In short
Act 44-1985 prohibits any natural or juridical person from preventing, hindering, limiting or excluding another person with a disability, merely because of that disability, from taking part in programs or activities of any public or private institution, at every level of education, whether or not it receives State funds. In employment, it prohibits discriminatory procedures, methods or practices in recruitment, compensation, fringe benefits, reasonable accommodation and accessibility facilities, seniority, participation in training programs, promotion and any other term or condition. And it adds a rule that changes who must prove what: employment or service application forms may not require the applicant to state whether they have or previously had any physical, mental or sensory impairment, and doing so creates a presumption that the entity discriminates on the basis of disability, with the burden of proof on it to show otherwise if a complaint is filed. On reasonable accommodation: the Government and its instrumentalities, municipalities, and private companies employing fifteen (15) people or more, whether or not they receive state funds, must provide it in the workplace to ensure the qualified person with a disability works effectively at their maximum productivity, unless the employer shows it would be an extremely onerous economic effort. The Advocate for People with Disabilities may impose administrative fines of up to five thousand (5,000) dollars per violation.
What is it?
The law defines "reasonable accommodation" on two planes. At work: the logical, adequate or reasonable adjustment that lets a qualified person perform the duties assigned to their occupational description, including adjustments to the work area, construction of physical facilities, acquisition of specialized equipment, providing readers, aides, drivers or interpreters, and any other action that reasonably facilitates the adjustment and does not represent an extremely onerous economic effort. And in civil life: the adaptation, modification, measure or adjustment that private and public institutions must carry out to let the qualified person with a disability take part in society and integrate into it in every respect, including work, instruction, education, transportation, housing, recreation and the acquisition of goods and services. "Extremely onerous effort" is not a blank word: the law measures it by the nature and cost of the accommodation, the entity’s economic resources, the number of employees at the establishment, the effect on the business’s operation, and the type of business.
Who can do it?
The law protects every person with a motor, mental or sensory impairment that hinders or limits their entry into or performance at work or study or their full enjoyment of life, and who is qualified to carry out the basic functions of that job or field of study, with or without reasonable accommodation. Also protected is anyone whose impairment substantially limits their performance in one or more major life activities, anyone with a prior history of that condition, and anyone regarded as having such an impairment even when they do not. A sensory impairment is one substantially affecting hearing, vision, touch, smell and speech, and morbid obesity is included when it substantially limits one or more major life activities. The law expressly excludes from the definition paedophiles, exhibitionists and other sexual disorders not resulting from a physical impairment; compulsive gamblers, kleptomaniacs and pyromaniacs; and active users of illegal drugs and active alcoholics, except patients duly registered under the medicinal cannabis Act.
Requirements
- Being qualified to perform the essential tasks of the occupation you hold, retain or apply for, with or without reasonable accommodation.Verified against the official source
- For the reasonable accommodation duty in private employment: that the employer employs fifteen (15) people or more.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Information pending verification.
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: Look at the job application
If the form requires you to state whether you have or have had any physical, mental or sensory impairment, that is prohibited, and the law goes further: doing so creates a presumption that the entity discriminates on the basis of disability, and that entity bears the burden of proving otherwise if you file a complaint. The employer may ask whether you have an impairment when a performance test required of all applicants is involved; in all other cases they may not ask until they have offered you the job and you have accepted it, and only for reasonable accommodation purposes.
Step 2: Ask for the accommodation in writing, with the standard in hand
The duty falls on the Government, its agencies and instrumentalities, public or quasi-public corporations, municipalities, and private companies employing fifteen (15) people or more, whether or not they receive state funds. The accommodation must ensure the qualified person with a disability can work effectively at their maximum productivity. The employer’s only way out is showing the accommodation would be an extremely onerous economic effort, and the law defines how that is measured: nature and cost of the accommodation, the entity’s economic resources, number of employees at the establishment, effect on the business’s operation, and type of business.
Step 3: If there is a timed test, ask for the extra time
Article 6 says it in one sentence: every employer requiring any timed test as a prerequisite for a position must grant every person with a disability who, by the nature of their impairment, requires a reader, sign language interpreter or aide to take that test, the additional time that person needs to finish it.
Step 4: If it is about studies, there are dedicated articles
Article 8 requires public and private teaching institutions at every level not to discriminate and to adopt affirmative measures ensuring equal educational opportunity. Article 10 repeats it for university teaching and adds a concrete rule: they shall not limit the number of people with disabilities who may be admitted. And Article 7 covers physical inaccessibility: no person with a disability may be deprived of a program’s benefits when the physical facilities are inaccessible, and in that case the institution shall take the affirmative measures needed to remove the conditions that make them inaccessible.
