the remainder may be granted. In these cases, the twelve (12)-month period established for eligibility for a new salary raise for merit, shall begin to count from the date on which the first partial raise took effect.
(5) Each appointing authority may grant general raises to the employees covered by this section, according to the requirements provided in subsection (3) of this section. Raises may be authorized for all employees, or for an occupational or classification group whenever deemed necessary to attend situations of employees who were left behind in terms of compensation. These raises shall depend on the availability of the necessary fiscal resources of the agency for its granting and shall require the previous approval of the Office of Management and Budget.
History —Aug. 3, 2004, No. 184, § 8.3; Sept. 2, 2004, No. 246, § 5; Mar. 9, 2007, No. 25, § 2.