SEC. 329. No employee, or his widow or children, or either of Knowledge of them, or his parents, if there be no such widow or children, shall defect a bar. be entitled under this act to any right of compensation or remedy against the employer in any case where such employee knew of the defect or negligence which caused the injury, and failed within a reasonable time to give, or cause to be given, information thereof to the employer, or to some person superior to himself in the service of the employer who had entrusted to him some general superintendence.

fund.

SEC. 330. Any employer who shall have contributed to an in- Contribution surance fund created and maintained for the mutual purpose of to insurance indemnifying an employee for personal injuries for which compensation may be recovered under this act, or who has insured the said employee in any insurance company against the accidents of labor, shall be entitled to have deducted from the sum which he shall have to pay as compensation under the provisions of this act, the amount that shall have been received by the person injured, or by his widow, or children, or both of them, or by the parents, if there be no such widow and children, from the aforesaid fund or from the insurance company, by reason of the same accident.

SEC. 331. This act shall not apply to injuries caused to domestic Exceptions. servants, or farm laborers, by fellow employees.

Contracts of employment-Enforcement.

Order to ful

SECTION 369. Every person who shall bring an action for the fulfillment of any obligation, may obtain an order from the court fill contract. having cognizance of the suit providing that the proper measures

be taken to secure the effectiveness of the judgment as the case

may require it, should it be rendered in his favor.

SEC. 370. The effectiveness of the judgment shall be secured in the following manner:

(c) If the obligation consists in the doing of a thing an attach- Enforcement ment shall be issued against the person who is under such obli- by attachment. gation for a sum necessary to execute the work left undone or done otherwise than as provided in the agreement.

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Labor combinations not unlawful.

lawful.

not un

SECTION 553. The orderly and peaceable assembling or coopera- Assemblages, tion of persons employed in any calling, trade or handicraft, for etc., the purpose of obtaining an advance in the rate of wages or compensation, or of maintaining such rate, shall not be unlawful, nor shall it be unlawful for such persons to organize trade or labor assemblies or unions for the purpose of bettering the mental and material condition of the members thereof by lawful peaceable

means.

Intimidation of employees.

Interference

ment.

SECTION 554. The employment of force, violence, intimidation or menace, or any form of coercion, by any person, or by persons with employassociated together, against any other person or persons, whether with the object of preventing them from freely pursuing their employments, professions or trades or whether with the object of influencing the price or remuneration paid for their work, shall be a misdemeanor, and any person convicted thereof shall be imprisoned not less than thirty days nor more than one year, or fined not less than ten dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or both fined and imprisoned.

Hours of labor on public works-Residents.

SECTION 624. * * * no laborers shall be compelled to work Eight hours a more than eight hours per day, and they shall be, if possible, resi- day's labor. dents of the municipality.

Examination and licensing of plumbers.

Licensing re- SECTION 764. [It shall be the duty of the board of health] quired. to establish rules * * * for examination and licensing of plumbers

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PENAL CODE.

Protection of employees as voters.

Discharging,

SECTION 188. * * if an employer of laborers or any agent withholding of such employer threatens to withhold the wages of, or to dismiss wages, etc. from service any laborer in his employment, or refuses to allow to any such employee time to attend at the place of election and vote, [he] shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars nor less than twenty dollars, or imprisoned in the penitentiary not more than five years nor less than one year, and disfranchised and rendered incapable of holding any office of trust or profit for any period not exceeding ten years.

Begging and peddling.

Negligence endangering life.

Negligen ce causing death.

Negligence of captain of steamboat.

Negligence of employees on railroad.

Employment of children-Certain employments forbidden.

SECTION 265. Any person, whether as parent, relative, guardian, employer or otherwise, having in his care, custody, or control any child under the age of twelve years, who shall sell, apprentice, give away, let out, or otherwise dispose of any such child to any person, under any name, title, or pretense, for the vocation, use, occupation, calling, [or] service of begging, or peddling, in any public street or highway, or in any medicant or wandering business whatsoever, and any person who shall take, receive, hire, employ, use, or have in custody any child for such purposes, or either of them, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Negligence of operators of steam boilers, etc.

SECTION 325. Every engineer or other person having charge of any steam boiler, steam engine, or other apparatus for generating or employing steam, used in any manufactory, railway, or other works, who willfully, or from ignorance, or gross neglect, creates, or allows to be created such an undue quantity of steam as to burst or break the boiler, or engine, or apparatus, or cause any other accident whereby human life is endangered, is guilty of a felony.

SEC. 326. Every person having charge of any steam boiler or steam engine, or other apparatus for generating or employing steam used in any manufactory, or on any railroad, or in any vessel, or in any kind of mechanical work, who willfully or from ignorance or neglect, creates, or allows to be created, such an undue quantity of steam as to burst or break the boiler, engine, or apparatus, or to cause any other accident whereby the death of a human being is produced, is punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not less than one nor more than ten years. SEC. 327. Every captain or other person having charge of any steamboat used for the conveyance of passengers, or of the boilers and engines thereof, who from ignorance or gross neglect, or for the purpose of excelling any other boat in speed, creates, or allows to be created, such an undue quantity of steam as to burst or break the boiler, or any apparatus or machinery connected therewith, by which bursting or breaking human life is endangered, is guilty of a felony.

