2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THREE - Executive (§§ 1 — 9311) › Chapter 83 - Early Retirement for Government Employees (§§ 5001 — 5034) › Subchapter I - 1998 Early Retirement Program (§§ 5001 — 5017) › § 5001 - Definitions

The following terms and phrases, as used in this subchapter, shall have the meaning stated below, except when the context clearly indicates another meaning:
(a) Administrator. — Shall mean the Administrator of the Retirement System for the Employees of the Government of Puerto Rico and its Instrumentalities.
(b) Agency. — Shall mean the departments, agencies, corporations and public instrumentalities of the Executive Branch, the Judicial Branch and the Legislative Branch of the Government of Puerto Rico.
(c) Fiscal Agent of the Government. — Shall mean the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico or any other entity or instrumentality periodically designated by the Legislature of Puerto Rico as fiscal agent of the Government of Puerto Rico.
(d) Fiscal year. — Shall mean that it begins on the 1st of July of any year and ends on the 30th of June of the following year.
(e) Accrued contributions. — Shall mean the total amount of the contributions effectively made by a participant in the Retirement System and the interest accrued at the current rate, as provided by the Retirement System Act.
(f) Beneficiaries. — Shall mean any person who receives any pension or benefit, pursuant to the provisions of this subchapter.
(g) Accrued and compounded benefits. — Shall mean that portion of the retirement benefits to which all participants are entitled under the retirement system as of the date of effectiveness and which according to the actuarial study prepared at the conclusion of the fiscal year immediately preceding the date of effectiveness, is duly accrued and compounded.
(h) Choice to retire. — Shall mean the voluntary and irrevocable choice of any employee who meets the requirements to participate in the Program to resort to the benefits of the Program.
(i) Date of effectiveness. — Shall mean the day following the date in which the participant shall cease to perform the functions of his/her employment at the government agency. In the case of employees dismissed due to the privatization of Government health facilities prior to the approval of this act, it shall be after the agency makes the determination of feasibility for the implementation of the program.
(j) Government of Puerto Rico or Government. — Shall mean the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(k) Retirement System Act. — Shall mean §§ 761 et seq. of this title.
(l) Participant. — Shall mean any employee of an agency who on June 30, 1998, has met the requirements provided in this subchapter to participate in the program and who during the term for choosing has made a choice to retire.
(m) Term for choosing. — Shall mean the period between August 1 and December 31, 1998, during which any employee who meets the requirements provided in this chapter to participate in the Program, may choose to avail him/herself of the benefits of this subchapter. The term for choosing of employees dismissed due to the privatization of the Department of Health shall be of ninety (90) days after the approval of this act.
(n) Period of determination. — Shall mean the period between January 1 and February 28, 1999, during which an agency shall make a determination of feasibility for the implementation of the Program, at that time, based on its financial capability and on the number of choices to retire made by eligible officials and employees of said entity. In the case of employees dismissed due to the privatization of the government health facilities, prior to the approval of this act, it shall be thirty (30) days after the conclusion of the term for choosing provided for them.
(o) Program. — Shall mean the Early Retirement Program of the Employees of the Government of Puerto Rico, which shall be administered by the Retirement System of the Employees of the Government of Puerto Rico and its instrumentalities.
(p) Compensation. — Shall mean the gross cash remuneration earned by an employee for services rendered to an agency. In computing the compensation all bonuses awarded in addition to the salary, as well as all overtime payments costs shall be excluded.
(q) Average compensation. — Shall mean the participant’s highest average annual compensation during any three (3) years of creditable service up to the date of separation from the service.
(r) Creditable services. — Shall mean those services that are credited under the Retirement System Act.
(s) Retirement system. — Shall mean the Retirement System of the Employees of the Government of Puerto Rico and its Instrumentalities, created under the Retirement System Act.
History —July 28, 1998, No. 182, § 2; Dec. 6, 1998, No. 293, § 1; Apr. 8, 1999, No. 108, § 1; Sept. 2, 2000, No. 339, § 1.