Last updated on June 6, 2024.

Paid Time Off (PTO) in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico’s employment and leave laws are governed by:

• U.S. labor laws;

• Puerto Rico’s own Constitution.

This legal framework guarantees employees the right to work a standard eight-hour day, earn a proper minimum wage, have vacation leave, and receive extra pay for working overtime.

Vacation Leave Quota

Up to 15 days

Regular employees in Puerto Rico are legally entitled to up to 15 days of paid vacation (accruing 1.25 days per month). This is a legal maximum, but entitlement could be lower according to accrual factors.

The exact accrual rate depends on:

• size of the company;

• number of hours an employee works per month;

• an employee’s seniority.

The following rules apply to regular nonexempt employees. Part-time nonexempt employees aren’t qualified to accrue any vacation leave or sick leave.

Accrual Rate

• A company with 12 or fewer employees:

Employees earn 0.5 days (half a day) of vacation leave each month if they work at least 130 hours that month.

• A company with 13 or more employees:

Employees earn vacation leave based on their seniority (years of service). It varies from 0.5 to 1.25 days per month, as shown in the following table.

An Entitlement According to the Seniority

These rules came into effect on September 3, 2023.

Taking a Vacation

An employee cannot take vacation leave before it has been accrued for a full year. Vacation time should be given annually in a way that does not disrupt the employer’s regular business operations, so the employer is allowed to set the schedule of vacation. Also, vacation days should be taken consecutively; employees are required to take at least 5 straight days per year. Yet, by mutual agreement, the employer and employee can divide the vacation days, provided the employee still takes at least five consecutive days of leave in a given year. 

Vacation leave pay should be equal to the regular wage of an employee for the month in which the vacation leave was accrued. Nonexempt employees can only demand payment for vacation leave surpassing ten accrued days.

Carry Over

An employer is required to pay out all unused vacation days at the end of each year. Therefore, employees cannot roll over unused vacation time to the following year. Accrued but unused days of vacation must be reimbursed at the employee’s regular hourly wage rate. On the other hand, they can carry over unused sick leave.

Vacation days can be accrued for up to two years if both the employer and the employee agree. If an employer does not provide vacation leave after it has been accrued for two years, they must grant the employee all the accrued vacation days and pay them twice the amount for any vacation accrued over two years.

Payment of Unused Vacation on Termination

When an employee’s job ends for any reason, the employer must pay the employee for all the vacation leave they have accrued and not used, even if it is less than one full year’s worth of the benefit.

Sick Leave in Puerto Rico

12 days of paid sick leave and FMLA.

Employers in Puerto Rico must give employees 1 day of paid sick leave for each month of work, up to 12 days annually (of which 5 days may be used as caregiver’s leave). The Puerto Rico leave laws are in addition to the FMLA, one of the federal US leave laws.

Puerto Rico Paid Sick Leave

Up to 12 days per year.

Regular employees earn paid sick leave at a rate of 1 day per month if they work at least 130 hours. This accrual rate leads to a maximum of 12 days per year. This policy applies to all employers, regardless of how many employees the employer has.

Accrual, reporting, and carryover

Employees start accruing sick leave at the beginning of their probationary period.

Employees must inform their employer about an illness or injury as soon as they know and no later than the same day they are absent, except in emergencies. Sick leave should not be used as an excuse to ignore company rules and attendance policies, provide a medical certificate (doctor’s notes) for absences longer than two days, and give periodic updates in case of longer illnesses.

Unused sick leave can be carried over to the next year, up to a maximum of fifteen days.

Sick Leave to Care for Family Members

5 days

Employees are also permitted to use up to 5 days of paid sick leave to care for a parent, child, spouse, or a person under the employee’s legal custody or guardianship: an elderly person (60 yrs. or older), a minor, or someone with a disability.

Family and Medical Leave (FMLA)

Up to 12 weeks.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires private employers with 50+ employees to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period.

This applies to one of the following situations:

• The birth and care of a newborn child.
• Placement of a child for adoption or foster care.
• To care for a spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition.
• For the employee’s own serious health condition that makes them unable to work.
• For any urgent need arising because a family member is on active duty or called to active duty as a member of the National Guard or Reserve.

Eligible employees who are immediate family members or next of kin of a service member with a serious injury or illness are entitled to up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave in a single 12-month period to care for the service member.

To qualify for FMLA benefits, employees must fulfill the following conditions:

• must have worked for their employer for at least 12 months (not necessarily consecutive);
• have completed at least 1,250 hours of work in the past 12 months.

Check out our Glossary page about FMLA to learn more.

Maternity and Paternity Leave

Besides FMLA, Puerto Rico has its own specific regulations regarding family and medical leave, which differ from those in the continental United States. Under Puerto Rico’s leave laws, employees are entitled to maternity and paternity leave, but there is no broad Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program as in California or New York leave laws, for example. Puerto Rico implemented a paid family leave law which basically only requires firms to pay employees on maternity leave (without creation of an insurance program). However, Puerto Rico offers certain additional protection and benefits for employees.