SEC. 328. Every conductor, engineer, brakeman, switchman, or other person having charge, wholly or in part, of any railroad car, locomotive, or train, which is used as a common carrier, who willfully or negligently suffers or causes the same to collide with another car, locomotive, or train, or with any other object or thing whereby the death of a human being is produced is punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not less than one nor more than ten years,

Intoxication of railroad employees, etc.

etc.

SECTION 344. Every person who is intoxicated while in charge Intoxication of a locomotive engine, or while acting as conductor or driver of engineer, upon any railroad train or car, whether propelled by steam or electricity, or while acting as train dispatcher, or as telegraph operator, receiving or transmitting dispatches in relation to the movement of trains, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Protection of employees as members of labor organizations.

Restraining

SECTION 465. Any person or corporation within Porto Rico, or agent or officer on behalf of such person or corporation, who employees from shall hereafter coerce or compel any person or persons to enter joining union. into an agreement, either written or verbal, not to join or become a member of any labor organization, as a condition of such person or persons securing employment or continuing in the employment of any such persons or corporation, shall be guilty of a misde

meanor.

Sunday labor.

Exceptions.

SECTION 553. On every Sunday commercial and industrial estab- Sunday labor lishments, excepting public markets, pharmacies, bakeries, hotels, forbidden. restaurants, cafes, and places where refreshments only are served, excepting also public and quasi-public utilities and works of emergency, necessary to prevent unusual and serious financial loss, shall remain closed and do no business whatever after twelve o'clock noon. This prohibition shall not, however, extend to theaters and other places devoted exclusively to amusements or to charitable purposes; at all such places it shall be lawful to work at any hour on Sunday, but only in aid of such charitable purposes or amusements.

SEC. 554. The municipal council of any municipality may, by Stores ordinance, require commercial and industrial establishments, workshops. including those excepted in section 553, or any of them, to remain closed at all hours on Sunday, excepting the works of emergency therein mentioned.

and

SEC. 556. Any person, firm or corporation violating the provi- Penalties. sions of this title, or any part thereof, or of an order issued by an alcalde, or ordinance passed by a municipal council under the authority of this title, shall be fined in the police court for the first offense in a sum which shall not be less than five dollars ($5) nor exceed ten dollars ($10); and for a subsequent offense, in a sum which shall not be less than ten dollars, ($10) nor exceed twenty-five dollars ($25). And for this purpose, the police courts shall have jurisdiction to impose the fines herein provided; and in all cases in which the fine imposed shall exceed, excluding costs, the sum of ten dollars ($10), an appeal may be taken to the proper district court in the manner provided by law for other appeals from the police courts. In default of the payment of any fine imposed hereuuder [hereunder] within three days after the judgment shall have been entered or the appeal dismissed, the person convicted shall pay the said fine by imprisonment in the municipal jail, or in any other penal institution, at the rate of one day for each half dollar of said fine remaining unpaid.

CIVIL CODE.

Earnings of minors.

ents, when.

SECTION 225. Property acquired by an unemancipated child by Usufruct be. labor or industry, or for any valuable consideration, belongs to longs to parthe said child, but the usufruct thereof belongs to the parents having potestas over him whilst he lives in their company; but if the child, with the consent of his parents, lives independently, he shall be deemed emancipated for all effects as regards the

Factory fined.

Inspectors.

Expenses.

de

Hoisting

tion employing children, to keep a register in which shall be recorded the name, birthplace, age and place of residence of every person employed under the age of sixteen years; and said register shall be produced for inspection on demand by either of the inspectors appointed under this chapter.

No action will lie to recover a minor's wages earned while employed in violation of this statute. 13 R. I. 299.

SEC. 2. No person, firm or corporation employing less than five persons who are women or children shall be deemed a factory, manufacturing or mercantile establishment within the meaning of this chapter.

SEC. 3 (as amended by chapter 809). There shall be two factory inspectors, one of whom shall be a woman. The factory inspectors in office at the passage of this act shall continue to hold their offices for the remainder of the terms for which they were respectively appointed. At the January session of the general assembly in the year A. D. 1903, and in each third year thereafter, the gov ernor, with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint two persons to be factory inspectors to succeed the factory inspectors then in office; and the persons so appointed shall hold their offices until the first day of February in the third year after their appointment.

