A public corporation of the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is hereby created and designated as the “Right to Employment Administration”. Said government entity is hereby transferred and attached to the Department of Labor and Human Resources as an operating component thereof, under the general direction, supervision, coordination and evaluation of the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources. Likewise, all powers and faculties of the Administration conferred by law to be exercised by the Governor of Puerto Rico, are hereby transferred to the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources. The executive functions of the Administration shall be discharged by an Administrator, who shall be appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a term of four (4) years and until his/her successor is appointed and takes office. The compensation or salary of the Administrator shall be assigned by the Governor and shall be consigned annually in the general operating expenses budget of the Government of Puerto Rico. The salary of the Administrator shall be sixty thousand dollars ($60,000) per year. The Administrator shall answer directly to the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources regarding all matters involving the Administration and shall be subject to the established policy and the directives and standards promulgated by the Secretary. The Secretary shall approve the internal organization of the Administration, shall determine the programmatic priorities and establish the liaison and coordination mechanisms that must exist between the Administration and all the other components of the Department. The Right to Employment Administration shall continue to be an operating arm for the development of training and employment strategies in Puerto Rico.
There shall be an Advisory Board, which shall advise the Administrator in the implementation of the provisions of this chapter. Said Board shall be composed of the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources, who shall be its Chairman, the Secretary of Agriculture, who shall be its Vice-Chairman, the Secretary of Transportation and Public Works, the Secretary of Education and five (5) additional members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. The latter shall be selected as follows: one from the working force, one from the farmers, another from among the mayors, another from among the industrialists and another from the community in general. One of said members shall be a person over eighteen (18) and under twenty-five (25) years of age. The initial appointments of these five (5) members shall be made as follows: two for a term of four (4) years, two for a term of three (3) years and one for a term of two (2) years. Subsequent appointments shall all be made for a term of four (4) years. These members shall fulfill their duties until their successors are appointed and qualify. The members of the Advisory Board shall not receive compensation for their services as such.
The Administration shall organize special committees, of a regional character, composed of representatives of the workers, the employers and the community in general, for the purpose of receiving advice in relation to the fulfillment of the functions assigned to them hereunder.
History —June 21, 1968, No. 115, p. 253, title I, § 2; Apr. 24, 1972, No. 17, p. 31, § 1; July 19, 1998, No. 153, § 1.