P.R. Laws tit. 25, § 3117
(a) Members of the Police shall be entitled to annual vacation leave at a rate of two and a half (2 1 / 2 ) days for each month of service and to sick leave at the rate of one and a half (1 1 / 2 ) days for each month of service excluding, in both cases, Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. Vacation leave shall be granted for a consecutive period of not less than fifteen (15) days per year. Vacation leave may be accrued up to a maximum of sixty (60) working days at the end of any calendar year. Sick leave may be accrued up to a maximum of ninety (90) working days.
Members of the Police shall also be entitled to enjoy the nineteen (19) legal holidays there are each year.
(b) The time during which a member of the Police must remain hospitalized or confined under medical treatment as a result of a work-related accident or injuries sustained while in the performance of his/her duties shall not be deducted from the vacation or sick leave authorized under subsection (a) of this section. He/she shall continue to receive his/her monthly salary and any other vested right. During that time he/she shall accrue vacation and sick leave but shall not receive supplementary payments.
Nothing provided herein shall prevent the members of the police who are under treatment as a result of work-related accidents from being:
(1) Retired from the service with a pension, pursuant to the existing legislation on the matter, if the Medical Evaluation Board, created under § 3118 of this title, determines that they are physically or mentally disabled for service after making the corresponding medical evaluations.
In this case, the member of the Force in question, if separated, shall continue to receive medical treatment and shall be entitled to receive the per diems assigned to him/her for that reason by the State Insurance Fund. Should the physical or mental disability disappear, said member of the Force may be reinstated to service upon certification of the Medical Evaluation Board.
No later than thirty (30) days after the case has been referred, the Police Force and the State Insurance Fund physicians must certify if the member of the Police Force suffers from a serious or slight injury, and whether it is temporary or permanent, and if it disables the member of the Police Force. Both shall certify whether the employee suffers from a permanent serious or slight injury, for a prolonged period, in order to avail him/herself the rights granted by this chapter.
(A) In the case of temporary slight or serious injuries, both physicians must also include the period of convalescence recommended when issuing the certificate. If at the conclusion of said period the patient insists that the physical or mental injury still persists, both physicians must issue a new certificate verifying the truth of the allegations made by the patient not later than ten (10) days after the period originally authorized for convalescing has concluded. It is required that the recommendations of both physicians on the certificates coincide when the patient’s return to the service is ordered. Likewise, when the periodic evaluations of the patient reveal that the patient can be returned to the service before the period of convalescence originally authorized has ended, it is also required that the recommendations of both physicians coincide.
When the determinations of both physicians fail to coincide, the determination of the Police Medical Evaluation Board shall prevail.
(B) In the event that the injury is certified by the Police physician and the State Insurance Fund physician as serious or slight, permanent or for a prolonged period, according to the definition of said terms stated in this chapter, but does not disable the member of the Force, the Police of Puerto Rico shall, in the first place, provide reasonable employment with recognition of his/her rights, pursuant to Public Law 101-336 of July 26, 1990, known as the “Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990”, as amended. In the event that the person concerned does not qualify for reasonable employment in the Police of Puerto Rico, he/she shall have the right, according to his/her capacity, to be relocated in any other position in the public service for which he/she meets the established minimum requirements. Regarding the recruitment and selection procedures, the provisions on personnel of Act No. 5 of October 14, 1975, the “Public Service Personnel Act”, that apply to each specific agency or individual administrator, shall be observed.
(C) In the case [of] serious and permanent physical or mental injuries that prevent the patient from fully performing his/her duties as a member of the Police Force, said determination shall be made by the Police, the State Insurance Fund and the Retirement System physicians. Should there be differing opinions, the determination of the Medical Evaluation Board shall prevail. Should said Board determine that the employee is unable to perform the duties inherent to his/her position, he/she shall be separated from the service. Said determination shall be made through a certificate issued not later than sixty (60) days after the patient has transacted his/her petition as a result of the ailments caused by the injuries sustained.
These three agencies shall execute the procedures and agreements needed to implement these provisions.
(2) Punished administratively for faults committed.— Even those who are suspended from employment and salary shall continue to receive medical treatment and the corresponding per diems assigned to them by the State Insurance Fund. The members of the police under treatment by the State Insurance Fund shall not perform any work whatsoever with pay. They may only perform such tasks authorized by the State Insurance Fund as part of their therapy and/or treatment. Any member of the Force who violates this provision, besides being subject to administrative sanction for a serious offense, shall be bound to refund to the Puerto Rico Police and to the State Insurance Fund Corporation those salaries and benefits he/she may have received while on said leave.
