P.R. Laws tit. 11, § 26
Under no circumstances shall a policy be issued to cover only a part of the operations of an employer and leaving other activities uninsured. All of the operations of the employer shall be covered by one single policy; Provided, That in case the employer, at the time of executing the policy, or of extending it, or of rendering its report on the wages paid, or of submitting its payroll return, fails to include part of its operations, thus preventing proper assessment for insurance purposes, the Manager, however, may at any time assess and levy, and collect from such employer, additional premiums for those operations which it has failed to include, in the same manner as if they had been insured. Policies shall be issued on the basis of the total payroll of the activities of the employer, as shown from its accounting books, payrolls, registers or other trustworthy documents. In case the employer is unable to produce accounting books, payrolls, registers, or other trustworthy documents, the total payroll shall, after the issuance of the policy or after the investigation of the employer, be computed on the basis of a reasonable estimate, according to the importance, nature, and volume of business of the employer. New operations not covered by the original policy shall be covered by notices subject to the approval of the manager, or by extensions of policies.
The manager of the State Insurance Fund is hereby authorized and empowered to assess and levy on every regular or permanent employer of workmen and employees affected by this chapter, and ordered to assess and levy, annual premiums determined in accordance with § 25 of this title, on the total amount of wages paid by said employer to workmen and employees who were or would have been entitled to the benefits of this chapter during the year prior to the levying of the premiums; Provided, That said premiums shall be collected semi-annually in advance by the Manager of the State Insurance Fund; the manager shall accept partial or monthly payments for the insurance premiums, provided that on the date previously fixed by the manager, the employer has satisfied the total payments of the semiannual premiums in advance. Provided, further, That the manager shall proceed to collect by constraint proceeding as established in the Administrative Political Code of Puerto Rico the unpaid premiums within the term legally fixed by the manager or any extension thereof. The manager is likewise authorized and empowered to assess and levy on every eventual or temporary employer premiums for such time as its operations may last, which premiums shall be paid upon executing the proper policies and shall be divided into fiscal-year semesters, according to the estimated period during which the wages and salaries are to be paid; Provided, That the manager may, at his/her discretion, divide the payment into semesters in advance. In the case of departments, boards, agencies, bureaus, commissions, and instrumentalities of the Commonwealth Government, the manager, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, may divide the payment on the basis of premiums due at the end of each month, which shall be paid with the salary payroll of said government body, without affecting their status as insured. The Secretary of the Treasury shall indicate the date and manner said payments shall begin to be made.
In case any employer covered by this chapter fails to insure properly, the manager may assess and levy on, and collect from such employer premiums for all such time as said employer may have remained uninsured, in the same manner as if it were insured.
After said premiums have been collected, they shall be covered into the Treasury of Puerto Rico, in the State Insurance Fund established in this chapter.
The premiums for regular or permanent employers shall be levied as soon as the payroll return hereinafter referred to is received in the office of the manager, the basis therefor, subject to investigation and revision by the manager, to be the total amount paid by the employer for wages, salaries, and other compensation paid to the laborers employed by it during the previous year and who were or would have been entitled to the benefits of this chapter.
If any employer fails to make and submit the payroll return on the date fixed by law, or in accordance therewith, or if willfully or otherwise makes a false or fraudulent return which, according to the experience obtained in connection with similar operations, is evidently inadequate, the Manager, through his/her duly authorized agents, shall make the return from his/her own knowledge and in accordance with the information and data he/she may have obtained. Any return submitted in this manner and underwritten by the Manager or any of his/her duly authorized agents, shall be prima facie valid and sufficient for all legal purposes.
Should a regular, eventual, or temporary employer fail to pay the total amount of the preliminary or additional premiums legally levied on it within the time fixed by the Manager, the latter may grant an extension of thirty (30) days so that the employer may make the payment in full, which full payment shall be an essential requirement for the Manager to render effective any insurance policy.
Any employer who, prior to July 1 or January 1 of any year, ceases to be subject to the provisions of this chapter, may be excused from the payment of premiums for the following semester or semesters by filing the notice and proof required by the Manager of the State Insurance Fund that it will not be subject to the provisions hereof.
Any employer subject to the provisions of this chapter during any part of a semester shall pay the premiums for the whole of said semester, but it shall be entitled to such reimbursements, if any, as a provided in § 27 of this title; Provided, That in such cases reimbursements may be made at the expiration of the semester for which said premiums were paid.
No employer shall be entitled to rebate upon the payment of its annual premiums, or to reimbursement, for any period of time for which, due to its failure to pay the full amount of the premiums within the term fixed, or for any other cause provided for in this chapter or in the regulations lawfully promulgated hereunder, it was deprived of the immunities that this chapter provides as to injuries, diseases or deaths suffered by the workmen or employees of such employer during the period covered by the payment of such premiums; Provided, That no coverage may be allowed to any employer for the second semester of a policy year if it has not previously paid the total premium corresponding to the first semester.
In the event that any employer remits the payroll return and/or the payment of the premiums assessed to the administrator by certified mail, it shall be construed for all legal purposes that said payroll return and/or payment of the assessed premiums has been presented or received at the Office of the administrator on the date postmarked by the United States Postal Service on the envelope sent by certified mail by the employer in which said payroll return and/or payment of the premiums assessed has been sent. Should the date postmarked by the Postal Service not be legible, then the date shall be that on which the payroll and/or payment is received at the offices of the State Insurance Fund Corporation.
History —Apr. 18, 1935, No. 45, p. 250, § 25; May 9, 1942, No. 160, p. 856, § 1; May 14, 1943, No. 162, p. 524, § 1; June 26, 1959, No. 88, p. 246, § 1; June 24, 1960, No. 96, p. 261, § 1; June 17, 1966, No. 63, p. 204, § 1; renumbered as § 23 on July 1, 1996, No. 63, § 3; Aug. 6, 1999, No. 214, § 1; Dec. 29, 2009, No. 212, § 1.