2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THREE - Executive (§§ 1 — 9311) › Chapter 33 - Retirement of Government Personnel (§§ 761 — 830q) › § 771 - Employees Retirement System—Rules governing disability pensions

For purposes of an occupational or non-occupational disability annuity, a participant shall be considered disabled when the disability is supported by sufficient evidence in accordance with usually accepted criteria in the area of disability compensation as established in regulations of the Administrator, and said evidence demonstrates that the participant cannot perform the duties of any position assigned to him by the employer. The Administrator as he/she deems necessary and convenient, may require the participant to undergo further medical examinations by physicians selected by the Administrator. Periodical examinations shall not be necessary if medical evidence demonstrates that the participant is totally and permanently unable to perform the duties of any position.
The payment of occupational and non-occupational disability annuity shall be retroactive from the date the disability was determined by the Administrator, up to a maximum of one (1) year.
The Administrator shall require each retiree who is receiving a disability annuity to undergo periodic examinations by one or more physicians appointed by the Administrator to determine the state of health of the retiree and the extent of his/her disability. If it is determined as a result of this examination that the retiree has recovered from his/her disability sufficiently to work at any compensated employment, he/she shall have the right to be reinstated in any position in the agency from which he/she was separated due to the disability, in which he/she would receive compensation equal to that of the position from which he/she was separated due to disability. If the retiree should hold a position with compensation less [than] the compensation he/she received at the time of retirement, he/she shall have the right to receive, for one (1) year from the date of reinstatement, compensation equal to the difference between the salary he/she was receiving at retirement and the compensation he/she is receiving in the new position, as long as the difference does not exceed the amount of the disability annuity.
When the Administrator decides that the disability of a participant has ceased, he/she shall advise said participant of his/her right to require the nominating authority of the agency where the participant rendered services at the moment he/she started to receive the disability annuity to proceed to reinstate him/her pursuant to the provisions of the preceding paragraph. Said nominating authority shall be obliged to proceed with the reinstatement within a term of not more than ninety (90) days following the Administrator’s notice. If there is no vacant position in which to place the participant once he/she recovers from his/her disability, the nominating authority must seek the creation of a regular position. The Administrator shall adequately advise participants that recover [from] their disability of the right they have to exercise said right.
The provisions as to reinstatement shall not be applicable to participants who held a confidential position on the date of their retirement, unless they were entitled to reinstatement to a position [in] the career service by virtue of the provisions of former §§ 1301 et seq. of this title, in which case the reinstatement shall be to a position equal or similar in remuneration to the career position they occupied immediately before entering the confidential service.
The suspension of the annuity shall occur after it is determined that the disability has ceased and that ninety (90) days have passed since notification to the nominating authority to proceed with the reinstatement of the participant in accordance with this section. In addition, the Administrator shall suspend annuity payments if the participant refuses to submit to a medical examination.
Moreover, the annuity payments shall be suspended when the pensioner starts to earn any remuneration from the Government of Puerto Rico for services rendered, or when he engages in non-governmental occupations or in self-employment.
History —May 15, 1951, No. 447, p. 1298, § 11; June 19, 1954, No. 73, p. 374, § 4; July 1, 1986, No. 61, p. 211; May 31, 1988, No. 38; Feb. 16, 1990, No. 1, § 7; renumbered as § 2-111 on Sept. 24, 1999, No. 305, § 20; Sept. 2, 2000, No. 302, § 7.