The Legal Division shall be in charge of the following functions:
(1) To render opinions in regard to labor legislation.
(2) To take steps towards the amicable settlement of the claims for wages and other compensation, rights, or benefits which belong to workmen or employees in accordance with the laws of Puerto Rico, including claims in connection with sharecropping contracts, and to take to court those claims that cannot be decided through conciliation.
(3) To advise workmen and employees in regard to the rights which laws, collective agreements, and individual labor contracts establish in their favor.
(4) To formulate charges and file complaints and suits to make effective the legislation protecting labor, and to appear before the courts of justice in proceedings to guarantee the right of laborers.
(5) To cooperate with, and to advise, labor organizations in the drafting of individual and collective labor agreements, statements of demands, briefs, and other documents and papers for claiming rights and assuring protection to workmen.
In every civil or criminal case where the attorneys of the Legal Division appear before the courts of justice in representation of the Secretary, of officials of the Department, or of workmen or employees, no fee shall be cancelled for such appearance, nor shall the forensic tax be paid.
History —Apr. 14, 1931, No. 15, p. 168, § 20; May 13, 1943, No. 144, p. 444, § 1, eff. 90 days after May 13, 1943.