2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-ONE - Municipalities (§§ 1-4 — 6756) › Subtitle 6 - Autonomous Municipalities (§§ 4001 — 4990-4990j) › Chapter 223 - Municipal Personnel (§§ 4551 — 4579) › § 4565 - Compensation provisions

The mayor shall prepare separate compensation plans for the employees of the Executive Branch of the municipal government in the career and trust service. Such plans shall adjust to the prevailing fiscal situation of the municipality and shall require the approval of the legislature by means of ordinance. The President of the municipal legislature shall adopt a compensation plan for the employees of the legislature which shall be approved by the vote of at least two-thirds (⅔) of the members of the legislature.
(a) Compensation plans.— Compensation plans shall provide equitable treatment for employees and shall stimulate the maximum use of the available human and fiscal resources.
Said plans shall stipulate a compensation scale for each type of position, which shall consist of a minimum and a maximum rate, and any other intermediate rates that are deemed necessary.
The rates established in the compensation scales shall correspond to a monthly salary and a regular working day. When part-time services are rendered in a position, the salary to be fixed shall be in proportion to the regular working day established by regulations.
(b) Administration of compensation plans.— The nominating authorities shall establish, by regulations, the norms that shall govern the administration of the compensation plans for career and confidential services. The nominating authority may reassign classes to other scales, keeping the compensation plan updated, to respond to the needs of the service.
(c) When the financial capability of the municipality allows, those employees who hold regular positions and have not received any manner of salary increase whatsoever, except an increase granted by municipal ordinance, during an uninterrupted period of service of five (5) years, shall receive a salary increase equivalent to a type or step in the corresponding schedule. Said salary increase may be granted consecutively until the employee reaches the maximum type within the schedule assigned to his/her position. The nominating municipal authority may refuse to grant said salary increase to any employee if in its judgment the services of the employee during the corresponding five (5)-year period have not been satisfactory. In such cases the nominating authority shall inform the employee in writing the reasons for which the aforementioned salary increase has not been granted and of his/her right to appeal before the Board of Appeals of the Personnel Administration Service.
(d) After the transfer, the employee or official shall continue to accrue, and shall be entitled to fringe benefits and other leaves, as stipulated in the provisions of the law that rules the agency of the central government to which he/she was transferred. Likewise, once reinstated to his/her career position, pursuant to the provisions of § 4559 of this title, he/she will be entitled to transfer to the original municipality the fringe benefits and leave, accrued in the agency of the central government.
(e) The municipalities shall use other compensation methods to retain, motivate, and recognize personnel. Some of such mechanisms are:
(1) Differentials.— A special, provisional compensation, in addition to and separate from the employee’s regular salary, which is granted to mitigate extraordinary circumstances that may otherwise be considered onerous to said employee. Differentials may be granted for:
(A) Extraordinary conditions.— A temporary work situation that requires greater effort from or risk from the employee while performing the duties of his/her job.
(B) Acting capacity services.— A temporary work situation in which the employee performs all the essential duties of a position which is higher than the position he/she is officially appointed to. The following shall be required: having performed such duties uninterruptedly for thirty (30) days or more; having been officially appointed to perform duties in an acting capacity by the director of the department or office, and complying with the education and experience requirements of the position being performed in an acting capacity. An employee rendering services in an acting capacity may be removed from such position at any time as determined by the mayor or the person he/she designates.
No differential granted shall be deemed to be an integral part of the regular salary of an employee when calculating severance pay or retirement pensions.
(2) Bonus.— A special, non-recurring compensation, separate from a salary, which may be granted as a vehicle to recruit, retain, or reward an employee, or a group thereof, who meet the requirements established prior to granting such compensation. The standards to grant such an incentive to employees shall be evaluated and approved by the appointing authority.
(f) No amendment or modification to the evaluation or appraisal system of positions selected by the agency shall negatively affect the base salary of an employee.
(g) As a general rule, any person appointed to the regular career service shall receive, as salary, the minimum rate in the salary schedule pertaining to the job class of the position he/she shall fill. However, the mayor may make an exception to this rule when there are reasonable circumstances that justify granting a compensation greater than that established within the salary schedule of such job class.
(h) Raises granted for promotions in the municipality shall be appraised in terms of percentages or in the equivalent of intermediate rates. This determination shall depend on the salary structure selected by the municipality. However, the raise shall not be less than the difference between minimum rates in the schedules.
