Minimum Wage in Puerto Rico

Guide to Minimum Wage in Puerto Rico

If you are being paid the minimum wage in PR, or considering paying employees the minimum wage, you need to know about the territory's wage laws. Employers can be sued for failing to pay the minimum wage in Puerto Rico to eligible employees. This guide will explain the minimum wage in PR for both non-tipped and tipped workers, as well as which workers are exempt from minimum wage laws.

Minimum Wage for Non-Tipped Employees

Most employers in Puerto Rico either make over $500,000 a year or are involved in producing some product or service for interstate commerce. If either of these describes your employer, they must pay the minimum wage in Puerto Rico according to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Currently, the FLSA requires that non-tipped employees making minimum wage in PR receive $7.25 per hour worked.

This $7.25 wage represents a significant increase to the minimum wage in Puerto Rico over just a few years ago. For nearly a decade, the minimum wage in PR stayed stagnant at $5.15 an hour for non-tipped employees. There are no further scheduled increases to the minimum wage in Puerto Rico at this time.

Minimum Wage for Tipped Employees

Tipped employees make a lower minimum wage in PR. If you make most of your income with tips, your employer is only required to pay you a $2.13 minimum wage in Puerto Rico, but your wages must be increased if your tips do not bring your total hourly compensation to the non-tipped minimum wage.

Overtime Minimum Wage in Puerto Rico

Employees making the minimum wage in PR must be given overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 per week or 8 per day. Currently, the minimum wage in Puerto Rico for overtime hours is $10.88 for employers covered by the FLSA. This amounts to one and one half times the federal minimum wage. If your employer is not covered by the FLSA, they are required to pay double time for all hours worked in excess of 40 per week or 8 per day.

Exemptions to Minimum Wage in Puerto Rico

If your employer is not covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, your minimum wage in PR can be as low as 70% of the federal minimum. Currently, this means that the minimum wage in Puerto Rico at these employers is just $4.10 an hour. Workers under 20 receiving a training wage have a minimum wage in PR of $4.25 an hour, but this wage must be raised to the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour after a 90 day training period.

Student workers may be paid as little as $3.49 an hour according to the minimum wage in Puerto Rico. This minimum wage for student workers only applies for those working 20 hours per week or less. Additionally, disabled people may be paid less than the federal or state minimum wage in some protected workshops. This requires additional permitting and is not allowed for all businesses.