Hours of Work in Puerto Rico

For employees covered under the FLSA, normal working hours should be no more than eight hours perday or forty hours per week. Employees who work in excess of normal hours are entitled to time-and-a-half wages.163 Employees covered by the FLSA are: any individual engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce164, or an individual employed by a public agency165. Excluded from this Act are individuals employed by an employer engaged in agriculture (if such individual is a member of the employer’s
immediate family), individuals who volunteer to perform services for a public agency (which includes a State, political subdivision of a State, or an interstate governmental agency), and individuals who volunteer their services for humanitarian purposes.

Employees not covered by the FLSA are covered by Puerto Rico’s wage-and-hour laws. Generally, for covered employees, regular working hours should be (1) no more than 8 hours per day, from 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m., with one hour for lunch, and (2) 40 hours per week. Flexible schedules to advance or delay the beginning of the workday and the period for taking meals are permitted by mutual agreement, but the workday shall not exceed eight hours without being paid overtime.166 Employees who work in excess of regular time are entitle to double pay.167 Special rules apply to employees working on Sundays and certain holidays.

Source: A Guide To Doing Business in Puerto Rico, published by the Government of Puerto Rico.