By The Star Staff
After receiving 383 requests for exemption from the payment of the Christmas bonus, the island Department of Labor and Human Resources (DTRH by its Spanish initials) announced on Wednesday that 333 of those requests were approved with total exemption.
“As happened in 2021, this year we see a dramatically low number of applications compared to previous years, which can be interpreted as a reflection, in addition to the economic indicators that are published from time to time, that the economy continues in positive territory,” DTRH Secretary Gabriel Maldonado González said in a written statement. “At the DTRH we publish annually the list of employers who have been granted or denied exemption from the payment of such compensation. This is intended to let workers know in advance that their employer submitted a complete waiver request and during the term provided for it, so they will not be receiving the bonus unless the DTRH subsequently finds that the employer’s request is not justified according to the evidence presented. Also, it is a method of control since those employees entitled to receive the bonus after having accumulated the minimum hours worked required by law and who work for employers who are not in the document, must be paid on or before December 15. In this way, any eligible employee who is impacted can go to the DTRH Labor Standards Bureau or the court to claim their rights.”
The agency indicated that it accepted 37 requests for bonus payment not to exceed 15 percent of the net profit. Another 13 applications were denied.
It should be noted that the employers who requested to be exempted from paying the annual bonus had to suffer economic losses or gains that were insufficient to cover the entire incentive, evidenced by a statement of situation and profits and losses that has been audited, signed and stamped in original by an authorized public accountant with a valid license, as well as an interim financial statement covering the period through Sept. 30 of this year.
Total or partial exemptions from the payment of the bonus imply that the employer complied with the deadline and the manner of submitting the application. The DTRH will continue the detailed evaluation of the application and information submitted and, if any inconsistency is found, the employer will be exposed to the payment of the bonus and the penalties provided by law.
Nov. 30 was the deadline for submitting the request for exemption from the payment of the annual Christmas bonus.