2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE SEVEN - Banking (§§ 1 — 3116) › PART III - Other Financial Institutions (§§ 551 — 1390) › Chapter 80B - Puerto Rico Commerce and Exportation Company Early Retirement Program (§§ 1231 — 1236) › § 1232 - Early Retirement Program

An Early Retirement Program is hereby established, which is open for the participation of those who were employees of the Commercial Development Administration and the Puerto Rico Export Development Corporation and who continue to be employees at the time of approval of the Puerto Rico Commerce and Exportation Company Act.
(a) Any employee of the Puerto Rico Export Development Corporation, the Commercial Development Administration and the Commerce and Exportation Company who meets the requirements listed in subsection (b) of this section shall be entitled to receive, pursuant to the provisions of the Employee Retirement System of the Government of Puerto Rico and Its Instrumentalities Act, §§ 761 et seq. of Title 3, at least, a pension as provided in subsection (c) of this section.
(b) Eligibility requirements. — Any employee of the Puerto Rico Export Development Corporation, the Commercial Development Administration or the Commerce and Exportation Company who wishes to avail him/herself of the early retirement benefits provided in this section (the “Program”), must meet the following requirements:
(1) Participate in the Employee Retirement System of the Government of Puerto Rico and its Instrumentalities (the “Retirement System”);
(2) having [sic] been an employee of any of these public entities as of June 1, 2002, and having continued to be an employee as of June 30, 2004, and
(3) have [sic] the age and the number of creditable service years, as provided in subsection (c) of this section as of June 30, 2004.
(c) Choice period. — The employee shall decide whether to avail him/herself of the Early Retirement Program within the term of ninety (90) calendar days, which term’s effectiveness begins as of the date on which the Commerce and Exportation Company announces formally and in writing to all eligible employees that the Program shall take effect, after certification of the Commerce and Export Company that the position he/she holds is not necessary.
(d) Early retirement benefits. — Any employee of the Puerto Rico Export Development Corporation, the Commercial Development Administration or the Commerce and Exportation Company who meets the eligibility requirements of subsection (b) of this section may voluntarily avail him/herself of the early retirement benefits provided in this subsection according to his/her age and creditable service years:
(1) Any participant who has twenty-five (25) years of service as of June 30, 2004, and has reached the age of fifty-five (55) shall receive a retirement annuity equal to seventy-five percent (75%) of his/her average compensation.
(2) Any participant who as of June 30, 2004, has thirty (30) years or more of creditable service and has reached the age of fifty (50) shall receive a retirement annuity equal to seventy-five percent (75%) of his/her average compensation.
(3) Any participant who as of June 30, 2004, has twenty-five (25) years or more, but less than thirty (30) years of creditable service and has not yet reached the age of fifty-five (55) shall receive a retirement annuity equal to sixty-five percent (65%) of his/her average compensation.
Upon choosing to avail him/herself of the retirement program, each participant who has not received a refund for his/her accrued contributions shall be entitled to earn the retirement annuity referred to in this section. Said retirement annuity shall begin to be earned on the day after the date on which the participant is to cease in his/her employment functions with the Commercial Development Administration, the Puerto Rico Export Development Corporation or the Commerce and Exportation Company.
Provided, That what is established in this section does not impair the power and authority of the Board of Directors of the Export Development Corporation, the Commerce and Exportation Company, or the Commercial Development Administration to establish special parameters and criteria for granting any additional benefit it determines to grant as part of the advance retirement plan.
(e) Financial contribution to the Retirement System. —
(1) The Commerce and Exportation Company shall contribute to the Retirement System, an amount of money in cash equal to the annuity that each participant shall receive on account of retirement, for a maximum term of five (5) years as of the date of effectiveness.
(2) The Commerce and Exportation Company shall also contribute to the program the following amounts for the duration of the term remaining for the employee to meet the Retirement System’s conditions to avail him/herself of his/her retirement:
(A) The employer and employee contributions of each participant covered under the program based on the salary he/she earns at the time of separation from the service.
(B) The contribution to the health plan in effect for pensioners under the Retirement System.
(C) The Christmas bonus to which pensioners are entitled under the Retirement System.
(D) The summer bonus and the medications bonus.
