SCMP Breaking News - Labor & Employment
Year 8, Vol. 4 - May 16, 2023
On May 11, 2023, the Governor of Puerto Rico, the Hon. Pedro R. Pierluisi, signed
Executive Order 2023-012 to end the state of emergency in Puerto Rico that had been
declared in March 2020 as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the Executive Order, all agencies and municipalities in Puerto Rico are ordered to
deactivate any special procedure(s) put into effect to respond to the state of emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, Executive Order 2023-012 makes clear that the end of the emergency will not impact existing projects or programs that are already being carried out with state and federal funds allocated to work with any aspect of the COVID-19 emergency.
In addition, the Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Health will retain the power to
issue regulations, guidelines, administrative orders, circular letters, protocols, and
recommendations to address the COVID-19 disease.
Executive Order 2023-012 echoes the Bill signed by the President of the United States, Joseph R. Biden, just one month ago, on April 10, 2023, which also ended the national emergency and public health emergencies related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
What should employers do?
Employers should be aware that Executive Order 2023-012 also effectively ended the
applicability of Law 37-2020 for employees who become sick or are suspected to be suffering
from COVID-19. Under Law 37-2020, employees suffering from or suspected to be suffering
from a disease that provoked a state of emergency were granted five (5) additional paid sick
leave days, if, after exhausting all accrued sick days and any other accrued leaves, they were
still sick with the disease. While Law 37-2020 may apply to other future situations in which a
state of emergency is declared based on health, it will no longer apply to employees who
become sick or are suspected to be sick with COVID-19.
SCMP will continue to monitor developments regarding this important decision and will provide updates in our newsletter as new information becomes available.
If you have any additional questions, contact us at (787) 945-0380
Because of the general nature of this newsletter, nothing herein should be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. SCMP Breaking News and all its content is property of Silva-CofresÃ, Manzano & Padró, LLC
Comments