Regulation for Availability Incentive Payment for SINAC OfficialsPago del incentivo de disponibilidad para los funcionarios del Sistema

I. That

article 50 of the Political Constitution, in the sole chapter on social rights and guarantees, establishes the right to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment, responsibility for which falls on the officials of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, called to guarantee the safeguarding of the protection and conservation of the environment.

II.That the country, by Legislative Decree, has signed international conventions and treaties related to the conservation and protection of the environment, such as the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, Law N° 5980, of November 16, 1976, the Convention on Biological Diversity and Annexes, Law N° 7416, of June 30, 1994, the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance as Habitat for Waterfowl, Law N° 7224, of April 9, 1991, the Convention for the Protection of the Flora, Fauna and Natural Scenic Beauties of the Countries of America, Law N° 3763 of October 19, 1966, among others.

III.That since the National System of Conservation Areas -SINAC- is the deconcentrated body responsible for the protection and administration of the natural resources of the country, as well as for the management of the male and female officials entrusted with carrying out these functions, it is of utmost importance to create and regulate a permanent surveillance plan twenty-four hours a day, for which an on-call availability status (estado de disponibilidad) is established, applied to the male and female officials who work at SINAC, in control and protection tasks vested with police authority, as established by the National Parks Service Law, the Ley Forestal, the Fisheries and Aquaculture Law, and the Wildlife Conservation Law, in order to achieve efficiently and effectively the goals pursued by the State in the protection and conservation of natural resources. The on-call availability status will be remunerated with a monthly salary supplement.

IV.That it is worth adding regarding the competence of the Executive Branch for the determination of salary policy in the Central Administration, that the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice stated through resolution Nº 2001-01822 of fifteen hours and forty-six minutes of March seven, two thousand one ".Salary Matter. From the transcribed background, it is inferred that since salary matters are part of government policy, it is then the responsibility of the Executive Branch to adopt binding decisions in that field for the centralized public sector, with autonomous entities remaining subject to the general guidelines in salary matters dictated by that Branch of the Republic. The setting of salary policy for the public sector is a competence constitutionally attributed to the Executive Branch.".

V. That

article 58 of the Political Constitution establishes the ordinary and extraordinary workday, admitting exceptional variations highlighted by qualified cases. An exception that applies to officials stationed in protected wild areas (áreas silvestres protegidas) and regionalized as police authorities, since this implies factors and work conditions differentiated from other officials of the System.

VI.That spontaneous or provoked forest fires occur at any hour and their response and combat must occur at any time. Likewise, operations for the apprehension and pursuit of poachers occur mainly at night, since nighttime conditions are exploited by offenders to harm the environment, carry out illegal logging, drain wetlands, and commit other aggressions against the natural heritage, making it necessary, in fulfillment of the competences assigned to the Ministry of Environment and Energy, to establish a regime for the response to and control of such situations.

VII.That the reforms and additions to the Wildlife Conservation Law N° 7317, published in the Supplement of April 24, 2013, state in its article 16 bis.- "An availability payment (pago por disponibilidad) is created for male officials and female officials who work in wildlife management, control, and protection activities outside their normal workday, in accordance with what is provided in the regulation of this Law. For this payment, the resources of the Vida Silvestre fund will be used". Therefore, They Decree:

"OF THE PAYMENT OF THE AVAILABILITY INCENTIVE FOR OFFICIALS OF THE NATIONAL SYSTEM OF CONSERVATION AREAS"

Additionally, this incentive will be recognized for members of the Forest Firefighter Brigades, composed of officials of the National System of Conservation Areas, when they must perform or attend to situations requiring their availability outside the established workday for the attention of natural disasters or other incidents that so warrant it at the discretion of the Administration.

Availability: It is the obligation of the officials described in article 2 of this decree to permanently perform control, protection, and conservation services for the Natural Heritage of the State and Natural Resources and other duties related to their function during the hours they are outside the ordinary workday, whether on working days and during the consecutive days of an accumulated work schedule (jornada acumulativa). It is an expectant and permanent, mandatory attitude, by virtue of which the official must act ex officio, in the face of any illicit act they detect, a third-party complaint, or upon the request of any authority of the National System of Conservation Areas, to perform actions in the face of ordinary or extraordinary events.

