2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 18 - Health Certification Law of Puerto Rico (§§ 411 — 413) › § 412 - Health certificates

(a) The owner, administrator or person in charge of any public establishment whose activities could represent a direct threat to the health of the public, shall obtain a health certificate and is also placed under the obligation to demand said health certificate from any person he or she employs or uses in his/her establishment determined to be under subsection (b) of this section a direct threat to the public health and may not employ or use in his/her establishment, as the case may be, any person who does not hold a health certificate who is under the obligation to obtain said certificate under this chapter. The health certificate referred to shall be at all times at the disposition of the Secretary of Health and/or his/her authorized representatives and the public.
(b) The determination as to whether a person constitutes or not a direct threat to the public shall be made on a case-by-case basis. This determination shall be made by a physician authorized to exercise the profession in Puerto Rico, on the basis of an individual evaluation to determine whether the contagious or epidemic condition of the employee impairs him/her to perform the essential functions of his/her job. Such determination shall be made on the basis of a reasonable medical judgment, pursuant to the most recent medical knowledge and developments and based on the best objective evidence available. Certain factors shall be taken into account, such as: the duration of the risk; the nature and intensity of the potential damage; the probability that the damage may occur; and the imminence of the potential damage. If after having taken into account the factors listed above, the determination is made that the person could represent a direct threat to the public, the employee shall be compelled to comply with the health certificate requirement as provided in this section.
(c) Any person who under subsection (b) of this section is determined to potentially represent a direct threat to the health of others, shall be required to undergo a medical examination to obtain a health certificate that guarantees that his or her condition does not represent a direct threat to the public. The person shall undergo a medical evaluation consisting of a VDRL test and a tuberculin test to determine whether the person suffers from a contagious illness that impairs him or her to perform his/her job without representing a hazard to the public health.
(d) The health certificates shall be issued by physicians duly authorized for such purpose by the Secretary of Health. The indispensable medical examination to issue the health certificate may be made by any physician authorized to exercise the profession in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(e) The authorization of private physicians and the issue of health certificates shall be subject to the standards established by the office of the Deputy Secretary of Health Facilities Regulation and Accreditation.
(f) The health certificates shall be valid for a term of one year. The Secretary of Health is hereby authorized to demand that an employee undergo a new physical examination at any time that he or she deems that said person represents a direct threat to the health of the public pursuant to the standards established in subsection (b) of this section, including additional laboratory tests as necessary, with the purpose of protecting the public health.
History —Aug. 30, 2000, No. 232, § 3.