Maternity Leave in Puerto Rico

8 weeks of fully paid leave.

A pregnant female employee in Puerto Rico is legally entitled to at least 8 weeks of paid maternity leave.

This leave is typically divided into:

• 4 weeks before the birth:
• 4 weeks after.

To qualify, the employee must provide a medical certificate confirming her pregnancy and the expected delivery date.

An employee has the option to work as late as one week before the due date and can return to work as early as two weeks after childbirth. However, this applies provided that they have a medical certificate confirming their ability to do so.

Maternity leave can be extended up to a maximum of 20 weeks in total if there are complications before, after, or during the pregnancy. In this case, the additional 12 weeks are unpaid.

During maternity leave, an employee’s contract is protected (both before and after delivery).

Employees working in the public sector are entitled to 16 weeks.

Payout

Maternity leave is paid at 100% of the employee’s regular salary.

The payment for maternity leave is generally covered by a combination of the employer and the Puerto Rican Social Security Administration (Administración de Seguros de Salud de Puerto Rico). Employers must pay the employee’s full salary for eight weeks of maternity leave, divided into four weeks before and four weeks after birth. The Puerto Rican Social Security Administration may provide additional benefits, and employers might be eligible for reimbursement of part of the costs. Employees may need to apply for social security benefits.

Adoption Leave 

8 weeks

Generally, a mother going through adoption is legally entitled to maternity leave, the same as a mother who goes through regular biological childbirth. However, the adopted child must be five years of age or younger.

To begin maternity leave for adoption, a mother-to-be must provide a 30-day notice of her choice to adopt a child. She must also provide proof of the adoption issued by the appropriate agency.

Adoption leave begins on the exact date when the child joins the family. The adopting mother may return to work without waiting for the official end of her leave, thus forfeiting any unused portion.

Paternity Leave in Puerto Rico

15 unpaid days for the private sector; 5 paid days for the public sector.

Puerto Rico leave laws provide paternity leave, allowing fathers to take up to 15 days of unpaid leave following the birth of their child.

Employees working in the private sector are entitled to 5 working days of paid paternity leave.

Parental Leave in Puerto Rico

Only under FMLA.

Parental leave does not exist as such in Puerto Rico leave laws, however eligible parents make take FMLA for these purposes. Employers with 50 or more employees are required to offer 12 weeks of unpaid leave under the U.S. Federal Family and Medical Leave Act. This leave can be used for the birth of a new child, the placement of an adoptive or foster child, to care for a close family member, or for medical leave when an employee is unable to work.

Bereavement Leave in Puerto Rico

Bereavement leave is not specified by law.

Jury Duty Leave in Puerto Rico

Jury duty leave is not specified by law.

Military Leave in Puerto Rico

Unpaid leave for private employees.

The Puerto Rico Military Code provides leave and protection for members of the Armed Forces of the US. The concerning law was enacted on August 8, 2023.

Military Leave

Private employees who are armed forces members are entitled to unpaid leave when called to military service. This includes members of the Puerto Rico National Guard (Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard), the Adjutant General, the State Guard, and the Youth Programs. This leave may last for the whole duration of their service, provided that all legal requirements are satisfied. This applies to various military activities and specifically military training—attending drills, camps, courses, or seminars. This leave does not affect an employee’s seniority.

Public employees are entitled to up to 45 days of paid leave per year for military service.

Reemployment Guidelines

All members of the National Guard who are called to serve may request to return to work after serving their time according to the following deadlines:

• Service of 30 days or less: an employee must report back to work at the start of the next work shift after 8 hours of rest.

• Service of 31 to 180 days: an employee may request reemployment within 14 days after service ends.

• Service of more than 181 days: an employee must apply for reemployment within 90 days after service ends.

Reinstatement Rights

A private employer must ensure that a service member returning from service is given a position of similar pay, rank, and status.

Voting Leave in Puerto Rico

Voting leave is not specified by law.

Public Holidays in Puerto Rico for 2024

Certain public holidays that fall on a Sunday move to the following Monday as a substitute day off.

Sources

1. Local Laws & Regulations, https://www.atlashxm.com/en/countries/puerto-rico

2. Payroll and Benefits Guide Puerto Rico, https://www.papayaglobal.com/countrypedia/country/puerto-rico/

3. Definitive Guide to Hiring in Puerto Rico, https://www.globalexpansion.com/countrypedia/puerto-rico

4. Puerto Rico Working Mothers Protection Act, https://bvirtualogp.pr.gov/ogp/Bvirtual/leyesreferencia/PDF/2-ingles/3-1942.pdf

5. New Puerto Rico Military Code: What Puerto Rico Employers Should Know, https://www.littler.com/publication-press/publication/new-puerto-rico-military-code-what-puerto-rico-employers-should-know

Check out our Leave Laws page to learn more about laws in various countries.