PAYROLL CARDS - Act # 212- 12/26/2007, now allows businesses to pay salary by electronic transfer of funds to third party accounts ('payroll cards').

WORKERS COMPENSATION # 284 12/22/2006: Amends Puerto Rico's Workers Compensation Law, No. 45 of April 18, 1935, to include under the definition of employee those that work for their employers from their homes.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT # 252 11/30/2006: Amended the Island's sexual harassment statute. It broadened the definition of sexual harassment to include acts committed via Internet and all electronic means including email. See my 12/23/06 entry.

BREASTFEEDING # 239 11/06/2006: Amends Act 427 that regulates the period to breastfeed or to express breast milk to increase the period to one hour (which can be further subdivided in two 30- minute or three 20- minute periods). Private employers that fall under the definition of Small Business, as defined by the Small Business Administration (SBA), need only provide half an hour per shift. The definition of what constitutes a small business, varies from industry to industry (generally based on number of employees or average annual receipts ) so, employers need to do some homework with the SBA or consult their attorney. I do not understand why did the legislature chose such a needlessly complicated definition as opposed to providing a cut-off number based on payroll, for example. Regardless, I suspect the majority of private employers in Puerto Rico will fall under the SBA exemption.

PRIVACY # 207 09/27/2006: To restrict private employers from using the Social Security number as a means of identifying employees.

WORKPLACE VIOLENCE # 217 09/29/2006: Requires all employers in Puerto Rico to adopt an internal process ("Protocol") to deal with domestic violence in the workplace. See my 12/05/06 entry.

WAGE & HOUR -  Regulation 13- 2/17/2006, was amended in 2005 but its changes became effective on February 17, 2006. This Fifth revision basically increases to $455.00 the minimum salary for an employee to be considered exempt under the categories of Administrator, Executive and Professional. It also modifies the language of the regulation, making it similar to its federal counterpart.

CLOSING LAW - Act # 24 – 1/23/2006, favorably amends PR’s closing law to increase from seven (7) to fifteen (15) the number of employees a retailer may have in its weekly payroll to remain exempt from the opening and closing provisions of said law. Puerto Rico’s ‘Closing law’ requires a retail operation to remain closed during certain days including Sundays -except between the hours of 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. There are exceptions depending on the type of store involved, the nature of the goods sold and the number of employees.