Employment at will is the doctrine that allows an employer in the United States to terminate an employee at any time, without notice and without cause, so long as it is not prohibited by a particular law (e.g. discriminatory reasons such as age, sex or race). Puerto Rico employment laws are different. Local law 80 (wrongful discharge/termination) modifies this doctrine by including a statutory penalty in the form of a severance payment to the employee. This means that employers in Puerto Rico are free to terminate employees in similar fashion as long as they pay the severance.
The severance under Act 80 depends on the years of service. If the individual was employed for less than five years, he/she is entitled to the equivalent of two month’s pay plus one week of pay for each completed year of service; for employees who completed at least five but less than fifteen years of service, severance equals three months’ pay plus two weeks per year of service; and if more than fifteen years of service, the individual is entitled to receive six months’ pay plus three weeks per completed year of service.
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.