2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THREE - Executive (§§ 1 — 9311) › Chapter 33 - Retirement of Government Personnel (§§ 761 — 830q) › § 765 - Employees Retirement System—Creditable services

(a) Creditable service.— Creditable service shall [always] be served by an individual as a regular employee participating in the system and during which he pays the corresponding contributions as provided in §§ 761 et seq. of this title.
(b) Prior service.— On and after the operative date, any service rendered by a member since he last became a member of the [system], with respect to which the corresponding contributions have been paid, shall count as subsequent service. Commencing on the date of his/her first appointment, services rendered prior to the operative date by any member in any department, division, agency, instrumentality or municipality of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, shall be credited as prior service if said member has paid or pays to the system, in the manner provided by the Administrator, the contributions corresponding to the years of service rendered on and after January 1, 1924, according to the rates in force provided by the laws to establish the retirement of permanent officials and employees of the Government of Puerto Rico, approved September 22, 1923, September 2, 1925, and July 16, 1935, or according to the rates in force under the systems superseded as of the date said services were rendered. Employees who have received refunds of contributions paid to pension funds superseded by this system, shall not receive credit for the period of service represented by such refunded contributions, unless such employees repay amounts equal to such refunds to the system.
(c) Computation of services.— For the computation of the length of services prior or subsequent to the operative date, and until April 1, 1990, as the case may be, the following schedule shall govern: nine (9) or more months of service during any fiscal year shall constitute one (1) year of service; six (6) to nine (9) months, three-quarters (¾) of a year; three (3) to six (6) months, one-half (½) year of service. Less than three (3) months of service shall not be considered for the effects of this computation, nor shall less than fifteen (15) days of service in any one (1) month be considered as a month of service. Not more than one (1) year of service shall be creditable for all services rendered by a member during any one (1) fiscal year. Pursuant to the provisions of § 766c of this title, services rendered by any new participant shall be computed on the basis of complete[d] months. The Board shall prescribe in its rules, the number of hours or days constituting a month of service, and the equivalence of services rendered by public officials or employees based on compensation that is not for a monthly salary.
(d) Non-creditable service.— In no case shall credit be granted for services for the following concepts:
(1) For services rendered in a department, division, agency, instrumentality or municipality of the Government of Puerto Rico, that have been credited for the enjoyment of a pension in any pension fund or plan to which the Government of Puerto Rico or any of its agencies, instrumentalities or municipalities contribute in whole or in part, directly or indirectly.
(2) For services paid on a per diem basis.
(3) For services contracted to be rendered in some way other than daily and during the regular working hours.
(4) For any period of leave without pay, nor for any unpaid service. If a participant has a break in service due to a disability resulting from a work accident protected under §§ 1 et seq. of Title 11, whereby, because the employee has used up his vacation and sick leave, has to be discharged from service; if such participant, after totally or partially recovering his fitness for work, returns to the service, the period during which he was out of the service due to his disability, shall be included as creditable service, provided the participant:
(A) Has not received occupational disability benefits from the Retirement System.
(B) Has not held remunerated employment during said period.
(C) Pays to the system, in the manner provided by the Administrator, the individual and employer contributions for the period corresponding to the break in services caused by the disability.
(D) Returns to the public service within thirty (30) days following the date that the State Insurance Fund determines he has recovered from the disability.
(e) Other creditable services.— In addition to the preceding provisions, the following services shall be credited to any person who is a member of the System at the time accreditation is requested:
(1) For all purposes of this chapter, any member of the system shall receive credits for the period of military service rendered in the Armed Forces of the United States of America during any armed conflict, provided such member received his unconditional, other than dishonorable discharge from such military service. If the military service was rendered in peacetime, he shall receive credits up to a maximum of two (2) years as creditable service. Also creditable shall be the time in active service rendered by a member of the Reserve Corps or the Puerto Rico National Guard who has been called to active service or transferred from the Reserves to active service in the Armed Forces of the United States during any period of armed conflict or during peacetime, from the date of the call or transfer, and until the date that the call or transfer order ceases or is rendered ineffective. To be credited for these services, the participant shall pay the corresponding contributions to the system, based on the salaries received during his service in the Armed Forces, or on the salary received on entering or returning to government service if the services were rendered in peacetime. The participant shall also pay the corresponding employer contribution as determined by the Administrator of the Retirement System.