Servants with police authority status: These are those servants of the National System of Conservation Areas duly accredited, who perform permanent functions of management, control, and protection of the Natural Heritage of the State and Natural Resources, as indicated by articles 54 of the Ley Forestal, 15 of the Wildlife Conservation Law Nº7317, and article 09 of the National Parks Service Law Nº6084.

This incentive corresponds to twenty-five percent (25%) of the amount established as the base salary, and will be payable to the male (and female) officials with Police Authority status who perform control, protection, and conservation of the Natural Heritage of the State and Natural Resources.

Additionally, this incentive will be recognized for members of the Forest Firefighter Brigades composed of officials of the National System of Conservation Areas, when they must perform or attend to situations requiring their availability outside the established workday for the attention of natural disasters or other incidents that so warrant it at the discretion of the Administration.

The official or servant who works under the Availability regime must comply with the following:

• a)Report without any delay to the site where they are required. For this, the territorial extension, the access routes and means of communication, and other topographical characteristics of the place where the respective jurisdiction is located must be taken into account, and when it is an institutional need according to the magnitude of the event by virtue of a reasoned and well-founded justification.
• b)Provide to the respective Human Resource Development Management Office, and to the office of the Conservation Area where they provide service, as well as any other office that the superior eventually indicates, the telephone number, home address, or any other means that makes their agile and timely location possible.
• c)Remain at all times during which they are on availability in conditions of absolute sobriety and capable of attending promptly and efficiently to the matters that arise.

Non-compliance with the provisions governing this Regulation by the servant obligated to availability has the following consequence:

• a)The reimbursement to SINAC by the servant of the sums received for this concept from the date on which the non-compliance occurred.
• b)The application of the corresponding sanctions according to the institutional disciplinary regime.

The male (and female) heads, administrators of the Protected Wild Areas, will have the obligation to inform the Regional Human Resources Offices about any change of circumstances in relation to the servant who holds the status of police authority and control and protection, which could signify the suppression of the payment of the availability incentive.

The information must be sent no later than the month following the one in which the work circumstances varied, with each head being subject to the disciplinary sanctions, both administrative and criminal, that may apply in case they fail to send the information in a timely manner. The foregoing without prejudice to other liabilities that may be attributed for information contrary to the real truth or for information that does not conform to the provisions for granting the incentive.

Every official who considers themselves entitled to receive the recognition of the Availability incentive, under the terms of the provisions contained in this Regulation, must request its recognition from the Regional Human Resources Office of the Conservation Area where they work, for which they must first comply with the internal provisions issued for that purpose by the Human Resource Management Department of the Executive Secretariat of the National System of Conservation Areas.

The payment of the incentive will become effective from the day the official begins their duties in the position that warrants the recognition (in the case of newly hired officials), upon prior compliance with the provisions issued for that purpose, or when the nature of the position changes and it acquires the functions of wildlife management, as well as for officials who permanently perform control, protection, and conservation tasks for the Natural Heritage of the State and Natural Resources, outside their workday established by the Administration for the exercise of their functions, in accordance with what is provided in this regulation. In the case of transfer, relocation, or reassignment of old positions of System officials, providing the respective documentation, according to the case that applies to each official.

The superiors of the servants subject to Availability must ensure compliance with the provisions established in this Regulation. They must communicate any non-observance to the respective Human Resource Management and Development Office; in any case, they must gather the necessary information for the eventual application of the disciplinary regime.

The Head of the Human Resource Development Management Department of the Executive Secretariat of SINAC and the officials in charge of the Regional Human Resource Development Management Offices of the Conservation Areas involved in the process of granting and controlling the Availability incentive will be the responsible officials for ensuring that, in each particular case, the requirements and procedures are complied with prior to the resolution granting the incentives.

Said resolution must be duly reasoned, warning the personnel to whom this incentive is assigned about their subjection to the regulations established in relation to the payment of the availability incentive, as well as its implications and obligations.

The aforementioned resolution must be signed by the Head of the Human Resource Development Management Department of the Executive Secretariat of SINAC, the official in charge of the Regional Human Resource Development Management Office of the Conservation Area, as well as the Director of the Conservation Area involved. The interested party and their immediate superior must be notified of it.

The disregard, actions, or omissions without justification of the duties established in this Availability regulation entails the application of the disciplinary regime established in the Civil Service Statute, in its Regulation, and in the Autonomous Service Regulation of the Institution.