(E) Any new benefit that has been granted or is granted by law to pensioners, and which have not been mentioned in the above subsections; Provided, That within these benefits, the three percent (3%) raise in pension granted every three (3) years to pensioners under §§ 761—788 of Title 3, is hereby expressly excluded.
(3) The total amount of financial contributions by the participating employer shall be remitted to the Retirement System forty (40) days after the signing of the General Budget Joint Resolution for each economic year, as per the funds appropriated by the Office of Management and Budget to cover such costs.
(4) If the employer were to cease in its operations, the financial contribution shall be defrayed by the advance of funds from the General Fund, to be disbursed by the Secretary of the Department of the Treasury. These advances shall be repaid by budget appropriations recommended by the Office of Management and Budget.
(5) When a participant dies within the five (5) -year term of the Program, there shall be continuity in the payment of the financial contribution to the System by the Commerce and Export Company.
(6) When a participant dies while receiving a retirement annuity from the Program, the surviving spouse or the underage or physically or mentally disabled children shall be entitled to a pension, to be determined pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
(A) If the participant was not covered under Title II of the Federal Social Security Act at the time of his/her death, the persons mentioned in in paragraph (D) of this clause shall receive, in equal shares, sixty percent (60%) of the annuity received by the participant at the time of his/her death.
(B) If the participant was covered under Title II of the Federal Social Security Act at the time of his/her death, the persons mentioned in this clause shall receive, in lieu of what is provided in paragraph (A) of this clause, thirty percent (30%) in equal shares of the annuity received by the participant at the time of his/her death. The surviving spouse of the participant shall receive the pension provided for in this subsection upon reaching the age of sixty (60). Provided, further, That the surviving spouse must have been married with the deceased participant for at least ten (10) years.
(C) In the event there are underage or mentally disabled children, the pension to which they are entitled may be given to their father or mother, as the case may be, or to any other person appointed by the Court of First Instance, always seeking the well-being of said underage or mentally disabled children.
(D) In the case of underage children, the payments shall be made until they reach the age of eighteen (18), except when they are permanently disabled to work on account of their mental condition or physical disability, or until they reach the age of twenty-five (25) if pursuing studies. Said studies shall be pursued at an Institution recognized by the Higher Education Council of Puerto Rico or by the Department of Education, as the case may be. The Board may designate a learning institution located outside of Puerto Rico which is recognized by an entity similar to the Higher Education Council of Puerto Rico or the Department of Education, as an institution in which the children of deceased participants may pursue studies and qualify to receive benefits under this section.
(E) Any of the persons mentioned in this section who is not satisfied with the determination made by the Administrator of the Retirement System in connection with his/her application for the payment of benefits, may request a reconsideration within the term of thirty (30) days from the date of notice of such determination.
(F) In the event that one of the persons mentioned in this section were entitled under any of the laws of Puerto Rico to another pension on account of the cause of death of a participant, the larger pension shall be paid.
Any person entitled to receive or receiving in his/her own right a pension from any retirement system under the laws of Puerto Rico, shall continue to receive the same, in addition to the pension provided herein for the death of a participant. The right to this pension for death shall be retroactive to the date of death of the participant; and the payment thereof, in what concerns the surviving spouse, shall begin as of the date the latter meets the eligibility requirements established in this section.
(G) Except when otherwise provided in this chapter, the pensions granted under this section are exempted from garnishment or attachment.
(f) Coordination with Social Security. — As soon as participants have reached the age of sixty-five (65) or more and are eligible to receive benefits under Title II of the Federal Social Security Act, their pension shall be computed and the amount of the retirement annuity shall be one point five percent (1.5%) of the average compensation, up to the amount of six thousand, six hundred dollars ($6,600), multiplied by thirty (30) creditable service years, plus the corresponding percentage, pursuant to the provisions of this section, of the average compensation in excess of six thousand, six hundred dollars ($6,600) a year. Provided, however, That the retirement annuity of those participants who before the date of effectiveness of this act have availed themselves to the complete supplementation plan of the Retirement System and who have made all the required contributions, shall not be computed upon reaching the age of sixty-five (65).
(g) Effect of the retirement choice. — All retirement choices shall be final and irrevocable.
History —Sept. 16, 2004, No. 360, § 3.