Claiming wages, vacation or Christmas bonus from the Labor Department

The NNT is established by Section 17 of Ley Núm. 15 of 14 April 1931, the Organic Act of the Department of Labor and Human Resources. Its responsibility is to guarantee non-unionized private-sector employees full enjoyment of the rights set out in Puerto Rico’s protective labour legislation. To that end it conducts inspections, processes claims, answers enquiries, handles complaints, offers guidance through conferences and seminars, and issues permits and licences. The Department explains why it matters: through the claims it refers to the Legal Affairs Bureau and to the Mediation and Adjudication Office, the NNT gives access to justice to a working class without resources, and promotes balance in the labour relations of employees who have no union representative.

The NNT serves non-unionized private-sector employees. The Department estimates Puerto Rico’s workforce at 1,198,000 people, all of whom it is obliged to serve if needed, and says it serves roughly 200,000 workers. If you have a union representative and your claim is under a collective agreement, the route is the agreement’s and, once the grievance committee is exhausted, arbitration through the Conciliation and Arbitration Bureau. If your matter is employment discrimination, the forum is the Antidiscrimination Unit, not this one.

• Being a non-unionized private-sector employee or former employee: that is the population the NNT serves.Verified against the official source
• Giving your phone number and the municipality where you live, so the assigned official can contact you.Verified against the official source
• Giving the name and address of the employer you want to report.Verified against the official source
• Stating what the guidance is about: unjustified dismissal; vacation or sick leave; wages, overtime, meal period, illegal deductions or tips; Christmas bonus; religious accommodation; or workplace harassment.Verified against the official source

• Form NNT-99AA, the Contact Sheet, which the NNT publishes to make guidance easier. It provides the basic information needed to bring a claim.

1. 1

   Step 1: Put a name to what happened to you

   The NNT publishes the list of matters it advises on, and it is worth reading in full because many people never file simply because they did not know their situation had a name. They are: unjustified dismissal; vacation and/or sick leave; wages, overtime, meal period, illegal deductions, tips; Christmas bonus; religious accommodation; and workplace harassment. The claims the Bureau processes also cover wage differences, dismissal compensation — what many people call “la mesada” — agricultural sharecropping and miscellaneous cases protecting the reinstatement of employees who are absent after an accident or occupational disability.

2. 2

   Step 2: Write to normas@trabajo.pr.gov

   It is the route the NNT publishes for both enquiries and complaints. In your message include your name, your phone number and the municipality where you live, so the assigned official can contact you. If it is a complaint, add the name and address of the employer you want to report and state what the guidance is about.

3. 3

   Step 3: Or use Contact Sheet NNT-99AA

   The NNT publishes form NNT-99AA, the Contact Sheet, precisely so you do not have to remember everything in an email. It provides the basic information needed to bring a claim. You complete it and send it to the same address, normas@trabajo.pr.gov, so an official can contact you and determine whether there is a cause of action based on what you set out.

4. 4

   Step 4: Or go to the Area Office that covers you

   There are six and each covers specific towns. Metro, at Edificio Prudencio Rivera Martínez, 9th floor, 505 Ave. Muñoz Rivera, San Juan, PR 00918, tel. (787) 754-2011: San Juan, Carolina, Canóvanas, Loíza, Río Grande, Trujillo Alto, Bayamón, Cataño, Comerío, Corozal, Dorado, Guaynabo, Naranjito, Toa Alta and Toa Baja. Arecibo, Centro Gubernamental, 372 Ave. José A. Cedeño Rodríguez, Bldg. B, Office 206, tel. (787) 815-2344 / 815-2728 / 815-1891: Arecibo, Adjuntas, Barceloneta, Camuy, Ciales, Florida, Hatillo, Isabela, Jayuya, Lares, Manatí, Morovis, Quebradillas, Utuado, Vega Alta and Vega Baja. Mayagüez, Edif. Villa Capitán II, 3rd floor, Rd. 2 Km 159.2, tel. (787) 832-4578 / 832-4576 / 832-4573: Mayagüez, Aguadilla, Aguada, Añasco, Cabo Rojo, Hormigueros, Lajas, Las Marías, Maricao, Moca, Rincón, San Germán, Sabana Grande and San Sebastián. Ponce, Ave. Santiago de los Caballeros at Puerto Viejo No. 60, tel. (787) 842-2037 / 842-7395: Ponce, Coamo, Guánica, Guayanilla, Juana Díaz, Orocovis, Peñuelas, Salinas, Santa Isabel, Villalba and Yauco. Caguas, Centro Gubernamental, 1st floor, Office 109, Calle Acosta at Goyco, tel. (787) 744-2011 / 744-5324 / 743-6341 / 745-8440: Caguas, Aguas Buenas, Aibonito, Arroyo, Barranquitas, Cayey, Cidra, Gurabo, Guayama, Patillas and San Lorenzo. Humacao, Centro de Gobierno, Atanacio Cuadra at Dufresne, tel. (787) 852-0242 / 852-0800: Humacao, Ceiba, Culebra, Fajardo, Juncos, Las Piedras, Luquillo, Maunabo, Naguabo, Vieques and Yabucoa.

5. 5

   Step 5: What happens next: complaint, investigation, claim

   The NNT distinguishes between a complaint and a claim. Complaints are the problems workers bring in and, although they often do not end in a claim, the Bureau says they require investigation just as if they had. Claims arise from inspections or, in the great majority of cases, from a worker’s direct complaint. Inspections are carried out by Labor Standards Investigators in manufacturing, services, commerce, construction and other industries, to verify employer compliance and correct any violation committed to workers’ detriment. From there the case can be referred to the Legal Affairs Bureau or to the Mediation and Adjudication Office.

6. 6

   Step 6: If a former employer owes you and cannot find you

   There is something almost nobody knows about. Ley Núm. 77 of 17 April 1952 requires every employer to deposit with the Secretary of Labor whatever it owes on any account to former employees it has not located or whose whereabouts it does not know, starting ninety days from when it became aware of the debt. If a worker dies, the employer must also deposit what it owed them, and that sum is distributed among the heirs under the Civil Code. Deposits are handed over at the NNT Area Offices. If you worked years ago somewhere that closed, or you moved without leaving an address, ask about the Fondo de Reclamaciones at your Area Office.

By email to normas@trabajo.pr.gov, by phone to the Area Office covering your municipality, or in person at one of the six Area Offices: San Juan, Arecibo, Mayagüez, Ponce, Caguas and Humacao. The Fondo de Reclamaciones has its own mailing address: Negociado de Normas de Trabajo, Fondo de Reclamaciones, PO Box 195540, San Juan, PR 00919-5540.

• Not filing because you believe you need a lawyer or money.
• Writing to normas@trabajo.pr.gov without your phone or municipality: without those the assigned official cannot reach you.
• Not giving the name and address of the employer you want to report.
• Going to the wrong Area Office: each covers specific towns.
• Taking a discrimination case to the NNT instead of the Antidiscrimination Unit.
• Letting time pass without asking what the deadline to file is.
• Assuming that if the employer closed there is nothing to be done: the Ley 77-1952 Claims Fund exists.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento del Trabajo y Recursos Humanos (DTRH)

  Departamento del Trabajo

  www.trabajo.pr.gov