In the case of disability for work according to the provisions of this chapter, the employer shall be under the obligation to reserve the job filled by the worker at the time the disability begins and to reinstate him therein, subject to the following conditions:
(1) That the worker requires the employer to reinstate him in his job within a term of thirty (30) working days, counting from the date he was discharged from treatment, provided that said requirement is not made after one (1) year has elapsed from the date of the beginning of the disability.
(2) that the worker is mentally and physically able to perform such job at the time he requests his employer for reinstatement, and
(3) that said job exists at the time the worker requests his reinstatement. It shall be understood that the job exists when it is vacant or held by another worker. It shall be presumed that the job is vacant when the same is filled by another worker within thirty (30) days following the date on which the request for reinstatement was made.
If the employer fails to comply with the provisions of this subsection, he shall be under the obligation to pay the worker or his beneficiaries the wages that said worker would have received if he had been reinstated, and he shall also be liable for the damages caused. The worker or his beneficiaries may file and process the corresponding claim for reinstatement, or both in court through a regular action or through the wage claims procedure established in §§ 3118—3132 of Title 32.
History —May 15, 1950, No. 428, p. 1038, added as § 16 on Apr. 15, 1988, No. 16, p. 74, § 1.