Puerto Rico
Make employment in Puerto Rico easy. Let us handle payroll, benefits, taxes, compliance, and even stock options for your team in Puerto Rico, all in one easy-to-use platform.
- Capital City
San Juan
- Currency
United States Dollar ($, USD)
- Languages
Spanish and English
- Population size
3,285,874
Facts & Stats
- Capital City
San Juan
- Currency
United States Dollar ($, USD)
- Languages
Spanish and English
- Population size
3,285,874
- Ease of doing business
Easy
- Cost of living index
N/A
- Payroll frequency
Monthly
- VAT - standard rate
11.5%
- GDP - real growth rate
-3.9% (2020)
Puerto Rico is a Caribbean island and an unincorporated territory of the United States. This vibrant island boasts pristine rainforests, hundreds of miles of tropical beaches, a rich history filled with fabled pirates and transoceanic trade (Puerto Rico has a particularly strong coffee industry).
Puerto Ricans are proud of their national identity and their own unique local culture. The island’s capital of San Juan is brimming with vibrant nightlife. Restaurants, shops, hotels, and cafes make this a perfect place for digital nomads to stop and sample island life – as long as they have the correct legal right to work!
Grow your team in Puerto Rico with Remote
Looking to hire employees in Puerto Rico? Companies hiring in Puerto Rico must either own a local legal entity or work with a global employment platform like Remote that can legally provide employment services in the country.
Remote can employ team members in Puerto Rico and keep you compliant at all times. Remote can hire, onboard, and pay your team in Puerto Rico so you don't have to set up local HR services in the region. to get started or talk to an expert for more details.
Risks of misclassification
Puerto Rico, like many other countries, treats self-employed individuals or contractors and full-time employees differently. Misclassification of contractors in Puerto Rico may lead to fines and penalties for the offending company.
Employing in Puerto Rico
Workers rights in Puerto Rico are covered by American Law and the Puerto Rican Constitution, both of which guarantee equal pay for equal work and protections against discrimination based on age, religion, gender expression, and race.
Common questions that could come up during the hiring process include the minimum wage, overtime rates, and guaranteed paid time off. Remote can help you offer a complete, competitive, and compliant benefits package to your employees in Puerto Rico.
Minimum wage
The Puerto Rican minimum wage is currently fixed at $9.50 per hour.
Onboarding Time
We can help you get a new employee started in Puerto Rico fast. The minimum onboarding time we need is only 10 working days.
Our team ensures your employees are onboarded and paid as quickly as possible while keeping your business compliant with all local employment legislation. The minimum onboarding time begins after the employee submits all required information onto the Remote platform. The onboarding timeline is also dependent upon registration with local authorities.
For all non-nationals of the country of employment, the Right to Work assessment (if applicable) will add three extra days to the total time to onboard. There may be extra time required if we need to follow-up on the right to work assessment.
Please note, payroll cut-off dates can impact the actual first day of employment. Remote has a payroll cut-off date of the 10th of the month unless otherwise specified.
19 Public holidays
Want to see and manage all holidays? Sign up for our free HRIS!
Effortless HR in Puerto Rico: Take the Tour
Competitive benefits package in Puerto Rico
At Remote, we’re passionate about helping you craft the best possible employee experience for your team. We are leading the way in developing globally competitive benefits programs. This means making sure employees everywhere have access to both the required and supplemental benefits they need to thrive, and your company has the localized expertise required to attract and keep the best global talent.
Our benefits packages in Puerto Rico are tailored to fulfill the local needs of employees. Typically, our packages contain some or all of the following benefits:
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
Mental Health Support
Pension or 401(K)
Life and Disability Insurance
Taxes in Puerto Rico
Learn how employment taxes and statutory fees affect your payroll and your employees’ paychecks in Puerto Rico.
6.2%
FICA Social Security (Federal)
1.45%
FICA Medicare (Federal)
0.90%
FICA Medicare (Federal- additional for excess of 250,000USD (for a married couple filing a joint return), 125,000 USD (for a married individual filing a separate return)
6.00%
FUTA (Federal Unemployment Tax)
1.40% - 5.40%
SUTA (State Unemployment Tax)
2.90%
SUTA New Employer Tax
Types of leave
Annual leave in Puerto Rico depends on an employee’s tenure, and it works out as follows:
Up to one year of employment: six days of annual leave
1 - 5 years of employment: nine days annual leave
5 - 15 years of employment: 12 days of annual leave
15+ years of employment: 15 days of annual leave
Annual time off also only applies to non-exempt employees.
Employment termination
Termination process
In line with Puerto Rico’s Unjust Dismissal Act, permanent employees (i.e. those employed on an indefinite-term contract) can only be terminated for “just cause” otherwise, they’ll be entitled to severance pay by the employer.
Notice period
There’s no mandatory notice period in Puerto Rico.
Severance pay
Severance benefits in Puerto Rico are determined by when an employee was hired, that is:
Severance for workers employed on or before 26 January 2017 is equal to three months’ salary plus two weeks’ pay for each year of service.
The same calculation applies to workers hired after 26 January 2021 although their severance compensation is limited to nine months’ pay.
Probation periods
Probation periods in Puerto Rico range from nine months for general employees to 12 months for managerial positions and executives.
Fair Pricing in Puerto Rico
Employer of Record
Hire and pay your global team
Starting at $599/month
for annual plans
Top features
Satisfaction guaranteed
No deposits or hidden fees
Zero onboarding or offboarding fees
Compliant equity incentives support including withholding and reporting
Built-in security and compliance
Fast onboarding (average 2-3 days)
Flexible, localized benefits
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Only pay for contractors you actively work with
Work with contractors in 200+ countries
Create, edit, and sign tailored, localized contracts
Approve contractor invoices with one click or auto-pay
Transparent payments with complete visibility
Remote Payroll
Consolidate your multi-country payroll
$50
per employee/month
Top features
Reduce costs by centralizing payroll management
Ensure local compliance for every country
Direct support from in-house local payroll experts
Accurate, on-time, compliant payroll to level-up your employee experience
Tax and labor authority reporting handled for you
Top features
Guided onboarding and offboarding
Employee profile and document management
Time and attendance (time off and tracking)
Expense management and reimbursement
Employee self-serve on the platform and mobile app