Puerto Rico raises its minimum wage starting July 2024

Puerto Rico’s minimum wage will increase from $9.50 per hour to $10.50 per hour effective July 1, 2024.

On June 12, 2024, a majority of the Commission approved a new minimum wage following an economic report that considered work conditions, benefits, cost of living, the quarterly tax returns of Puerto Rico’s Department of Labor and Human Resources, aggregate data of the Treasury Department’s tax returns from corporations, the inflation rate, among other factors established by the Minimum Wage Act, Act No. 47-2021 (Act 47).  

The minimum wage increase applies to non-exempt employees covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) but does not apply to: 

• Agriculture workers
  
  
• Administrators, executives, and professionals as this term is defined by Regulation No. 13 of the Puerto Rico Labor Department, which mirrors 29 CFR Part 541
  
  
• Employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement establishing a higher wage, or
  
  
• Governmental employees, including the government’s executive agencies, legislative and judiciary branches, municipalities, and instrumentalities, but excluding employees of public corporations and other public entities that operate as private corporations.

Act 47 governs Puerto Rico’s minimum wage, the determination of future increases, and the promulgation of mandatory decrees. To implement its public policy, Act 47 created the Minimum Wage Evaluation Commission (Commission) to assess the viability of further increases to the minimum wage.  

Failure to comply with Act 47 or with mandatory decrees or regulations issued under this statute will entail fines of $500 to $5,000. In cases of repeated violations, the fines will range from $5,000 to $10,000.

For more information or assistance regarding wage and hour requirements in Puerto Rico, please contact the authors or your DLA Piper relationship attorney.