2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THREE - Executive (§§ 1 — 9311) › Chapter 15 - Department of Labor and Human Resources (§§ 301 — 328) › § 306 - Secretary to administer Department, promote welfare of laborer, and maintain industrial peace

(a) Secretary of Labor and Human Resources shall be in charge of the general direction, administration and supervision of his/her Department and shall be the head thereof; through the agencies, services and bureaus created by law, he/she shall promote and stimulate the best relations between workers and employers by mediating and conciliating in industrial conflicts with noble spirit leading to the preservation of industrial peace and the general development and progress, in industrial disputes; he/she shall investigate and inquire into the reasons for unrest among the workers; he/she shall compile and publish statistics in regard to the condition of industries and enterprises, and shall determine their temporary or permanent nature; he/she shall conduct studies and investigations of the living and working conditions of industrial and agricultural workers, work systems, daily working hours, salary or wage rates, and hygiene and safety in the fields, factories and shops; he/she shall study the organization of the arts, trades or manual occupations, and cooperative and beneficent and pension systems, and shall compile and publish the data for the purpose of showing their development, progress or failure; he/she shall study and codify social and labor-protecting legislation in force; he/she shall compile and publish all rules and regulations prescribed in the labor legislation in force, for general information; he/she shall cooperate and establish connections with all institutions and associations of good repute that are organized to protect, advance and further labor interests, to improve the spirit of good will among workers and employers, and to promote industrial, agricultural and commercial activities.
The Secretary of Labor and Human Resources shall provide free of charge to public and private postsecondary education institutions those publications, reports and studies related to the present demands and needs of the employment market as well as any future projections available. He/she shall also provide orientations to said institutions on the possible future demands of the employment market so that they may be able to review their curricula in order to respond to the true needs of Puerto Rico.
(b) The Secretary of Labor and Human Resources may sell all the publications, reports and studies published by his Department for the purposes of recovering all, or part of the printing, reproduction and distribution expenses.
(c) Notwithstanding the above, the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources shall provide for the free distribution of all these publications, reports and studies to the government agencies and educational bodies that, in his judgment, should receive the information by this means, and shall also determine when a publication, report or study shall be distributed free of charge among the labor unions and employers’ associations, and private persons and entities, because the information contained therein is necessary or important to the community in general.
(d) The Secretary of Labor and Human Resources may, through an agreement to such effects, charge other government agencies or other educational, labor, or employers’ entities for the use of its personnel, as well as the resources of the Department of Labor and Human Resources, for any study requested, in order to recover part of the costs of such studies. Such agreements shall specify the services and facilities to be rendered, and which of them, if any, shall be free of charge.
(e) The funds obtained, either from the sale of the publications, reports or studies, or from the charges for carrying out any study for another government agency or entity, shall be covered into a special account on behalf of the Department of Labor and Human Resources. These funds shall serve to cover in whole or in part, the expenses incurred in the printing, reproduction and distribution of its publications and studies, thus maintaining the regularity of said publications, reports and studies.
(f) The Secretary of the Treasury shall put at the disposal of the Department of Labor and Human Resources the moneys deposited in said special account through warrants authorized or signed by the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources.
(g) The Secretary of Labor and Human Resources is empowered to promulgate those rules and regulations needed to put into effect the provisions of this section related to the sale of publications, reports and studies and to the charges for the use of the personnel and resources of his Department in carrying out or preparing studies for other agencies or entities. This regulating power shall be exercised in an independent manner and without being subject to the provisions of § 307 of this title.
(h) The Secretary of Labor and Human Resources shall have the following powers, duties and functions besides those conferred by other laws, without it constituting a limitation:
(1) Advise the Governor and the Legislature concerning all matters under the responsibility of the Department.
(2) Implement and execute the public policy of the Department and its operating components, as well as that of the programs relative to the work force employment formation and training in a well integrated and coordinated manner.
(3) Plan, in an integral manner, the programs and services of the Department and its component parts and define and implement policies, plans, strategies and priorities according to the needs of the sector.
(4) Direct, coordinate and supervise the administration of the programs and functions of the Department and its component part.
(5) Evaluate and audit the operations of the component parts of the department, render reports to the Governor and adopt the measures needed to ensure the efficiency of the body.
(6) Draft and present to the Governor annually a budget proposal for each of the component part of the Department.
(7) Propose to the Governor and the Legislature, for their consideration, changes in the organization of the Department which entail modifying, abolishing or transferring the functions of the various programs and agencies under its jurisdiction.
(8) Approve the regulations to be adopted by the various component parts of the Department, with the exception of the mandatory decrees approved by the Minimum Wage Board or any amendment thereto or repeal thereof. The directors of the component parts of the Department shall prepare and submit for the approval of the Secretary, the necessary regulations, including any amendment thereto or repeal thereof and develop and implement rules, norms and procedures of general application in the Department. The regulations in effect at the date of approval of this Plan shall remain in effect until the Secretary should amend or repeal the same.
(9) Foster, by means of the mechanisms deemed necessary, the participation of the citizens, as well as that of private and labor enterprises, in the activities under the jurisdiction of the Department.
(10) Delegate on Department officials or employees, including those entities which constitute administrative components of the latter, any powers, faculties, duties or functions conferred, except that the power to adopt or approve regulations is nontransferable, as well as any other power provided by law to be nontransferable.
(11) Create the advisory and consulting boards, commissions and committees needed to ensure the proper operation of the Department and its component parts, or those that are required by federal legislation.
History —Apr. 14, 1931, No. 15, p. 168, § 3; Feb. 26, 1988, No. 6, p. 45, § 1; Aug. 13, 1998, No. 237, § 3; Apr. 17, 2008, No. 43, § 1.