P.R. Laws tit. 21, § 4569a
One or more municipal officials or employees may transfer, as an exception, to another municipal official or employee who works in the same municipality, their accrued vacation leave when:
(a) The transferee official or employee has continuously worked at the municipality for a minimum of one year.
(b) The transferee official or employee has not incurred a pattern of unjustified absences violating the municipal personnel regulations.
(c) Due to an emergency, the transferee official or employee has totally consumed the total number of leave hours to which he/she is entitled.
(d) The transferee official or employee or his/her representative provides attesting evidence of the emergency and of the need to remain absent for a number of days in excess of the days of leave to be transferred.
(e) The transferor official or employee has accrued a minimum of fifteen (15) days of vacation leave in excess of the days of leave to be transferred.
(f) The transferor official or employee has submitted a written authorization agreeing to the transfer and specifying the name of the transferee, to the personnel office of the municipality in which he/she works. And,
(g) The transferee official or employee or his/her representative accepts in writing the proposed transfer.
The personnel office of the corresponding municipality shall proceed to subtract the leave days of the transferor official or employee and apply the leave days transferred to the transferee official or employee once the correctness of this transaction has been verified, pursuant to the provisions of this section and according to the applicable personnel regulations. Transferred vacation leave shall be credited according to the salary of the transferee official or employee.
No official or employee may transfer to one or more officials or employees more that five (5) days of accrued vacation leave in one month and the number of days to be cumulatively transferred may not be greater than fifteen (15) days per year.
The transferor official or employee shall not be entitled to payment for transferred vacation leave. However, he/she shall be entitled to payment for or enjoyment of the accrued balance of said leave in excess of the leave transferred.
When the special motive for which the transferee official or employee has had to be absent no longer exists, said official or employee shall return to work without the benefit of the remaining balance transferred, and said balance shall revert to the transferor official or employee to be credited to the his/her according to his/her salary at the time in which the transfer took place.
The transferee official or employee may not enjoy the benefits granted in this section for a period of over one year, including the time consumed on account of the leave and benefits enjoyed on his/her own right. The municipality shall not save the employment position of the absent transferee official or employee for a term greater than the term herein established.
The transfer of accrued vacation leave shall be conducted for free. Any person who directly or through an intermediary gives another or accepts from another any money or other benefit in exchange for the transfer of leave authorized in this section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and if convicted, punished with a fine not greater than five hundred dollars ($500) or with a term of imprisonment not to exceed six (6) months or both penalties at the discretion of the court.
For the purposes of this section the following terms shall have the meaning expressed below:
(a) Municipal official or employee.— Shall mean any official, employee and member of the personnel who works for any municipality of Puerto Rico.
(b) Transferee official or employee.— Shall mean a municipal official or employee to whom vacation leave is transferred due to a personal emergency.
(c) Transferor official or employee.— Shall mean a municipal official or employee who transfers a number of his/her vacation leave days to a transferee official or employee.
(d) Emergency.— Shall mean a serious or terminal illness or an accident or medical condition involving prolonged hospitalization or requiring continuous treatment under the supervision of a health professional, suffered by a municipal official or employee or a member of his/her immediate family, making it practically impossible for said officials or employees to fulfill their duties in the municipality, or substantially affecting their performance, for a considerable period of time.
(e) Municipality.— Shall have the same meaning given to this term in § 4001 of this title.
History —Aug. 30, 1991, No. 81, added as § 12.020 on Jan. 10, 1999, No. 42, § 1; renumbered as § 11.020 on Dec. 21, 1999, No. 349, § 1.