2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THREE - Executive (§§ 1 — 9311) › Chapter 119 - Voluntary Pre-Retirement Program Act (§§ 9261 — 9271) › § 9261 - Definitions

(a) Agency.— Shall include every agency, department, office, commission, board, administration, bodies, and other government entities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, whose budget is defrayed, in whole or in part, from the General Fund. Municipalities, agencies with special Commonwealth funds, public or public private corporations or instrumentalities that operate as a private venture or business with their own funds (except for those that have their own retirement system), the Office of the Comptroller, the Judicial Branch (except for judges, who have their own retirement system) and the Puerto Rico Commonwealth Employees Association (AEELA, Spanish acronym) shall also be included in this definition and the application of this chapter.
(b) Appointing authority.— Shall mean any head of agency with legal authority to make appointments for positions within the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(c) Contribute.— For purposes of this chapter, the term “contribute” means having made or continue making contributions to the retirement systems, regardless of the type of account to which contributions are or have been made.
(d) Commonwealth.— Shall mean the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, including its three branches: the Executive Branch, the Judicial Branch, and the Legislative Branch.
(e) Enrollment date.— Shall mean the work day following the date on which the participant shall cease to hold office in an agency or municipality of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and enrolls in the Voluntary Pre-Retirement Program.
(f) Municipality.— Shall mean a geographic demarcation including all of its wards, which has a specific name and is governed by a local government composed of a Legislative and an Executive Power.
(g) OMB.— Shall mean the Office of Management and Budget attached to the Office of the Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
(h) Election period.— Shall mean a term of thirty (30) calendar days from the time the employee is notified of his/her eligibility to participate in the Program, during which the employee may irrevocably enroll in the Program.
(i) Pre-retiree.— Shall mean any person enrolled in the Voluntary Pre-Retirement Program, as established in this chapter.
(j) Program.— Shall mean the Voluntary Pre-Retirement Program created in this chapter.
(k) System.— Shall mean the Retirement System for Employees of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
(l) Implementation assessment.— Shall mean the mandatory evaluation that every agency or municipality shall conduct and submit to the OMB, within a term that shall not exceed sixty (60) days after the approval of this act, to analyze the fiscal impact the adoption of the Voluntary Pre-Retirement Program would have on such agency or municipality, taking into account, among other factors, the number of eligible employees according to the Program’s criteria; the average compensation that would be applied to the compensation of the Program participants; the duties carried out by the employees who meet the eligibility criteria and which of those duties are critical; the manner in which employees who carried out critical duties and apply for enrollment in the Program may be substituted internally whether through transfer, internal hiring of career employees of the agency or municipality, or job openings for career public employees or the general public; which positions may be eliminated; whether the entity has the financial capacity to participate in the Program; and to estimate the estimated total savings or expenditures if it chooses to avail itself of the Program.
(m) Pre-Retirement Employer Plan.— Shall mean the plan that must be designed by the employer to implement the Voluntary Pre-Retirement Program in his/her agency or municipality when the implementation assessment suggests that participation in the Program would result in savings in the average payroll and fringe benefit expenses defrayed by such agency or municipality.
(n) Average compensation.— Shall mean the highest average annual salary earned by a participant during any three (3) creditable service years.
History —Dec. 8, 2015, No. 211, § 2; Aug. 9, 2016, No. 170, § 1.