(2) The time invested in studies for veterans attended under a state or federal plan for veterans, shall also be creditable, provided it does not constitute a double credit, if the participant served in the Army of the United States of America and received his unconditional, other than dishonorable discharge. If the participant was a member of the system and availed himself of leave without pay in order to study, he shall only pay the corresponding individual contribution based on the salary he received at the time he availed himself of leave without pay, or on his initial salary upon returning to the public service, whichever is higher. The government employer who [is] granted leave without pay to attend studies shall pay the contribution determined by the Administrator, plus the corresponding interest. If the participant was not a member of the system, he shall pay the corresponding individual and employee contributions based on the salary received upon entering the system or on the salary received at the time he requests the credit, whichever is higher.
(3) Services rendered as mayor to a municipality shall also be computed as creditable service for all purposes of §§ 761 et seq. of this title. The participant shall pay to the system the corresponding individual and employer contributions based on the salary received as a mayor at the time of rendering services. If at the time the participant requests credit he is serving as a mayor and has procedures pending against him which might entail removal from office, no credit shall be granted until the charges or procedures pending against him are elucidated finally and in his favor.
(4) Any service rendered in federal agencies shall be creditable up to a maximum of ten (10) years if the participant has ten (10) or more years of computed service in the System. The participant shall pay to the System the individual and employer contributions, plus the corresponding interest based on the salary he/she received in the federal agency. Provided, That said earned salary shall not be considered when computing the average compensation at the time of retirement.
(5) Any service rendered by a participant who avails himself of leave without pay in order to direct a government workers’ union shall be creditable. The participant shall pay to the system the corresponding individual and employer contributions, based on the salary received at the time of the temporary separation from service to direct the government workers’ union, or the salary earned upon his return to the government agency, whichever is higher.
(6) Any service rendered by a participant who avails himself of leave without pay in order to render services to a main political party in Puerto Rico shall be creditable, if the salary received in such service was paid by the Electoral Fund and the participant did not avail himself of the benefits of §§ 610 and 611 of Title 16. The participant shall pay to the system the corresponding individual and employer contributions based on the salary received on the date of temporary separation from service to serve the political party, or on the salary he began to earn upon his return to the government agency, whichever is higher.
(7) Any service rendered as a regular employee of the Puerto Rico Teachers Association; the Puerto Rico Legal Services Corporation; the Legal Aid Association; the Corporación Pro-Bono, Inc.; the Puerto Rico Police Members Association; and the bona fide organizations which represent the police officers and the civilian employees of the Puerto Rico Police covered by the provisions of this chapter; the Oficina Legal de Santurce, Inc.; the Asociación de Pensionados del Gobierno de Puerto Rico, Inc. and the San Juan Legal Services Incorporated, shall be creditable. The participant shall pay an individual contribution based on the salaries received plus the corresponding employer’s contribution determined by the Administrator. In these cases, the Administrator may receive total or partial payment of the corresponding employer’s contribution from any of the employers mentioned in this clause.
(8) Any service rendered in a child day-care center under the “Head Start” program shall be creditable, provided no fee has been charged for the care of, and services rendered to the children. The participant shall pay the individual contribution based on the salary received, plus the corresponding employer contribution determined by the Administrator.
(9) The services rendered by a participant outside of the territorial limits of Puerto Rico shall be creditable, provided the services are rendered:
(A) In any agency, division, office or branch of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico established outside of Puerto Rico;
(B) in any technical aid program sponsored by the Government of the United States of America in benefit of countries abroad by virtue of the agreement established in §§ 66—66j of this title, between the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Government of the United States of America.
