By John McPhaul
jpmcphaul@gmail.com
Luis Collazo Rodríguez, the executive director of the central government’s Retirement Board, Office of Management and Budget Executive Director (OMB) Juan Carlos Blanco, and Office of Human Resources Management and Transformation Director Zahira Maldonado Molina announced Sunday the signing and approval of the “Joint Regulation for the Recruitment of Pensioners of the Government of Puerto Rico” under Law 53-2022, which empowers the rules that will govern the recruitment process for government pensioners and the creation of a Registry of Eligible Pensioners.
With the signing of Law 53-2022, Gov. Pedro Pirerluisi Urrutia established as a priority and public policy to allow pensioners to return to the government partially, without affecting their pensions. The approved document standardizes the laws and regulations applicable to pensioners of interest re-entering public service partially, full-time or through contracting of professional services. In addition, it aims to establish the rules and parameters that will govern the pensioners’ hiring and/or recruitment processes.
The head of the retirement office said life expectancy has increased and many retiring public employees want to return to a working life because they feel useful or want to generate additional income, but with flexibility.
“Although the pensioners could work under certain parameters before Law 53-2022, Law 53 constitutes a statement of public policy in favor of the pensioners who wish to re-enter the government, in addition to uniforming and formalizing the applicable regulations for the re-entry of pensioners to the government,” Collazo Rodríguez said. “With the approval of the Regulation and the Registry of Eligible Pensioners, we will have visibility and updated data on pensioners who return to work under contract employment since employers and pensioners will have to notify us if they re-enter full-time, part-time or on a contractual basis.”
Likewise, Maldonado Molina highlighted the importance of government pensioners now having the opportunity to return to work, that the goal is to promote government efficiency and “who better than our experienced minds in public service to train new staff.”
“The Human Resources and Management Office, as the entity responsible for the centralization of human resources in the Government of Puerto Rico, will be responsible for maintaining a registry of pensioners eligible to re-enter the public service in which pensioners may register voluntarily. I urge pensioners to visit the empleos.pr.gov portal to learn about available opportunities.”
“Government pensioners have been leading actors in the economic and social development of Puerto Rico,” the OMB chief said. “They have contributed with their willingness to serve. The work of government involves us all. As a government, we must ensure that we can count on first-rate professionals, regardless of whether they have already retired from public service, especially when this type of professional has institutional experience and memory. With the issuance of this regulation, we comply with our commitment to create a service-focused public government of excellence by making viable the necessary framework so that the knowledge of our retirees in essential part-time areas is utilized, without affecting their pension, including teachers, police, and social workers, among others.”
The approved regulation applies to any person who has been pensioned by retirement, by age, by years of service, or by incentivized retirement from any pension or retirement of the government or any of its instrumentalities, or of any retirement fund or pension created under the laws of Puerto Rico.
Additional information on the provisions of the recruitment process for pensioners can be found at the internet portal www.retiro.pr.gov or by sending an email to: consultaley53@retiro.pr.gov, consultaley53@ogp.pr.gov and consultaley53@oatrh.pr.gov.