Standard working hours are 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week. The standard workweek is from Monday to Friday.

Overtime payment is mandatory for non-exempt employees. Hours outside of standard work hours are considered overtime. For additional hours, employees are paid 150% of the hourly rate.

• Non-exempt employees, according to federal and Puerto Rico overtime laws, are employees that do not spend most of their time managing teams or performing executive or professional duties and earn a salary above USD 2,964 per month. 

Terminations must respect complex rules and the rules of an employee’s employment country. The off-boarding is always handled by the Employer with the primary stakeholders. It may include ad-hoc fees as well as required or recommended steps on specific termination cases.

Terminations in Puerto Rico are complex. Employees hired for an indefinite period should be terminated by just cause. If is terminated without case, the employee will be entitled to an indemnification.

Compliant terminations include:

• Voluntarily by the employee
• By mutual agreement
• Unilaterally by the employer based on:
  • probation period
  • objective grounds
  • disciplinary dismissal
  • performance due to unsuitability for the job
• By expiration of the contract

In Puerto Rico, all employees who are terminated due to without just cause are entitled to severance pay. Severance pay varies depending on the employee's length of service:

• Up to 5 years: 2 months' salary plus 1 week of pay for each full year of service.
• Up to 15 years: 3 months of salary plus 2 weeks of pay for each year of service
• More than 15 years: 6 months of salary plus 3 weeks of pay for every year of service.

Both full-time and part-time employees are entitled to 6 working of paid time off (PTO) a year. PTO and aural rate varies depending on the length of services. During the first year of employment, an employee is not allowed to take more than 6 days.

• During the first year of service: 0.50 days per month, up to six days a year.
• From the 2nd through the 5th year of service: 0.75 days per month, up to nine days a year.
• From the 6th through the 15th year of service: 1 day per month, up to 12 days a year.
• From the 15th year of service: 1.25 days per month, up to 15 days a year.

Puerto Rico celebrates 18 national holidays.

• New Year's Day
• Epiphany
• Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday
• President's Day
• Emancipation Day
• Good Friday
• Easter Sunday
• Mother's Day
• Memorial Day
• Father's Day
• Independence Day
• Constitution Day
• Labour Day
• Day of the Race
• Veterans Day
• Discovery Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Day

Onboarding takes 2 business days after the client signs the SOW. The hiring process includes registering the employee in Social Security. This must be done at least 1 day before the start date.

Contracts must be in English and can be bilingual. They must be in writing and signed by both parties.

A contract must include:

• name
• start date
• length of the employment
• job description
• termination conditions

The length will depend on the classification of the employee:

• Non- exempt employees: 9 months
• Exempt employees 12 months