(a) In the fulfillment of the functions assigned to it by this chapter, the Administration may promote and develop employment programs and special work projects for eligible persons in the construction, repairing, maintenance and ornamentation of public works or buildings, including highways, public housing, streets, roads, parks, recreation facilities and other public properties; in the cleaning, improvement and conservation of beaches, places of exceptional beauty and recreation zones; in the conservation of lands, water, fishing, and other wildlife; in activities of environmental sanitation; in artisan projects; in cultural activities; in the rendering of services in offices or of personal attention such as housekeepers, nursing of the sick, the children or the old in hospitals, nurseries, health homes, and private homes when these projects are carried out under the sponsorship of nonprofit organizations or by public entities; in the protection of students against the traffic risks in the immediate school areas; in training or retraining projects in any type of occupation; in education, in the teaching of the illiterate or other persons; in the improvement and expansion of public services; and in any project similar to those mentioned.
(b) The projects to be carried out under the programs of the Administration shall be those of social utility, in which the cost of labor is a predominant factor, and shall be designed to provide employment opportunities which otherwise would not be available. No special work project shall be carried out which may have the effect of producing an unfair competition between different employers of th private enterprises; which may reduce regular employment in the Government or with private employers or which lowers the cost of labor of the employer for whom the work is to be done under contract, except in those cases where part of the wages is contributed by the Administration toward the creation of employment opportunities which would not arise should the employer be compelled to pay the entire cost of said wage. Neither shall there be carried out projects which have, as a result, the effect of displacing persons already employed, including partial displacement that may result from the reduction of working hours or of types of wages or other benefits of the workers. The projects carried out under the sponsorship of public agencies shall, in no case, be a substitution of the projects normally carried out by said agencies, but only in addition to the latter and to the normal increases in same.
(c) The Administration may enter into contracts with the private employers, whether they be natural or artificial persons, of profit or nonprofit character, and with workers organizations. In these cases the Administration may contribute any part of the necessary funds to pay the wages of such workers.
(d) Subject to the provisions of this chapter, when contracting with private employers or with public agencies, the Administration may not otherwise change or vary the conditions established by the agreements entered into, between the latter and labor organizations; nor may it change the obligations fixed in the training agreements approved by the Department of Labor; nor interfere in any manner with the management and labor relations in those cases in which a labor union has initiated or initiates activities for the organization of a specific group of workers for the purpose of being recognized or certified as the legal representative of said workers. Neither shall the Administration furnish workers, or enter into a contract to furnish them, to any employer, if the normal employees of said employer are on strike or the employer is involved in an unlawful labor practice.
(e) The wages to be paid by private employers to the workers under the provisions of this chapter shall be those in effect at any given moment, determined by the Minimum Wage Act, or by collective agreements for similar work. In case the employer be a public agency, the wages to be paid shall be those as received by the regular employees of such agency, for similar jobs.
(f) When it is the Administration which is directly offering the employment, the wages shall be fixed taking into consideration the prevailing wages for similar labor and the legislative intention that through these special work projects and employment programs there will not be established an unfair competition towards private employers.
(g) The Administration shall determine the total of the hours that a worker may work in a determined week or in any period of time, considering the nature of the work, the manner in which it is done and the legislative intention that the workers who avail themselves of the benefits of this chapter shall always have sufficient incentive to accept normal employment as soon as such employment is available.
(h) Any eligible person employed or assigned to a training program pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall not be deemed employees of the Administration or of the Government except that the provisions of chapter 11 of Title 24 and chapter 118 of Title 33 of this Code shall apply to eligible persons employed directly by the Administration or any other public agency.