(3) Provided, That in those cases unrelated to the job such as domestic violence and suicide attempts, the Psychiatrist as well as the Psychologists of the Medical Treatment and Evaluation Unit, shall determine, following the proper administrative procedure, whether the mental condition of the patient is of a chronic nature or difficult to overcome, and thus puts [at] risk the safety of the citizens, their colleagues, their families or themselves, and if that should be the case, the Superintendent shall proceed to decree the discharge of the police officer from the Police Force. The police officer shall be entitled to appeal said judgment. Once it is determined during the process of appeal that that the mental condition of the police officer is not expected to improve, the Superintendent may not under any circumstances, permit the reinstatement of the former police officer into the Police Force. It is also provided as a safety and precautionary measure that in those cases [in which] a police officer has been diagnosed as having problems involving violent behavior but has not been removed from the Force after it has been confirmed by the Psychiatrist of the Psycho-Social Unit as well as by the Medical Evaluation Board, that his or her emotional condition can be expected to improve, said officer shall not be authorized to carry his or her firearm until his or her condition has been diagnosed as being stable by the Mental Health Professionals indicated in the provisions of this chapter.
(c) Military leave shall be granted to the members of the Force who belong to the National Guard or to the Armed Forces Reserve Corps for the period during which they are rendering temporary service ordered or authorized by virtue of the provisions of the laws of the United States of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This leave shall not be deducted from the regular leave authorized in subsection (a) of this section. Any period of time during which a member of the Force attends academic courses sponsored by the United States Armed Forces or the Puerto Rico National Guard is excluded from this provision.
(d) Subject to the provisions established below, the Superintendent may grant leave without pay to the members of the Police. The leave authorized herein shall be granted to enable the members of the police to pursue further studies and acquire useful experience. In this case, said leave shall not extend for more than two (2) years. The Superintendent shall verify periodically whether the members of the Force on educational leave are doing so. Furthermore, the Superintendent shall require the institution where the member of the police is pursuing studies, to issue a periodic report as to his/her academic progress. Should it be determined that the member of the Force has abandoned his/her studies or that the extension of the leave is not justified, the Superintendent may order the cancellation thereof and the return of the member of the Force concerned to active service. In granting leave without pay, the Superintendent shall establish, through regulations, the provisions pertaining to the granting of leave without pay. To such ends, he/she shall be guided by the needs of the service, by the justification and merits of the member applying for such leave, and in no case shall leave without pay be granted to venture into working in another office or position. The Superintendent is authorized to extend provisional appointments to members of the Force to replace those to whom leave is granted for a period of more than ninety (90) days. These temporary appointments shall be extended only for the term of the leave authorized for the incumbent unless it is concluded before receiving a permanent substitute appointment if a vacancy occurs.
(e) When an officer holding a rank between that of Inspector and Colonel exhausts any type of leave in order to retire, the Superintendent may appoint a substitute who shall perform his/her duties and hold his/her rank temporarily. If the Superintendent believes that the candidate performed his/her duties satisfactorily, at the time the vacancy was created by the retirement he/she may recommend a promotion of a permanent nature to that rank to the Governor, provided said candidate meets all other requirements for that rank.
(f) The Superintendent may also grant a one-year educational leave with pay, provided the studies to be pursued fall within the area of police, legal, administrative or executive knowledge required of members of the police. In justified cases the term of the leave may be extended for an additional year.
The Superintendent may provide substitutes for the positions of those members of the Force to whom he/she grants educational leave temporarily in the same manner as provided for in this section granting leave without pay.
(g) Members of the Force who are on leave with or without pay for educational purposes shall not be entitled to accrue vacation or sick leave or compensatory time for the duration of said leave.
(h) Members of the Force who are on educational leave shall, upon its conclusion, serve the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for a period equal to the term of the leave if they did not receive pay during such a time. In the case of those who received pay, they must serve for a period equal to twice the term of the leave. They may be exempted from this obligation if they reimburse the sum of money to be determined by the Office of Management and Budget to the Secretary of the Treasury. In both cases they shall receive the compensation corresponding to their position.
(i) Those members of the police who are elected as president, and up to a maximum vicepresidency, of a bona fide organization, thus authorized by the Department of Labor, who represent police officers and civil employees of the Puerto Rico Police, may request leave without pay from the Superintendent for the term during which said member of the police is elected or reelected to the presidency or vicepresidency of said organization.
History —June 10, 1996, No. 53, § 18; June 18, 1999, No. 134, § 1; Aug. 24, 2000, No. 186, § 1.