P.R. Laws tit. 32, § 3118
Whenever a workman or employee should have to claim from his employer any equity or benefit, or any sum on account of compensation for work or labor done for said employer, or for compensation in case said workman or employee should have been discharged from his work without just cause, he may choose to appear before the Part of the District Court or of the Court of First Instance, as the case may be, of the place where the work was done, or where said workman or employee resides on the date of the claim, and file a complaint against the employer, which complaint shall be made out or filled in, as the case may be, by the judge, or the Clerk of the court, in which the workman or employee shall set forth the facts upon which the claim is grounded.
In the exercise of any action that may be brought under the procedure established by §§ 3118-3132 of this title, the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources may sue, motu proprio or at the instance of one or more workmen or employees having an interest in the matter, and on behalf and in representation of one or more of such workers or employees who are in similar circumstances, and he may also act as the complainant or intervener in any claim initiated under the procedure established in §§ 3118-3132 of this title.
The complaint may include the claims of all workmen and employees of the same employer who failed to receive their equities, benefits, or wages earned on the same work; Provided, That the filing of a complaint by one or more workmen or employees, or by the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources on their behalf, shall not preclude the filing of other actions by, or on behalf of other workmen or employees.
The District Court shall take cognizance of every complaint in which the amount in question does not exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) excluding interest, costs, expenses, and attorney’s fees; Provided, That, if the complaint is filed in the District Court and the amount in question exceeds ten thousand dollars ($10,000), excluding interest, costs, expenses, and attorney’s fees, the judge shall direct, if so requested by any of the parties, that the complaint be forthwith remanded to the pertinent Part of the Court of First Instance, where the case shall be heard.
History —Oct. 17, 1961, No. 2, p. 447, § 1; § 1; May 30, 1984, No. 38, p. 102; Dec. 24, 1998, No. 319, § 1.