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Work & Unemployment

How to apply for SINOT temporary disability in Puerto Rico

Last reviewed: August 13, 2026 — VerifiedDepartamento del Trabajo

In short

SINOT pays benefits to insured workers who lost wages due to a disability caused by an illness or injury NOT related to employment and NOT caused by a car accident. To qualify you must be disabled, be under treatment with a duly authorized physician or chiropractor, and have received at least $150.00 in wages in insured employment during your basic year. You apply using form SI-1. The minimum benefit is $12.00 weekly, and the maximum $55.00 in the agricultural phase and $113.00 in the industrial phase, for up to 26 weeks within any 52 consecutive-week period.

External link

Go to the official site

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www.trabajo.pr.gov

What is it?

Temporary Non-Occupational Disability Insurance is a Department of Labor and Human Resources program that pays benefits to insured workers who have lost wages as a result of a disability caused by an illness or injury not related to employment and not caused by a car accident. It also pays dismemberment benefits, and death benefits to an insured worker’s dependents. The DTRH adds that the program includes provisions on job reservation and employment guarantees for disabled workers. It is funded by an employer contribution: .60% of the worker’s wages up to a maximum of $9,000.00 per calendar year, of which the worker’s share cannot exceed .30%.

Who can do it?

The DTRH publishes three eligibility requirements: being unable to work as a result of an illness or injury not related to employment and not caused by a car accident; being under treatment with a duly authorized physician or chiropractor; and having received at least $150.00 in wages in insured employment during your basic year. The DTRH also expressly contemplates several scenarios: a pregnant worker with complications certified by a physician before or after pregnancy may receive benefits; someone who becomes disabled while receiving unemployment may apply for SINOT but not for the same period; someone with a claim at the State Insurance Fund may claim SINOT while it is being evaluated for work-relatedness, as long as they are not receiving Fondo de Anticipo; and someone receiving a public, private or federal Social Security pension may be eligible if they worked at least 15 weeks after beginning to receive it.

Requirements

Documents you need

This list describes what is usually requested. It has not yet been confirmed with the official agency.

Cost

Check the current cost with the official agency.

Step by step

  1. Step 1: Confirm your case belongs to SINOT and not another insurance

    This is the filter that decides everything. SINOT covers disabilities NOT related to employment and NOT arising from a car accident. If you were hurt at work, that belongs to the State Insurance Fund Corporation. If it was a car accident, it goes through automobile coverage. Getting the system wrong is what costs weeks.

  2. Step 2: Get under treatment with an authorized physician or chiropractor

    This is not health advice, it is an eligibility requirement: the DTRH requires being under treatment with a duly authorized physician or chiropractor. Without active treatment, one of the three requirements the agency publishes is not met.

  3. Step 3: Get form SI-1

    The DTRH gives four ways to get it: from your employer, at the Department’s Local Offices, at the Central Office, or by downloading it from the link it publishes on its SINOT page. Any of the four works, so start with whichever is closest to hand.

  4. Step 4: Fill it in completely, especially the employer-payments section

    The DTRH underlines it: the form must be completed in every field, especially those about payments the employer made to the worker for vacation, sick leave, holidays, maternity and others. That section determines how your benefit is calculated, so leaving it blank is a reliable way to delay the claim.

  5. Step 5: Deliver it in person or by mail

    The DTRH accepts both. For mail it publishes two addresses: Edificio Prudencio Rivera Martínez, 10th floor, 505 Ave. Muñoz Rivera, San Juan PR 00918-3514; or PO Box 195540, San Juan PR 00919-5540. In person, at the same offices where the form is obtained.

  6. Step 6: If you are receiving unemployment, watch the periods

    The DTRH explains it plainly: a worker who becomes disabled while receiving Unemployment Insurance may apply for SINOT, but not for the same period claimed, because both benefits cannot be received at once. When you recover, you can renew the unemployment claim.

Where to do it

At the Department of Labor and Human Resources, Worker Benefits Bureau, Temporary Non-Occupational Disability Insurance Program. In person at the Local Offices or the Central Office, or by mail to Edif. Prudencio Rivera Martínez, 10th floor, 505 Ave. Muñoz Rivera, San Juan PR 00918-3514, or PO Box 195540, San Juan PR 00919-5540. The San Juan/Hato Rey office publishes the email sinot@trabajo.pr.gov and phone 787-754-5850.

How long it takes

Check the current processing time with the official agency.

What to do if something goes wrong

If you are denied for not meeting the wage minimum, the requirement is having received at least $150.00 in insured employment during your basic year; if you worked less than that in the period that counts, it is not a system error. If your employer is exempt from contributing — the DTRH names nonprofits, private domestic employers, municipal, state and federal government, chauffeurs and agricultural-phase employees — check whether you were covered through voluntary insurance, since exempt employers may do that. If you have an open case at the State Insurance Fund, you may claim SINOT while it is evaluated for work-relatedness, as long as you are not receiving Fondo de Anticipo from that corporation. And if you receive a pension, the DTRH requires having worked at least 15 weeks after beginning to receive it. PRFácil does not file claims and does not determine eligibility; for questions about your case, contact SINOT at 787-754-5850 or sinot@trabajo.pr.gov.

Common mistakes

  • Filing with SINOT an injury that happened at work, which belongs to the State Insurance Fund Corporation, or one from a car accident, which goes through other coverage.
  • Leaving blank the SI-1 section on employer payments for vacation, sick leave, holidays or maternity, which the DTRH underlines as essential.
  • Applying without being under treatment with an authorized physician or chiropractor, which is one of the three eligibility requirements.
  • Claiming SINOT and unemployment for the same period, when both cannot be received at once.
  • Assuming you are covered without checking, when some employers are exempt from contributing and only insure employees if they request voluntary insurance.
  • Waiting too long to claim a death benefit: it must be claimed within the following six months, and after one year it is not paid except for minor or incapacitated dependents.

Frequently asked questions

How much does SINOT pay and for how long?

The amount depends on the insured wages in your claim’s basic year. The DTRH publishes a minimum benefit of $12.00 weekly, and a maximum of $55.00 weekly in the agricultural phase and $113.00 in the industrial phase. The benefit is paid while the disability lasts, or up to a maximum of 26 weeks in any 52 consecutive calendar-week period.

I am pregnant. Can I claim?

The DTRH contemplates it: a pregnant worker who suffers complications certified by a physician before and after pregnancy may receive benefits if she meets the Act’s other provisions. The key is physician-certified complications, not pregnancy on its own.

What are dismemberment benefits?

They are payments to insured workers whose compensable injury or illness causes certain losses, and the DTRH publishes the schedule: $4,000.00 for total permanent loss of sight in both eyes, both feet at or above the ankle, both arms at or above the wrist, or an arm or a leg; $3,000.00 for an arm at or above the wrist or a leg at or above the ankle; $2,500.00 for a hand or foot, or total permanent loss of sight in one eye; and $2,000.00 for at least three fingers or toes.

An insured family member died. What do I do?

It is claimed with form SI-63, “Death Benefits Application”, and there is a deadline that matters: it must be claimed within six months of the insured worker’s date of death. The DTRH warns that no benefits will be paid on claims filed more than one year after the death, except for minor or incapacitated dependents. The death benefit is $4,000.00, prorated among direct dependents, plus any benefit still owed to the worker.

Official sources

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

Last verified

August 13, 2026

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