Act No. 180 of July 27, 1998, provides that the federal minimum wage fixed by the Fair Labor Standards Act approved by the Congress of the United States of America on June 25, 1938, as it has subsequently been amended, shall automatically apply to the workers in Puerto Rico covered by the federal act.
Those businesses that do not meet the criteria of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act, and are thus exempted from the federal minimum wage, shall pay a minimum wage equivalent to seventy percent (70%) of the prevailing minimum wage. Every other phase of federal legislation and regulations regarding how the minimum wage is to be paid, working hours, which employees and occupations are exempted from the federal minimum wage, and what a working day or week is, are applicable. Provided, That the Secretary of Labor and Human Resources shall have the authority to reduce the prevailing percent if he/she shows that its implementation will substantially affect the employees in the enterprises covered by this section.
( Act No. 180 of July 27, 1998)
Robert Alex Fleming is a corporate and trial attorney with over 35 years of experience advising and representing clients in Puerto Rico. He leads Fleming Law Offices, LLC, where his practice is informed by decades of experience in commercial matters, litigation, governance, and dispute resolution. Mr. Fleming is admitted to practice before the courts of Puerto Rico, several federal courts, and the state courts of New York and Texas. He holds an LL.M. in Commercial Law and an MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.