(a) Bureau of Employment Security of Puerto Rico.— There is hereby created in the Department of Labor and Human Resources a bureau to be known as the Bureau of Employment Security of Puerto Rico with two coordinate divisions namely: the Unemployment Insurance Division and the Employment Service Division. The Employment Service Division of the Bureau hereby created shall be composed of the Employment Service of Puerto Rico affiliated with the United States Employment Service as established and organized under §§ 551—563 of this title. All authority, responsibility and administrative functions conferred on the Employment and Migration Bureau of the Department of Labor and Human Resources pursuant to said §§ 551—563 of this title for the administration of the Employment Service of Puerto Rico, are hereby transferred to the Bureau of Employment Security of Puerto Rico herein created. The Secretary may coordinate the functions and reorganize the activities of the Bureau of Employment and Migration not properly devolving upon the Employment Service of Puerto Rico as provided by §§ 301—303 of Title 3. The transfer of the Employment Service of Puerto Rico and of the responsibility, authority and administrative functions exercised with respect to its administration by the Bureau of Employment and Migration of the Department of Labor and Human Resources, to the Bureau of Employment Security, shall become effective on January 1, 1957. Upon such transfer, the personnel of the Employment Service of Puerto Rico shall maintain the status and all their vested rights under the provisions of the Puerto Rico Personnel Act.
The Secretary shall appoint the Director of the Bureau in accordance with the Personnel Act. The director shall administer and conduct the bureau under the direction and supervision of the Secretary and shall devote all his time to the duties of his office for the compensation received. The director is hereby empowered to delegate his responsibilities under §§ 705 and 707 of this title to examiners appointed by the Secretary and to delegate such other functions as may be authorized by the Secretary.
(b) Advisory council.— The Secretary shall appoint an advisory council composed of men and women which shall include an equal number of employer representatives and employee representatives who may fairly be regarded as such representatives because of their vocation, employment or affiliation, and of such members representing the public interest as the Secretary may deem it expedient to designate. Such council shall assist the Secretary in formulating policies and solving problems related to the administration of the Employment Security program and in assuring impartiality, neutrality, and freedom from partisan influence in the solution of such problems. The Secretary may also appoint special councils to perform specific services. Members of such advisory councils shall serve without compensation but shall be paid a per diem of twenty dollars ($20) plus travelling expenses incurred in the discharge of their duties. The advisory council shall meet as frequently as the Secretary deems necessary but never less than twice each year. The advisory council shall make reports on its meetings, such reports to include a record of its deliberations and its recommendations. The Secretary shall keep such reports available to all interested persons or groups. Neither the advisory council nor the special councils shall exercise administrative functions.
History —June 21, 1956, No. 74, p. 328, § 12, renumbered as § 13 on Dec. 22, 1960, No. 1, p. 1, § 13.