Any vacancy which may occur in said offices when the senate is not in session shall be filled by the governor until the next session thereof, when he shall, with the advice and consent of the senate, appoint some person to fill such vacancy for the remainder of the term. The said inspectors shall be empowered to visit and inspect. at all reasonable hours and as often as practicable, the factories, workshops, and other establishments in the State employing women or children, and shall make a report to the general assembly at its January session in each year, including in said report the names of the factories, the number of such hands employed, and the number of hours' work performed each week. It shall also be the duty of said inspectors to enforce the provisions of this chapter and to prosecute all violations of the same before any court of competent jurisdiction in the State. The said inspectors shall devote their whole time and attention to the duties of their respective offices. In case of any conflict of authority between the said inspectors, either of them may apply for instructions to the governor, whose decision of the controversy, after hearing the statement of each inspector and making such further investigation of the circumstances as he may deem necessary, shall be final.

SEC. 4. All necessary expenses incurred by such inspectors in the discharge of their duties shall be paid from the funds of the State, upon the presentation of proper vouchers for the same, approved by the governor: Provided, That not more than twelve hundred dollars shall be expended by the said inspectors in the aggregate in any one year.

SEC. 5. It shall be the duty of the owner, agent or lessee of any shafts, etc., to such factory, manufacturing or mercantile establishment, where be guarded. hoisting shafts or wellholes are used, to cause the same to be properly and substantially enclosed or secured if, in the opinion of the inspectors, it is necessary to protect the life or limbs of those employed in such establishments. It shall be the duty of the owners, agent or lessee to provide or to cause to be provided such proper trap or automatic doors, so fastened in or at all elevator ways as to form substantial surfaces when closed, and so constructed as to open and close by action of the elevator in its passage either ascending or descending, if so directed by said factory inspectors or either one of them.

Minor cleaning moving machinery.

Accidents.

SEC. 6. No minor under sixteen years of age shall be allowed to clean machinery while in motion, unless the same is necessary and is approved by said inspectors as not dangerous. All belting and gearing shall be provided with proper safeguard[s].

SEC. 7. It shall be the duty of the owners or superintendent to report in writing to the factory inspectors all fatal accidents

Water-clos

within forty-eight hours after their occurrence; and all accidents which prevent the injured person or persons from returning to work within two weeks after the injury shall, within one week after the expiration of such two weeks, be reported in writing by the person in charge of such establishment or place to the said inspectors, stating as fully as possible the cause of such accidents. SEC. 8. Water-closets, earth closets or privies shall be provided in all places where women and children are employed, in such ets, etc. manner as shall, in the judgment of said inspectors, meet the demands of health and propriety. Separate dressing rooms for women and girls shall be provided in all establishments where such are deemed a necessity by said factory inspectors; and in every manufacturing, mechanical or mercantile establishment in which women and girls are employed, there shall be provided, conveniently located, seats for such women and girls, and they shall Seats for febe permitted to use them when their duties do not require their male employstanding.

ees.

SEC. 9. If the factory inspectors, or either one of them, find Defective that the heating, lighting, ventilation or sanitary arrangement of conditions. any shop or factory is such as to be injurious to the health of the persons employed therein, or that the means of egress in case of fire or other disaster is not sufficient, or in accordance with all the requirements of law, or that the belting, shafting, gearing, elevators, drums and machinery in shops and factories are located so as to be dangerous to employees, and not sufficiently guarded, or that the vats, pans or structures filled with molten metal or hot liquid are not surrounded with proper safeguards for preventing accident or injury to those employed at or near them, either or both shall notify the proprietor of such factory or workshop to Notice. make the alterations or additions necessary within ninety days; and if such alterations or additions are not made within ninety days from the day of such notice, or within such time as such alterations can be made with proper diligence upon the part of said proprietors, said proprietors or agents shall be deemed guilty of violating the provisions of this chapter, subject, however, to the right of appeal as hereinafter provided.

SEC. 10. Any person who is aggrieved by any order of said in- Appeal from spectors may appeal therefrom to the district court of the judicial inspectors' orders. district in which the building which is the subject of the order is situated, by filing his reasons of appeal within seven days after the date of the order appealed from, and by giving notice thereof to the inspector who made the order within forty-eight hours after filing said reasons of appeal; and said court shall proceed to hear the said appeal at its first session after such notice shall have been given, and shall approve, modify or revoke said order as it may deem right, subject, however, to the right of a jury trial after decision And any such decision of said court from which a jury trial is not claimed shall be final and conclusive. SEC. 11. The State shall provide a suitable office for the use of said factory inspectors, and said factory inspectors shall have the Power of inpower to administer oaths or affirmations in cases where persons spectors. desire to verify documents connected with the proper enforcement of this chapter.

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SEC. 12. Any person who knowingly violates any of the provi- Penalty. sions of this chapter, or who knowingly suffers or permits any child or woman to be employed in violation of its provisions, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars.

Copy of act

SEC. 13. A printed copy of this chapter shall be posted by the inspectors in each workroom of every factory, manufacturing or to be posted. mercantile establishment where persons are employed who are affected by the provisions of this chapter.

SEC. 14. The inspectors created by section three of this chapter Surety for shall not be required to give surety nor personal recognizance for costs. costs.

[The following sections were added to this chapter by chapter

708:]