Workplace harassment in Puerto Rico: what Act 90 requires

Not every bad day is workplace harassment

Act 90-2020 was the first Puerto Rico statute to name and define workplace harassment. The definition is deliberately narrow: a demanding boss, a deserved write-up or a bad evaluation are not harassment. The law requires the conduct to meet seven elements at once, and if one is missing, legally it is not harassment.

That does not mean abusive treatment has no remedy (it may fall under discrimination, retaliation or unjust dismissal) but it is worth knowing which lane you are in before filing.

• Malicious, unwanted and repeated conduct
• Unrelated to the company's legitimate interests
• Unrelated to performance or to the duties of the position
• That attacks the person's dignity
• That creates an intimidating, humiliating, hostile or offensive environment
• That interferes with reasonable job performance
• That can cause emotional or physical harm

What the employer has to do

Every employer in Puerto Rico (public and private, regardless of size) must adopt and publicize an internal anti-harassment policy, with a procedure for filing and investigating internal complaints. If nobody at your job has shown you that document, request it in writing: the request itself becomes evidence of whether it existed.

Employer liability for a supervisor's harassment is absolute, unless the employer takes immediate corrective action upon learning of it. That is why many cases turn not on the harassment itself but on what the company did the day it found out.

How to document it

The "repeated" element is what sinks most cases, and it is proven with dates. Keep a log outside the company's systems: date, time, what happened, who was present, what effect it had. Save emails and messages somewhere you will still have access to if your account is deactivated tomorrow.

File the internal complaint even if you do not trust the process, because it triggers the employer's duty to take corrective action. If it is not resolved, Act 90 lets you go to court; deadlines are short, so consult the Department of Labor or an employment lawyer early.