They will begin by investigating private sector workers who are not reporting to work

Private sector workers who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic and whose employers have called back will have to return to work unless they have a valid reason not to. they run the risk of having their unemployment benefits suspended and being charged for the money received.

This was announced by the secretaries of the Department of Labor and Human Resources (DTRH), Carlos Rivera Santiago, and of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC), Manuel Cidre. Both said they have received complaints from employers in different sectors, including fast food chains, service companies, pharmaceutical companies and medical device companies they are not given the human resources they need to operate.

Rivera Santiago indicated that unemployment benefits are federal and should be monitored. That is why he announced the start of the Return to Work program, which is required of all states and territories.

He explains that it is a flexible and effective mechanism for the employer to report the name and details of employees who have not signed up. The Labor Secretary said he had no figures on how many workers could return to work in the coming weeks, nor how many have already signed up to report to work.

The employer must have access to the DTRH portal and request an investigation of those employees who have not returned to work. You must provide the employee’s details, the date they were reported to return, and since when they failed to report to their position.

The secretary indicated this those workers their unemployment benefits will be preemptively suspended in the investigation, even the employee may have to return the federal money he received after being notified of his return and has not done soIn addition, these employees run the risk of being disqualified from the benefits program for misuse of these federal benefits.

For its part, Cidre warned that pandemic unemployment benefits – known as PUA due to its abbreviation in English – as well as other federal aid created as a result of the rise of COVID-19, including pay protection loans (PPP). this year. “Those benefits have an expiration date and end no later than September 2021. And if the vaccination process goes as it has been, they could end sooner.”

Nevertheless, the DDEC holder acknowledged that an employee who receives a salary of $ 7.25 an hour will receive more money by staying at home and receiving PUA assistance and other benefitsHe estimated that the weekly pay of whoever earns the minimum wage is $ 287 – if he works the 40-hour day – while at home he could receive up to $ 540 without working, because of all the federal assistance available during this COVID. -19 emergency.

“One of the goals of this Secretariat is to increase the workforce,” said Cidre, saying that, along with Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González, They will be knocking on the door of the federal capital so that Puerto Rico is done justice with the “Welfare to Work” program, so that no worker receiving social assistance will be punished for working, as is currently the case.

Said that Washington DC officials are talking about raising the federal minimum wage to between $ 8.75 and $ 9.25 an hour. “Even at $ 9.25, it’s not a fair salaryHe said, urging the private sector to pay its workers more and not wait for the government to impose the mandate. “The private sector must commit to increase wages,” added the DDEC secretary.