In any of these cases, the participant shall pay the corresponding individual and employer contributions based on the salary he received during the rendering of services, plus the corresponding employer contribution determined by the Administrator.
(10) Any time served under contract in any department, division, agency, instrumentality, public enterprise or municipality of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall be creditable, if the services were rendered on a daily basis, during regular working hours, at the employer’s workplace, and the pay or compensation for the services rendered was based on a fixed monthly rate or on a fixed hourly rate and, in every case, for a minimum of one hundred and twenty (120) hours per month. The head of the agency or the nominating authority, as the case may be, shall certify that the participant rendered services under contract, that the services were equivalent to those of a position, and shall specify the position classification to which the services were equivalent. The participant shall pay the individual and employer contributions determined by the Administrator based on the salary earned under contract before entering or reentering to the system. Provided, That the salary earned under contract shall not be considered for the purposes of computing the pension upon the retirement of the participant.
(11) The time served by a participant as a transitory employee, the services rendered based on an hourly wage, shall be creditable, provided the time worked has been no less than eighty (80) hours a month, and services rendered as an irregular employee in the Legislative Branch, the Judiciary Branch or in any department, division, agency, instrumentality, or municipality of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The participant shall pay the corresponding individual and employer contributions based on the salary earned while he rendered the services.
(12) The time served as municipal legislator shall be credited provided the latter has neither been a participant of the System nor has been in government service in any department, division, agency, instrumentality, public enterprise or municipality of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico while serving as municipal legislator. The participant shall pay the corresponding individual and employer contributions on the basis of the salaries received when joining the System or on the basis of the salaries received when accreditation is requested, whichever is greater.
(13) The time served by physicians, nurses and other health professionals in hospitals or branches of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico during an internship or residence shall be creditable, provided said period of internship or residence has been a requirement to obtain the degree or license. The participant shall pay the corresponding individual and employer contributions based on the salary earned when becoming a member of the system.
(14) The time served as a regular employee in public enterprises, branches and instrumentalities of the Government of Puerto Rico and in municipalities, which were not participating employers of the system at the time the services were rendered, shall be creditable. If the services were rendered as a regular employee in a municipality, the cost of the corresponding individual and employer contributions, plus interest, shall be paid in equal parts by the participant and the municipality that he served, which shall be computed on the basis of the salaries received by the participant while he rendered the services. In all other cases, the participant shall pay the individual and employer contributions based on the salaries received during the period the services were rendered, or based on the salaries earned when becoming a member of the system, whichever are higher.
(15) The time in which a participant was out of the service due to dismissal, if a competent court or administrative forum directs his reinstatement with the payment of any unpaid salaries, and recognizes the right to the fringe benefits of the office. The participant shall pay the individual contribution, and the employer to whom the reinstatement was directed shall pay the employer contribution plus interest corresponding thereto. Computation of the contributions shall be based on the salaries to which the participant would have been entitled to earn if he had not been dismissed.
(16) Any service rendered by a participant as a member of the Legislature of Puerto Rico shall be creditable, after payment of the corresponding individual and employer contributions. An annual salary of one thousand dollars ($1,000) shall be taken as a basis for those years in which he only received per diems for his services as legislator.
(17) The time invested by a participant in studies attended through a scholarship from a department, agency, division, instrumentality, public enterprise or municipality of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, shall be creditable, provided it does not constitute a double credit. In order to be entitled to credit, the participant must return to government service or join the service of the employer that granted the scholarship, within the term of ninety (90) days following the date the studies were concluded. If the participant was a member of the system and availed himself of leave without pay in order to study, he shall pay only the corresponding individual contribution based on the salary earned when availing himself of leave without pay. The government employer that granted the leave without pay for him to study, shall pay the contribution determined by the Administrator plus the corresponding interest. If the participant was a member of the system and resigned his post to study, he shall pay the corresponding individual and employer contributions based on the salary earned on the date of his resignation. If the participant was not a member of the system, he shall pay the corresponding individual and employer contributions based on the salary earned upon induction into the system.