Step 5: File the complaint in the right place
Any person with a disability who has been discriminated against by a public or private institution may, on their own or through their parents, guardian or legal representative, file a complaint with the Advocate for People with Disabilities against the institution, its director or its administrator. The Advocate may, after notice and hearing, impose administrative fines of up to five thousand (5,000) dollars, go to the Court of First Instance in aid of jurisdiction for cease-and-desist or other corrective orders, and even recommend to the Legislature that no public funds be appropriated to the offending institution. In employment matters, the Secretary of Labor oversees compliance alongside the Advocate, and the remedies, powers and procedures of Act 100 of 1959 are available to you.
Where to do it
Two offices, coordinated by legal mandate. The Advocate for People with Disabilities — a function exercised today by the Ombudsman for People with Disabilities of the Government of Puerto Rico — receives discrimination complaints against public or private institutions and imposes the fines. The Secretary of Labor and Human Resources oversees compliance in everything concerning employment, together with the Advocate. The law itself ordered them to develop procedures so administrative complaints are handled avoiding duplication of effort and preventing inconsistent or conflicting measures.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
What we do not publish: the complaint form, the deadlines and the step-by-step procedure. Article 11 entrusts all of it to a regulation of the Advocate that takes effect once approved by the Governor; we did not read it and do not describe it. What is worth being clear about is an argument this law gives you that few others do: Articles 14 and 15 require it to be interpreted in the most beneficial way for people with disabilities, liberally and not restrictively, and expressly preclude the use — as narrowing precedent — of any federal court or administrative agency decision that has interpreted the Americans with Disabilities Act restrictively and against the interests of people with disabilities. That is: a narrow federal reading of the ADA cannot be used to shrink your rights under this law. Two points on scope. First: for the reasonable accommodation duty in private employment the threshold is fifteen employees; below that the general discrimination prohibitions of Articles 2 through 4 still apply, but Article 9 does not. Second: the law’s definition expressly excludes certain conditions — among them active illegal drug addiction and active alcoholism, except patients registered under the medicinal cannabis Act — and that is worth knowing before building a case on them.
Common mistakes
- Answering a disability question on an application form without knowing that requiring it creates a presumption of discrimination against the employer.
- Requesting the accommodation verbally and leaving no written trace of the request or the answer.
- Accepting a "we cannot" without the employer explaining the extremely onerous effort using the criteria the law lists.
- Assuming the law covers only employment: Articles 2, 7, 8 and 10 cover programs, physical accessibility and teaching at every level.
- Not asking for extra time on a timed test when a reader, interpreter or aide is needed.
- Letting a restrictive federal ADA decision be cited to shrink the right: Articles 14 and 15 preclude it.
- Going to only one forum: in employment, the law has the Secretary of Labor and the Advocate working together.
Frequently asked questions
Can a job application ask whether I have a disability?
No. The law prohibits employment or service application forms from requiring the applicant to state whether they have or previously had any physical, mental or sensory impairment, and provides that doing so creates a presumption that the entity discriminates, with the burden of proof on it. It may only be asked when a performance test required of all applicants is involved, or after they offer you the job and you accept, and only for reasonable accommodation purposes.
From how many employees is reasonable accommodation required?
Article 9 requires it of the Government, its agencies, public or quasi-public corporations and municipalities, and of private companies employing fifteen (15) people or more, whether or not they receive state funds.
What is an "extremely onerous effort"?
The law defines it as an action requiring significant expense or difficulty when considered in light of the nature and cost of the reasonable accommodation; the economic resources of the entity required to provide it, the number of employees at the establishment and the effect the accommodation will have on the business’s operation; and the type of business the establishment carries out.
Does the university have to accommodate me?
Article 10 provides that public or private institutions offering university teaching may not discriminate against qualified people with disabilities, and must make the arrangements and adopt the affirmative measures ensuring equal educational opportunity, among them not limiting the number of people with disabilities who may be admitted.
How much can the Advocate fine?
Up to five thousand (5,000) dollars per violation, after notice and hearing, against any natural or juridical person violating this law. It may also go to the Court of First Instance in aid of jurisdiction for cease-and-desist or other corrective orders.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Departamento del Trabajo y Recursos Humanos (DTRH)
Departamento del Trabajo
bvirtualogp.pr.gov
- Department of Labor and Human Resources
DTRH
www.trabajo.pr.gov
Last verified
August 23, 2026
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