(i) In the case of demotions due to particular services needs, determined by the appointing authority as an urgent service need, such action shall not negatively affect the salary of an employee, except when such action is taken to prevent layoffs due to lack of funds. When the demotion is undertaken at the request of the employee, his/her salary shall be adjusted to that of the job class to which he/she is demoted, plus the raises granted by the Legislature and received while in the previous position.
(j) In the event of reinstatement as a result of having failed a probationary period, the employee shall receive the last salary earned in the position to which he/she is being reinstated, plus any raises received by such job class. Moreover, he/she shall receive those raises granted by the Legislature during the time he/she was in a probationary period.
(k) In the event of reinstatement as a result of returning from unpaid leave, the employee shall receive the last salary earned before the start of his/her leave, plus any raises received by such job class, or any raises granted by the Legislature during the time he/she was on temporary disability leave.
(l) In the event of reinstatement as a result of returning from temporary disability leave, the employee shall receive the last salary earned before the separation from work, plus any raises received by such job class or any raises granted by the Legislature during the time he/she was on such leave.
(m) Trust employees entitled to be reinstated to their regular career positions pursuant to this subtitle, when reinstated, shall be entitled to all the benefits in terms of classification and salary that were granted to the career position they held before, while they were rendering trust capacity services. Such employees shall also be entitled to pay raises granted by the Legislature and up to a ten percent (10%) raise in the salary they earned as trust employees. To receive this recognition, an outstanding performance evaluation included in the employee’s record shall be necessary. On the other hand, if the employee to be reinstated rendered trust capacity services for no less than three (3) years, the appointing authority may authorize any pay raise resulting from the difference between the salary earned while in the regular career service and the salary he/she shall earn when reinstated. An outstanding performance evaluation shall also be necessary to receive this recognition.
(n) Promotion, transfer, and demotion standards established by the appointing authority through regulations shall apply in case of reclassification.
(o) As a general rule, transfers shall not entail pay raises.
(p) In case of employee reinstatement, the new appointment standard shall apply, except when the employee is reinstated after recovering from a temporary disability.
(q) The following rules shall only apply to employees and managers in public service:
(1) The municipalities may develop and include in their regulations such compensation methods, according to their budget capacity, to recognize productivity, efficiency, and quality of work performed by employees. These alternate compensation methods may be used to retain the most suitable personnel, to obtain qualified personnel to fill difficult-to-recruit-for positions, and to motivate employees. Some of these methods, among others, are:
(A) Certificates of recognition for the work performed.
(B) Productivity bonuses, representing twenty percent (20%) of the money earned in a fifteen-day pay period.
(C) Teamwork performance bonuses.
(D) Agency achievement activities and employee recognition activities.
(E) Training in and outside Puerto Rico.
(F) Scholarship for undergraduate and graduate studies.
(G) Gym, health units, cafeteria, and child day care facilities.
(H) Room and board, food, and uniform benefits to all employees the nature of whose job so require.
(I) Attendance and punctuality bonuses. Said bonus shall be independent and separate from any payment on account of any excess leave accrued.
(J) Bonuses for employees retiring from the system.
(K) Days and hours granted without charge to any leave.
(2) Every employee shall have the possibility for professional development, either by his/her own initiative or as offered by the organization. Some of the compensation methods that foster said considerations are:
(A) Additional compensation for abilities.— Insofar as employees develop and apply abilities other than those pertaining to their main duty, the municipality may, at its entire discretion, grant an additional compensation that shall become part of the employees’ salary.
(B) Skill development.— Insofar as the agency realizes which skills are required to obtain the employees’ outstanding performance, it may select and form individuals to achieve such a performance levels. As a result, when employees perform at an outstanding level, the overall performance of the agency is maximized. This premise implies that any employee who succeeds in implementing the new work processes that the agency desires, and who is a change agent and continuous innovator, shall receive a compensation for skills.
(C) When recruiting personnel, an economic incentive may be incorporated to the base salary. The same shall be adjudicated in any job classes that require a high level of education and experience.
(D) Salary adjustments may be granted subject to performance and productivity evaluations.
History —Aug. 30, 1991, No. 81, § 12.015; Oct. 29, 1992, No. 84, § 51; Apr. 13, 1995, No. 36, § 44; renumbered as § 11.015 on Jan. 10, 1999, No. 30, § 3; Sept. 7, 2004, No. 258, § 29; Nov. 22, 2009, No. 151, § 5.