The payment of availability will be suspended to the servant when they take leave with salary, as well as in those cases where they are training for up to three months, according to institutional need, on vacation, disabled, or in any other situation that prevents them from performing in the position, provided this period is longer than thirty calendar days. Once they rejoin their position, they will assume availability again. In the case of leave without pay or suspension with or without salary, the recognition will be limited from the moment it is agreed upon.

By resolution, the Administration must ground in a reasoned manner the suppression of the incentives when appropriate or when the servant expresses their refusal to receive said incentive.

Given at the Presidency of the Republic.-San José, on the seventh day of February, two thousand fourteen.

Adicionalmente será reconocido dicho incentivo a los integrantes de las Brigadas de Bomberos Forestales, integradas por funcionarios del Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación, cuando deban realizar o atender situaciones que requieran su disponibilidad fuera de la jornada laboral establecida para la atención de desastres naturales u otros incidentes que así lo ameriten a criterio de la Administración.

Disponibilidad: Es la obligación que tienen los funcionarios descritos en el artículo 2 del presente decreto, de realizar de manera permanente servicios de control y protección y conservación del Patrimonio Natural del Estado y de los Recursos Naturales y otros atinentes a su función durante las horas que están fuera de la jornada ordinaria de trabajo, sean días laborables y durante los días consecutivos de jornada acumulativa. Es una actitud expectante y permanente de carácter obligatoria, en virtud de la cual el funcionario deberá actuar de oficio, ante cualquier ilícito que detecte, denuncia de terceros o ante requerimiento de cualquier autoridad del Sistema Nacional de Área de Conservación, para realizar actuaciones ante eventos ordinarios o extraordinarios.

Servidores con carácter de autoridad de policía: Son aquellos servidores del Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación debidamente acreditados, que realizan funciones permanentes de manejo, control y protección del Patrimonio Natural del Estado y de los Recursos Naturales, conforme lo indican los artículos 54 de la Ley Forestal, 15 de la Ley de Conservación de la Vida Silvestre Nº7317 y el artículo 09 de la Ley del Servicio de Parques Nacionales Nº6084.

Este incentivo corresponde a un veinticinco por ciento (25%) sobre el monto establecido como salario base, será pagadero a los funcionarios (as), con carácter de Autoridad de Policía que realizan control y protección y conservación del Patrimonio Natural del Estado y de los Recursos Naturales.

Adicionalmente será reconocido dicho incentivo a los integrantes de las Brigadas de Bomberos Forestales integrados por funcionarios del Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación, cuando deban realizar o atender situaciones que requieran su disponibilidad fuera de la jornada laboral establecida para la atención de desastres naturales u otros incidentes que así lo ameriten a criterio de la Administración.

El funcionario o servidor que labora bajo el régimen de Disponibilidad debe cumplir con lo siguiente:

• a)Presentarse sin dilación alguna al sitio donde se le requiera. Para ello deberá tomarse en cuenta la extensión territorial, las vías y medios de comunicación y demás características topográficas del lugar en que se halle la jurisdicción respectiva y cuando sea una necesidad institucional de acuerdo a la magnitud del evento en virtud de una justificación razonada y fundamental.
• b)Facilitar a la Oficina de Gestión de Desarrollo del Recurso Humano respectiva, y a la oficina del Área de Conservación donde presta el servicio, así como cualquier otra oficina que el superior eventualmente señale, el número de teléfono, dirección del domicilio o cualquier otro medio que haga posible su ubicación ágil y oportuna.
• c)Mantenerse todo el tiempo en que se encuentre en disponibilidad en condiciones de absoluta sobriedad y en capacidad de atender con prontitud y eficiencia los asuntos que se presenten.

El incumplimiento de las disposiciones que rigen el presente Reglamento por parte del servidor obligado a la disponibilidad, tiene como consecuencia:

• a)El reintegro al SINAC por el servidor, de las sumas que haya percibido por este concepto a partir de la fecha en que incurrió en el incumplimiento.
• b)La aplicación de las sanciones que correspondan de acuerdo con el régimen disciplinario institucional.

Los (as) jefes, administradores (as) de las Áreas Silvestres Protegidas, tendrán la obligación de informar a las Oficinas Regionales de Recursos Humanos, sobre cualquier cambio de circunstancias en relación con el servidor que ostente el carácter de autoridad de policía y de control y protección, que pueda llegar a significar la supresión del pago del incentivo de disponibilidad.

