2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART III - Social Security (§§ 611 — 726f) › Chapter 45 - Social Security for Chauffeurs and Other Employees (§§ 681 — 695) › § 683 - Payment of sickness pensions

(a) The normal sickness pension granted under the terms of this chapter shall be paid weekly during a maximum period of thirty (30) weeks on the basis of the following scale:
Dues paid in the Weekly amount of contributing year normal pension 45 weeks or more $30 40 to 44 weeks $27 35 to 39 weeks $24 30 to 34 weeks $20 25 to 29 weeks $16 Less than 25 weeks Nothing
The term “contributing year” means the four (4) quarters of dues which end immediately before the calendar month preceding the first day of sickness.
In addition to the normal pension, a supplementary pension shall also be paid based on the following scale:
Dues paid in the basic period of Weekly amount of 20 contributing quarters supplementary pension 240 weeks or more $30 200 to 239 weeks $24 150 to 199 weeks $18 100 to 149 weeks $12 50 to 99 weeks $ 6 Less than 50 weeks Nothing
The term “basic period of twenty (20) contributing quarters” means the twenty (20) contributing quarters comprised in the five (5) calendar years before the first day of March preceding the first day of sickness.
The pension for sickness shall be paid weekly in periods of seven (7) days starting Saturday at 12:01 A.M. and ending Friday at 12:00 P.M. In paying any sickness period of less than one (1) week, one seventh (1 / 7) of the amount of the weekly pension shall be computed for each day of sickness. The total pension for a fraction of a week shall be computed to the highest full dollar.
(b) The pension for sickness may only be granted to begin on the eighth day after the date of commencement of sickness. Provided, That if the health condition of the insured requires his hospitalization in a clinic, hospital or sanatorium, the pension shall be paid starting from the first day of hospitalization.
For all purposes of this chapter, hospitalization or admission into a clinic, hospital or sanatorium shall require that the insured has been committed to bed in a ward of any such institution by a medical order during a period of not less than three (3) days. In all cases where the insured is hospitalized, the sickness pension shall be granted to begin the same day of hospitalization if it occurs before the normal seven (7) -day waiting period expires.
(c) New sicknesses and recurrences of a sickness occurring within the term of thirty (30) days following the discontinuance of a pension shall be considered as part of the sickness in regard to which the insured has requested the benefits provided by this chapter. In such cases, pension payments shall be continued immediately regardless of what is provided in subsection (b) of this section, if the Director is notified in writing of the occurrence of such sickness within said thirty (30) days and also a medical certificate is enclosed, indicating the probable period in which the insured will be prevented from operating a motor vehicle.
(d) The sickness pension shall cease as soon as the insured’s sickness disappears and from the moment he is able to return to work or stops the treatment and recommendations of the physician certifying the sickness, or of another physician should he change his doctor. No pension shall be paid when the insured provokes the sickness himself.
(e) No sickness pension shall be paid in cases compensable by the State Insurance Fund, unless per diem allowances which the insured receives from the State Insurance Fund in case of labor accidents are a weekly sum of less than the weekly amount paid for sickness hereunder, and in such case the insured claimant shall be paid the difference. Neither shall the sickness pension be paid while the insured is receiving payment by way of salary, regular or compensatory vacations or leave due to accidents or sickness, or leaves or vacations advanced by the municipal or Commonwealth Government, its dependencies, public corporations and authorities. Provided, however, That if an insured otherwise eligible to the benefit of weekly pension for sickness hereby provided has received per diem payments from the State Insurance Fund for the same sickness and the Manager of said Fund decides that the insured’s sickness is non occupational, said payments shall be deducted from the benefits of weekly pension for sickness to which the insured may be entitled hereunder. This deduction shall never be made in an amount exceeding the benefit of weekly compensation for sickness to which the insured is entitled. Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, the amount thus deducted shall be reimbursed by the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources to the State Insurance Fund upon previous presentation by the Manager thereof of a certified invoice containing the liquidation of the payments made to the insured. For the purpose of granting the benefit of weekly pension for sickness provided under this chapter to an insured who has received per diem payments from the State Insurance Fund for a non occupational sickness, the date the case was filed with the State Insurance Fund shall be understood to be the date of the application.
(f) The sickness pension shall not be paid to an insured woman during any period of sickness caused by or in relation to an abortion, except in the case of a therapeutic abortion, or if there were complications as a result thereof.
(g) Pension for sickness shall not be paid for more than thirty (30) weeks during any period of sickness nor in any period of sixty (60) consecutive calendar weeks.
(h) If the sickness is the result of a labor accident as the Manager of the State Insurance Fund may determine in the case of insured employees covered by the Workmen’s Compensation Act, §§ 1—42 of Title 11, the sickness pension shall be granted to an eligible insured and the amount of the grantable pension shall be twenty-five percent (25%) more than the amount resulting from the computation system established by this section regarding weekly pension for sickness.
As to self-employed operators not covered by the State Insurance Fund, it shall be understood that a labor accident shall consist of an injury suffered as a consequence of an unfortunate event while operating the steering wheel in the normal course of his trade as a public carrier.
History —May 15, 1950, No. 428, p. 1038, § 3; Sept. 15, 1950, No. 32, p. 250, § 1; May 14, 1952, No. 454, p. 924, § 4; June 11, 1954, No. 59, p. 322; June 14, 1957, No. 59, p. 137; June 14, 1960, No. 85, p. 151, § 1; June 24, 1964, No. 72, p. 220; June 21, 1968, No. 111, p. 227; June 21, 1971, No. 48, p. 136; May 30, 1974, No. 48, Part 1, p. 209, § 1; Nov. 23, 1975, No. 8, p. 934, § 3; June 18, 1980, No. 149, p. 663, § 4.