Employment at Will in Puerto Rico
Employment at will is the doctrine that allows an employer in the United States to terminate an employee at any time, without notice and without cause, so long as it is not prohibited by a particular law (e.g. discriminatory reasons such as age, sex or race). Puerto Rico employment laws are different. Local law 80 […]
Confronting Bad Worker Attitude
If you are a boss that relies on disciplinary memos to improve employees’ attitudes or performance you should know by now, it rarely works. Written warnings are often crafted too late when the supervisor no longer wants to deal with the employee. Fearing legal issues, you begin crafting memos to reprimand the employee on every […]
The Three Step Audit Before Discharing an Employee
Firing an employee in Puerto Rico for misconduct has legal consequences. The discharge may be deemed wrongful, discriminatory, retaliatory or in violation of some other law. You need to consider both local and federal labor & employment issues. Fines can be steep and in some cases may require job reinstatement. Before you discharge an individual, […]
Puerto Rico’s Whistleblower Act
Puerto Rico’s Act No. 115, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 29, § 194a, prohibits retaliation against certain defined whistleblowers, namely, against employees who provide testimony “before a legislative, administrative or judicial forum”. This broad purpose has served claimants to file a wide variety of lawsuits under numerous circumstances including attempts to bolster simple wrongful discharge claims. […]
Constructive Discharge in Puerto Rico
An individual sued his employer claiming constructive discharge. The court ruled in his favor and ordered the employer to pay $436,634.62 under Puerto Rico’s Wrongful Discharge Act 80. This is what happened in the recent case of Garrote v Airequipo ( KLAN201200956 – Bayamon Court Appeals Panel ). The company was a family-run business . […]