La información debe remitirse a más tardar en el mes siguiente de aquel en el que variaron las circunstancias de trabajo, quedando cada jefe, supeditado a las sanciones disciplinarias tanto administrativas como penales que puedan corresponder en caso de que omita remitir la información oportunamente. Lo anterior sin perjuicio de otras responsabilidades que puedan atribuirse, por información contraria a la verdad real o por información que no se ajuste a las disposiciones para el otorgamiento del incentivo.

Todo funcionario que considere que le asiste derecho a percibir el reconocimiento del incentivo de Disponibilidad, al tenor de las disposiciones contenidas en el presente Reglamento, deberá solicitar a la Oficina Regional de Recursos Humanos del Área de Conservación en que labora, el reconocimiento del mismo, para lo cual, de previo deberá cumplir con las disposiciones internas que al efecto emita el Departamento de Gestión de Recurso Humano de la Secretaria Ejecutiva del Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación.

El pago del incentivo empezará a regir a partir del día en que el funcionario inicie sus labores en el puesto que amerite el reconocimiento (caso de funcionarios de primer ingreso), previo cumplimiento de las disposiciones que al efecto se emanen, o cuando la naturaleza del cargo varíe y que adquiera las funciones de manejo en vida silvestre, así como los funcionarios que realicen permanentemente labores de control y protección y conservación del Patrimonio Natural del Estado y de los Recursos Naturales, fuera de su jornada laboral establecida por la Administración para el ejercicio de sus funciones, de acuerdo con lo que se disponga en el presente reglamento. En caso de traslado, reubicación o reasignación de puestos antiguos de funcionarios del Sistema, aportando la respectiva documentación, según sea el caso que aplique a cada funcionario.

Los superiores de los servidores sujetos a Disponibilidad deben velar por el cumplimiento de las disposiciones establecidas en el presente Reglamento. Deben comunicar cualquier inobservancia a la Oficina de Gestión y Desarrollo de Recurso Humano respectiva, en todo caso, deben levantar la información necesaria para la aplicación eventual del régimen disciplinario.

La Jefatura del Departamento de Gestión de Desarrollo del Recurso Humano de la Secretaría Ejecutiva del SINAC y los encargados (as) de las Oficinas Regionales de Gestión de Desarrollo del Recurso Humano de las Áreas de Conservación involucrados en el proceso de otorgamiento y control del incentivo de Disponibilidad, serán los responsables de velar porque en cada caso en particular, se cumpla con los requisitos y procedimientos de previo a la resolución de otorgamiento de los incentivos.

Dicha resolución deberá ser debidamente razonada, advirtiéndose al personal al que se le asigne este incentivo, el sometimiento a las regulaciones que se establezcan con relación al pago del incentivo de disponibilidad así como sus implicaciones y obligaciones.

La citada resolución deberá ser firmada por la Jefatura del Departamento de Gestión de Desarrollo del Recurso Humano de la Secretaría Ejecutiva del SINAC, el encargado (a) de la Oficina Regional de Gestión de Desarrollo del Recurso Humano del Área de Conservación, así como del Director del Área de Conservación involucrada. Se deberá notificar la misma al interesado y a su jefe inmediato.

El desacato, acciones u omisiones sin justificación a los deberes establecidos en el presente reglamento Disponibilidad, conlleva la aplicación del régimen disciplinario establecido en el Estatuto de Servicio Civil, en su Reglamento y en el Reglamento Autónomo de Servicios de la Institución.

Se le suspenderá al servidor el pago de la disponibilidad cuando se acoja a permisos con goce de salario, así como en aquellos casos en que se encuentre capacitándose hasta por tres meses, según la necesidad institucional, en vacaciones, incapacitado o en cualquier otra situación que le impida desempeñarse en el puesto, siempre y cuando este período sea mayor a treinta días naturales. Una vez que se reintegre a su puesto, asumirá la disponibilidad nuevamente. En el caso de permiso sin goce de sueldo o suspensión con o sin goce de salario, se limitará el reconocimiento a partir del momento en que éste se acuerde.

Mediante resolución, la Administración deberá fundamentar de forma razonada, la supresión de los incentivos cuando así corresponda o cuando el servidor externe la negativa de recibir dicho incentivo.

Dado en la Presidencia de la República.-San José, a los siete días del mes de febrero del dos mil catorce.