The 130 hours a month to accrue leave

It is DTRH’s official reading of how many hours must be worked in a month to acquire the statutory right to accrue vacation and sick leave in the private sector, after Act 4-2017 amended Act No. 180 of 27 July 1998. It is signed by the Office of the Labor Prosecutor.

It applies to every employee covered by Act 180-1998, regardless of hire date. The date does decide something else: the accrual rate. Those working for an employer before Act 4-2017 who by law were entitled to higher monthly accrual rates continue enjoying those rates; those hired from 26 January 2017 accrue at the rates Act 180-1998 provides after the amendments. The consulta itself warns in a footnote that its guidance is general and does not consider whether the employee is covered by a mandatory decree.

• Working at least one hundred thirty (130) hours a month: the threshold Act 4-2017 put into Act 180-1998, applying to every employee it covers.Verified against the official source
• Being covered by Act 180-1998: the consulta warns its guidance does not consider whether a mandatory decree also covers you.Verified against the official source

Information pending verification.

1. 1

   Step 1: The threshold: 130 hours a month

   Act 4-2017 amended Act 180-1998 to provide that "every employee shall be entitled to a minimum accrual of vacation and sick leave upon working at least one hundred thirty (130) hours a month". The Office underlines the two words that settle the question: every employee. The requirement applies to all employees covered by Act 180-1998, including those hired before the Labor Transformation and Flexibility Act took effect.

2. 2

   Step 2: What pre-2017 hires keep

   The rate, not the threshold. The same Act provides that an employee working for an employer before the Labor Transformation and Flexibility Act took effect, who by law was entitled to monthly accrual rates higher than those it provides, shall continue enjoying the rates previously applicable to them. The example is the consulta’s own: employees hired before 26 January 2017 with a statutory right to accrue vacation at one and a quarter days a month continue accruing that amount, but the right now arises by law when they work at least one hundred thirty hours a month.

3. 3

   Step 3: The 129 hours

   This is the part worth reading slowly. The consulta answers that an employer may raise any part-time employee’s monthly hours to one hundred twenty-nine and that such an increase does not mean the employee has a statutory right to accrue vacation and sick leave. It is not a loophole: the Office anchors it in Act 4-2017’s statement of motives, under which one reason for raising the required hours was to encourage employers to give part-time employees more monthly hours "without thereby increasing labour costs on account of these benefits", so those employees would receive greater compensation.

4. 4

   Step 4: And from 130 on

   The consulta closes that point with a sentence worth keeping: if the part-time employee works one hundred thirty hours or more in the month, that employee acquires the statutory right to accrue such leave at the rate corresponding to their hire date. There is no "part-time" category that excludes them: the Act looks at the month’s hours, not the job label.

5. 5

   Step 5: The floor, not the ceiling

   The Office notes it at the end and it holds across labour legislation: the law sets a minimum of benefits employees covered by it are entitled to, but nothing stops employers from extending or granting benefits greater than those the law provides, in order to attract or retain talent. If your employer accrues leave for you below 130 hours, it is entitled to.

6. 6

   Step 6: The number you will read elsewhere, and why it is not the one

   You will find texts talking about accruing half a day a month by working under 115 hours a month but at least 20 a week. Act 41-2022 created that, and DTRH itself published Secretary’s Opinion 2022-03 explaining it in detail. But Act 41-2022 was annulled by a decision of Judge Laura T. Swain on 3 March 2023, and the official compilations of the Office of Management and Budget warn up front that they are compiled omitting its amendments for that reason. The threshold that governs, then, remains the 130 hours this consulta interprets.

The accrual is kept by the employer in its leave records. If you believe you worked 130 hours or more in a month and were not credited, a leave claim is a wage claim: it goes to DTRH’s Bureau of Labor Standards or to court.

• Believing the 130 hours only apply to those hired from 2017: they apply to every employee covered by Act 180-1998.
• Confusing the threshold with the rate: pre-2017 hires keep the higher rate, not the old threshold.
• Using the 115-monthly-and-20-weekly-hour test, which came from Act 41-2022, annulled in 2023.
• Counting hours by year instead of month by month: the right to accrue arises monthly.
• Assuming an employer may not give you 129 hours a month on purpose: the consulta expressly says it may.
• Thinking an employer may not give you more than the law requires: labour legislation sets a minimum, not a maximum.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento del Trabajo y Recursos Humanos (DTRH)

  Departamento del Trabajo

  www.trabajo.pr.gov

• Department of Labor and Human Resources — Labor Prosecutor opinions

  dtrh

  www.trabajo.pr.gov