(18) The time served by a participant taking leave without pay to render services as a confidential employee in the Office of the Governor or the Legislature of Puerto Rico shall be creditable. The time served by a participant taking leave without pay, who has been elected in the general elections or designated to fill an elective public office vacancy in the Executive or Legislative Branch shall also be creditable. In both cases the participant shall continue paying the corresponding individual and employer contributions into the system on the basis of the salary received by the date of the temporary separation from the career service position to serve as a confidential employee or to the elective office, or on the basis of the salary received while in the elective office or serving as confidential employee, whichever is higher.
The government entity for which the participant renders services as confidential employee, or in which he/she holds the elective office, shall withhold the contributions and the payments for loans to the system for the term he/she holds said position, and shall remit said contributions or payments to the system with the corresponding employer contribution.
(19) Every service rendered as a regular employee of any employer covered by the system, or other creditable services, who because of his/her age was not allowed to be a participating member of the system, shall be credited and the participant shall pay the corresponding individual and employer contributions, based on the salaries received while rendering said services.
(20) Those employees of the Department of Health and its dependencies who are participants and who have contributed a minimum of five (5) years of creditable services, and who, as a result of the privatization of the health facilities pursuant to the provisions of Act No. 90 of Sept. 5, 1996, known as the “Act to Regulate the Government Health Installations’ Privatization Process”, lose their eligibility as participants under §§ 761 et seq. of this title, may credit an additional period of time as service which shall not exceed a maximum of five (5) years provided they make the corresponding individual contribution on the basis of the salary they earned on the date of their separation from service within five (5) years after having ceased as public employees, or during the periods in which they are unemployed, the employer’s contribution shall be made by the Government of Puerto Rico for a maximum period of twenty-four (24) months. Provided, that crediting shall only be made by periodic payments for the number of years that are to be credited.
(21) The time served by a participant who has availed him/herself of the benefits of the Right to Employment Administration under the provisions of the Right to Employment Act, §§ 1101 et seq. of Title 29, shall be creditable. The participant shall pay into the system the corresponding individual and employer contributions on the basis of the salaries earned while rendering services, plus the interest determined by the system.
History —May 15, 1951, No. 447, p. 1298, § 5; June 19, 1954, No. 73, p. 374, § 2; Apr. 22, 1959, No. 2, p. 4, § 4; June 28, 1961, No. 132, p. 283, § 1; June 10, 1967, No. 127, p. 388, § 1; June 19, 1968, No. 95, p. 176, § 1; June 29, 1968, No. 161, p. 520, § 1; Feb. 18, 1976, No. 6, p. 16, § 1; June 2, 1976, No. 103, p. 302; Sept. 8, 1980, No. 5, p. 958; Aug. 17, 1989, No. 71; May 21, 1992, No. 10, § 4; Dec. 9, 1993, No. 116, § 1; Dec. 22, 1994, No. 149, § 1; May 15, 1995, No. 42, § 1; Aug. 9, 1995, No. 122, § 1; Aug. 9, 1995, No. 127, § 2; Dec. 28, 1995, No. 255, § 2; June 7, 1996, No. 49, § 1; June 10, 1996, No. 53, § 41; July. 6, 1997, No. 31, § 23; Aug. 9, 1998, No. 217, § 1; Aug. 20, 1998, No. 254, § 2; renumbered as § 1-106 on Sept. 24, 1999, No. 305, § 8; Aug. 19 [sic], 2000, No. 218, § 1; Aug. 25 [sic], 2000, No. 193, § 1; Apr. 5, 2007, No. 33, § 1.