P.R. Laws tit. 11, § 7
In the cases of working disability according to the provisions of this chapter, the employer shall be under the obligation to reserve the job filled by the laborer or employee at the time the accident occurred, and to reinstate him/her therein, subject to the following conditions:
(1) That the laborer or employee demand reinstatement from his/her employer in his/her job within the period of fifteen (15) days counted from the date the laborer or employee is discharged from treatment or authorized to work with the right to receive treatment, and provided such demand is not made after the lapse of twelve (12) months from the date of the accident;
(2) that the laborer or employee be mentally and physically fit to fill said job at the time he/she demands reinstatement from his/her employer, and
(3) that said job still exists at the time the laborer or employee demands reinstatement. (The job shall be understood to exist when the same is vacant or is being filled by another laborer or employee. The job shall be presumed to be vacant when the same was filled by another laborer or employee within thirty (30) days following the date in which the demand for reinstatement was made.)
If the employer does not comply with the provisions of this section, he/she shall be under the obligation to pay the laborer or employee or his/her beneficiaries the wages said laborer or employee would have received if reinstated; also, the employer shall be responsible for all damages he/she has caused him/her. The laborer or employee or his/her beneficiaries may prosecute and file the corresponding claim for reinstatement and/or damages in court through ordinary proceedings or through the procedure for claiming wages set up by §§ 3118—3132 of Title 32.
History —Apr. 18, 1935, No. 45, p. 250, added as § 5-A on Apr. 18, 1950, No. 48, p. 126, § 1; June 5, 1973, No. 101, p. 435, § 1; June 24, 2004, No. 162, § 1.