P.R. Laws tit. 29, § 507
The Secretary of Labor and Human Resources is hereby authorized to adopt those rules and regulations as he may deem necessary for the best and due administration of this chapter.
He is likewise authorized to request and require the employers to furnish under oath if required to do so, any available information with regard to the balance sheets, profit and loss statements, account books, payment schedules, wages, hours of work, statement of changes in the financial status, and the corresponding notations, and any other information he deems necessary, etc., for the best administration of this chapter, and to such effects, the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources may prepare forms such as schedules which may be obtained by the employers through the Department of Labor and Human Resources and shall be completed and filed in the offices of the Department of Labor and Human Resources within the term prescribed by the Secretary.
He is also empowered to audit and examine the employer’s books, accounts, files and other documents on his own or through his subordinates to determine their responsibility towards their employees under this chapter.
For the employer to avail him of the provisions of § 501 of this title, which exempts him/her from paying all or part of the bonus established therein when he has not obtained profits from his business, industry, trade, or firm or when the profits are not sufficient to cover the total amount of the bonus without exceeding the fifteen [percent] (15%) limit of the net annual profits, he shall submit to the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources not later than November 30th of each year a general balance sheet and a profit and loss statement for the twelve (12)-month period from October 1 of the previous year to September 30th of the current year, duly certified by a certified public accountant, in evidence of said financial status.
Provided, That when the employer is a cooperative organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, it shall not be necessary for the general balance sheet and the profit and loss statement to be certified by a certified public accountant. In this case, the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources shall accept the profit and loss statement that has been audited by the Office of the Inspector of Cooperatives with its internal auditors, and that covers the period of time required in this chapter.
If the employer does not submit the above general balance sheet and the profit and loss statement within the term and in the manner above, he shall be bound to pay the complete bonus of the basis of 3%, 4.5%, or 6%, as the case may be, of the total wages computed up to a maximum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or 2.5%, 2.75%, or 3%, as the case may be, of the total wages up to a maximum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000), when the employer employs fifteen (15) workers or less, even when he has not obtained profits in his business or when these are insufficient to cover the total bonus on the basis of the [fifteen percent] (15%) limit.
When an employer who has met the requirements with regard to the term and manner indicated in the above paragraphs does not pay the bonus established in this chapter in whole or in part, adducing that they have not obtained profits in their business, industry, trade, or firm, or that such profits are not sufficient to cover the total amount of the bonus without exceeding the fifteen percent (15%) limit fixed in § 501 of this title, the Department of Labor and Human Resources shall perform an audit to verify the employer’s accounts if in the judgment of the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources the general balance sheet does not fully justify the financial status of the business, industry, trade, or firm or when a complaint is filed by an employee.
A copy of the auditor’s report rendered as a result of said examination shall be handed to the respondent employer’s workers or employees. Also, copy of the report shall be sent to the Secretary of the Treasury. Except for what has been provided above, the information obtained by the Secretary of Labor or his duly authorized agents, by virtue of the powers conferred on them by this chapter, shall be of a confidential and privileged nature and shall only be revealed through the authorization of the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources.
The Secretary of Labor and Human Resources shall also enjoy those faculties and general investigative powers which have been conferred upon him in connection with the administration of this chapter for the best performance of his functions pursuant to the labor legislation administered by him.
History —June 30, 1969, No. 148, p. 550, added as § 7 on June 19, 1970, No. 12, p. 428, § 4; June 25, 1972, No. 27, p. 427, § 1; June 13, 1980, No. 130, p. 488, § 1; June 3, 1983, No. 70, p. 149; Mar. 26, 1986, No. 7, p. 17, § 1; Sept. 29, 2005, No. 124, § 2.