2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 19 - Employment of Women and Minors; Compulsory School Attendance (§§ 431 — 476d) › § 436 - Employment of minors—Employment certificates (regular and vacation) and special permits; procedure for issuance

The employment certificate or special permit required by §§ 431—443a and 446—456 of this title shall be issued in triplicate by the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources or by any person duly authorized by him. Said certificate shall include a certification stating that all the conditions and requirements for issuing an employment certificate under the provisions of §§ 431—443a and 446—456 of this title have been fulfilled. It shall state the name, sex, date of birth, and residence of the minor, and shall be signed by the person issuing it. Said certificate shall express the kind of evidence as to age which was accepted for its issuance; the name and address of the employer for whom, and the nature of the specific occupation in which said employment certificate authorizes the minor to be employed. It shall further state the last grade completed by said minor. No certificate shall be valid except to the employer and for the occupation named therein. It shall bear a number, shall show the date of its issue, shall be signed by the minor for whom it was issued, and shall be mailed to the employer by the Child Bureau. This Bureau shall keep a complete record giving in full for each applicant the facts with reference to name, sex, date and place of birth; name and address of parents, guardian, or custodian; name and address of employer, and nature of the specific occupation in which the applicant desires to be employed; grade and school last attended; evidence of age, and date of issuance or date of refusal of certificate, with reasons therefor in the latter case, together with a medical certificate of physical fitness, the school record, and the employer’s statement of his intention to employ the minor.
The original copy of the employment certificate or special permit shall be forwarded by mail to the prospective employer of the minor; the first copy shall be transmitted to the central office of the Department of Labor and Human Resources of Puerto Rico, and the second copy shall be kept in the files of the local office where the permit has been issued.
The officer authorized to issue employment certificates may refuse to issue a certificate to any minor whenever, in his judgment, there is reason to believe that the interests of said minor will be better served by refusing the permit. A record shall be kept of said refused permits and of the reasons adduced for such refusal.
In no case shall there be granted an employment certificate to work in one of the occupations declared dangerous or prejudicial to the life, health, education, safety or welfare of a minor by §§ 431—443a and 446—456 of this title or by the Board created for such purpose hereunder. Notwithstanding, the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources shall be empowered to grant this certificate in cases of students or graduates from occupational training courses heretofore or hereafter offered by the Department of Education or other private educational institutions duly accredited by said Department in the occupations thus classified, provided the student or graduate from such courses is sixteen (16) years of age or over and the Secretary of Education, in the case of students receiving training in vocational courses, considers that the industry where the minor is to render services meets the requirements established the security measures required by said agency; or that, in the case of graduates from occupational training courses, the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources determines that the industry where the minor is to render services meets the requirements established by the agency for the employment of minors. By occupational training shall be understood that type of education directed at training a person to start working and advance in an occupation.
History —May 12, 1942, No. 230, p. 1298, § 6; June 9, 1961, No. 26, p. 58, § 2; July 30, 1974, No. 270, Part 2, p. 314, § 1.