In short
The State Insurance Fund’s worker insurance is the employer’s obligation, and Act 45-1935 protects that with a short rule and a criminal penalty. Article 20 says no agreement made by a worker to pay any portion of the premiums paid by their employer shall be valid, and that an employer who for that purpose deducts from their wages — or who obtains from them a receipt stating they received as settlement of their compensation a sum that was not the one actually delivered — shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, with up to six months’ imprisonment or a fine of up to five thousand dollars. The same Act places on the employer two paper duties that hold the system up: filing with the Administrator, no later than August 15 each year, a statement with the number of workers, the class of occupation and the total wages paid; and keeping a complete register with each worker’s name, age, sex, nature of the work and wages. Knowingly recording false information is paid for with the same fine and with three times the difference between what was paid and what should have been paid.
What is it?
They are Articles 20, 25 and 26 of Act 45-1935: the ban on charging the worker any portion of the insurance premium, the annual statement of workers the employer files with the Administrator, and the register of workers every employer must keep.
Who can do it?
Article 20’s prohibition protects every worker entitled to the Act’s benefits. The duties of Articles 25 and 26 fall on every employer covered by the Act, including those who employ workers for any term or part of a semester.
Requirements
- For the employer: file with the Administrator, no later than August 15 each year, a statement with the number of workers employed, the class of occupation or industry and the total wages paid during the previous fiscal year.Verified against the official source
- For the employer: keep a complete register with each worker’s name, age, sex, the nature of the work done and the wages paid to each.Verified against the official source
- For the employer hiring for a term or part of a semester: file the statement with estimated wages and, on finishing the work, another with the total wages paid, on which the liquidation is made.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: No agreement for you to pay the premium is valid
Article 20 is titled "Agreements between Employers and Workers, Prohibited" and begins: "No agreement made by an employee or worker to pay any portion of the premiums paid by their employer shall be valid". It does not say it is reviewable or that it depends on what was signed: it says it is not valid. If you signed something like that, the Act has already answered for you.
Step 2: Deducting it from your wages is a misdemeanour
The article’s second half sets the penalty: any employer who for that purpose "makes a deduction from the wages or salaries of any employee or worker entitled to the benefits of this Act" shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and if convicted is subject to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars. It is a criminal penalty, not a mere refund.
Step 3: A receipt for money you were not given falls in the same rule
The same article reaches the employer who obtains from the worker "a receipt stating that the employee received as settlement of their compensation a sum of money that was not the one actually delivered". The penalty is the same. If you are asked to sign for more than you were handed, that signature is precisely the conduct the article penalises.
Step 4: The annual payroll: August 15, with a 15-day extension
Article 25 imposes on every employer the duty to file with the Administrator, no later than August 15 each year, a statement giving the number of workers employed, the class of occupation or industry and the total wages paid during the previous fiscal year. The premium is computed on the total declared wages. On the employer’s request and for justified cause, the Administrator may extend that term by no more than fifteen days. If the employer fails to file on the dates set, the Act provides a penalty whose text continues past what we read, so we do not tell you its amount here.
Step 5: Seasonal work: declared as an estimate, then liquidated
The same article covers the employer hiring workers for any term or part of a semester: they file the statement with the number of workers, the class of occupation and the estimated wages, and on finishing the work they file another statement with the total wages actually paid, on which the liquidation is made. If that payroll turns out larger than the previous one, the Administrator assesses, imposes and collects additional premiums on the difference.
Step 6: The worker register, and what falsifying it costs
Article 26 requires every employer entitled to the Act’s benefits to keep a complete register with each worker’s name, age, sex, nature of the work done and wages paid to each. Not keeping it is a misdemeanour with a fine of up to five thousand dollars, and the court may impose community service or both penalties. And knowingly recording that information falsely — in the register or in the payrolls — carries the same penalty and, further, makes the employer liable to the Fund for three times the difference between the premium paid and the one that would have been owed.
Step 7: Nobody has to invite the employer to insure
Article 26’s closing leaves no excuse: "It shall not be necessary for the Fund’s Administrator to request that the employers covered by this Act take up its benefits; rather it is the obligation of every employer of workers to take the necessary steps to comply, within the term set, with the obligation to insure the compensation of the workers they employ". "Nobody told me" is not a defence under the Act’s text.
Where to do it
The annual statement of workers and the payment of premiums are filed with the Administrator of the State Insurance Fund Corporation. If you are a worker and the premium was deducted from your wages or you were asked to sign a receipt for money you did not receive, Article 20 makes that conduct a misdemeanour: it is a matter raised before the competent authorities, not a mere internal complaint.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
If your pay stub shows a deduction for the Fund’s insurance, the Act is blunt: no agreement for you to pay any portion of that premium is valid, and making the deduction for that purpose is a misdemeanour. If you are asked to sign a receipt for an amount different from the one delivered, keep a copy: that conduct is in the same article and carries the same penalty. If you are an employer and August 15 slipped by, the Act allows asking the Administrator for an extension for justified cause, of no more than fifteen days. And if your actual payroll turned out larger than the declared one, the Administrator assesses additional premiums on the difference: under-declaring does not make it cheaper, and knowingly recording false information is paid for threefold.
Common mistakes
- Accepting a wage deduction for the Fund policy: no agreement for that is valid and the deduction is a misdemeanour.
- Signing a receipt for an amount you were not given, which Article 20 penalises just like the deduction.
- Believing the employer waits for the Fund to call: Article 26 says taking the steps is their obligation.
- Declaring an estimated payroll and then not filing the statement with the wages actually paid.
- Keeping the register without age, sex or nature of the work: the Act lists those data, and not keeping it is a crime with a fine of up to $5,000.
- Confusing this obligation with that of the employer who never bought a policy, which the Act handles in other articles.
Frequently asked questions
Can they deduct the Fund policy from my paycheck?
No. Article 20 says no agreement made by a worker to pay any portion of the premiums paid by their employer shall be valid, and that making the deduction for that purpose is a misdemeanour.
What is the penalty?
A misdemeanour, with imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars, under Article 20.
When is the employer’s annual payroll due?
No later than August 15 each year. On the employer’s request and for justified cause, the Administrator may extend that term by no more than fifteen days.
What data must the worker register carry?
Each worker’s name, age, sex, the nature of the work done and the wages paid to each, under Article 26.
What happens if the employer reports false information?
They incur the same penalty as for not keeping the registers and, in addition, become liable to the Fund for three times the difference between the premium paid and the one that would have been owed.
How much does the premium cost?
It depends on the occupation’s classification and the declared payroll, and the rates come from the classification and premium schedule the Administrator issues. We did not read that schedule, so this guide gives you no figure.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Corporación del Fondo del Seguro del Estado (CFSE)
Fondo del Seguro del Estado
bvirtualogp.pr.gov
Last verified
September 2, 2026
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