PUERTO RICO Law and Practice Contributed by: Jorge C Pizarro-García, José R González-Nogueras, Karla Rivera-Rubio and Lloyd Isgut-Rivera, Pizarro & González
• avoid interfering in any way with protected rights. 3.8 Stopping the Interview If an interviewee asks to stop the interview, the inves - tigator usually pauses to assess the reason for the request. Some employees may need a break for emo - tional reasons, as a reasonable accommodation, or for other legitimate purposes. When the interviewee refuses to continue entirely and does not have a legiti - mate justification, employers typically document the refusal and determine whether discipline is appropri - ate for violating internal policy and failing to comply with the employee’s duty to co-operate. 3.9 Minutes Minutes are typically taken during interviews, and summarised minutes are acceptable as long as they accurately reflect the interview’s content. Employ - ers may, but are not required to, allow interviewees to review the minutes. Signatures are not manda - tory unless the employer’s internal protocol requires it. Minutes may be prepared internally by HR or the assigned investigator, provided that neutrality is main - tained. Puerto Rico courts often evaluate the suffi - ciency, not the form, of an employer’s documentation when assessing the adequacy of an investigation. 3.10 Recording Recordings may be made by the employer if the interviewee is informed, although this is not stand - ard practice. When recordings are made, a transcript may be prepared and shared with any individuals the employer chooses to designate. Employers may warn participants that unauthorised recording violates workplace policy and is not permitted, and they may implement technical or procedural measures to dis - courage it, such as disabling platform recording fea - Beyond interviews, employers commonly review emails, messages from employer-owned devices, security footage, access logs, personnel records, social media activity and relevant documents. Digital forensics may be used when necessary to preserve metadata or recover deleted files, especially in mis - conduct involving technology misuse or harassment via messaging platforms. These steps must comply tures in remote interviews. 3.11 Other Fact-Finding
with Puerto Rico’s constitutional protections of priva - cy and human dignity, meaning that employers should avoid intrusive methods such as examining person - al devices or private belongings, and must provide notice that they may evaluate the performance of an employee through the review of security footage. 4. Protection of the Parties During an HR Internal Investigation 4.1 Protection of the Reporter Employers in Puerto Rico are responsible for provid - ing a safe, harassment-free working environment and must take the necessary steps to ensure the safety of the workplace. To comply with their legal obligations, employers may adopt a series of measures to safe - guard reporters during an investigation, even when the law does not mandate specific actions. Common measures include separating the parties, adjusting work schedules, assigning temporary alternative duties, authorising remote work, placing employ - ees on non-disciplinary leave pending investigation results, or increasing supervisory presence. The nec - essary measures will vary depending on the specific facts and conduct at issue. However, if employers fail to provide a safe working environment or protect the reporter, they risk claims of failure to prevent harass - ment. At the same time, employers must be careful on the measures to be implemented so they do not unintentionally harm the reporter in a way that could be construed as retaliation (for example, by transfer - ring the employee or reducing pay or opportunities). 4.2 Protection of the Respondent Employers should implement measures to protect both reporter and respondent during the investigation phase and until a decision is made to ensure a safe working environment. Furthermore, employers must conduct thorough, timely and impartial investigations. To that end, employers are advised to conduct inves - tigations in a confidential manner to the extent pos - sible, sharing information only with those individuals necessary to carry out the investigation and instruct - ing witnesses that information should be kept confi - dential to allow the investigation to conclude. Failure to protect respondents during the investigation phase may result in allegations that the investigation was
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