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Hours of Work

ByROBERT ALEX FLEMING

Regular working hours  in Puerto Rico are eight (8) hours during any workday and forty hours (40) during any workweek.  Thus eight (8) hours of work constitute the legal workday in Puerto Rico and forty (40) hours of work constitute a workweek. Extra working hours include: hours that an employee works for his employer in excess of eight (8) hours during any period of twenty-four (24) consecutive hours; hours that an employee works for his…

Professionals in Puerto Rico and FLSA

ByROBERT ALEX FLEMING

In Puerto Rico, certain professionals, including those in the creative field are exempt under minimum wage laws. The exempt categories are similar to those under  federal law. In addition to the requirements as to the wage rate and form of payment, the professional employee exemption applies only if its essential function of work requires advanced knowledge in a scientific or scholarly field predominantly intellectual and includes the consistent exercise of discretion and independent trial. No…

Applicability of Minimum Wage

ByROBERT ALEX FLEMING

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…

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Disability Benefits in Puerto Rico

ByROBERT ALEX FLEMING

Puerto Rico provides disability benefits to workers for non-work related disabilities under SINOT law (stands for ‘Non Occupational Temporary Disability Insurance’);  up to 26 weeks.  The salary of the worker determines the  rate. The minimum weekly rate is $12.00 and the maximum  is $113.00. If the disability is later determined to be work related, the worker will receive worker’s compensation benefits from the CFSE (Puerto Rico’s  public corporation that administers worker’ compensation) . Employers can…

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Working Age

ByROBERT ALEX FLEMING

The FSLA permits the employment of persons between the ages sixteen (16) and eighteen (18) only in occupations that the Secretary of Labor does not declare to be hazardous or detrimental to the health of children. Children between the ages of 14 and 16 are permitted to work (1) in occupations other than manufacturing and mining that are not oppressive child labor (i.e., that do not interfere with the child’s education, health, or well being);…