Vacation and sick leave: how many days you accrue and how they are used

It is the law that turns vacation and sick days into a right with numbers, not an employer’s favor. It applies to private-sector workers in any industry; it excludes state and municipal government employees (who have their own rules), administrators, executives and professionals as defined by Regulation 13, and those covered by a collective agreement with pay equal to or above the law’s. Accrual is triggered by working at least 130 hours in the month, and leave time used counts as time worked for further accrual. Leave is paid at the regular hourly wage of the month it accrued, with special rules for commissions (divided across 52 weeks) and tipped workers (legal minimum wage or the agreed rate, whichever is higher).

Private-sector workers who work at least 130 hours a month; independent contractors are not included. The vacation ladder depends on your years of service, and your hire date matters twice: anyone working for their employer before Act 4-2017 with higher accrual rates keeps them while working for that same employer, and it is an illegal practice — with a $500 to $5,000 fine, jail or both, plus double damages — to fire, remove or suspend an employee in order to rehire or replace them at the new scheme’s lower accrual. During probation, sick leave accrues from day one; vacation, upon passing probation, is credited retroactively from the start date.

• Working at least 130 hours in the month: that is the accrual trigger for both leaves.Verified against the official source
• To demand the enjoyment of vacation: having accrued it for a year. It is granted annually, in shifts the employer sets so operations are not interrupted.Verified against the official source
• For sick leave: notifying the employer as soon as it is foreseeable you will be absent and no later than the same day of the absence, absent force majeure; a medical certificate if the absence exceeds 2 working days.Verified against the official source

• A medical certificate when the sick absence exceeds 2 working days; it also applies to the illnesses of the relatives the law allows you to care for with this leave.

1. 1

   Step 1: Find yourself on the vacation ladder

   The minimum monthly vacation accrual climbs with seniority: 1/2 day per month during the first year of service; 3/4 day after the first year through year 5; 1 day from years 5 to 15; and 1 1/4 day after 15. Exception: Puerto Rico-resident employers with 12 or fewer employees accrue at a flat 1/2 day per month (the exception ends the year after payroll exceeds 12 for more than 26 weeks in two consecutive years). Sick leave has no ladder: 1 day per month for everyone. And if you were hired before Act 4-2017 at better rates, those rates follow you while with the same employer.

2. 2

   Step 2: Use vacation as the law structures it

   You can demand enjoyment once you have accrued it for a year, and it is enjoyed consecutively — though by agreement with the employer it can be split, as long as you enjoy at least 5 consecutive working days in the year. By agreement it can also accumulate up to a 2-year maximum; if the employer does not grant it past that maximum, they must grant the whole and pay double salary for the excess period. At your written request, the employer may allow cashing out the accrued portion exceeding 10 days.

3. 3

   Step 3: Use sick leave without fear, with the rules clear

   Notify by the same day at the latest, and bring a medical certificate if absent more than 2 working days. Unused leave accumulates up to 15 days for later years. Up to 5 days a year may be used to care for your sick children, spouse, mother or father, or minors, older adults or persons with disabilities in your custody or guardianship — as long as you keep a 5-day balance; this mode does not apply in businesses of 15 or fewer employees. The law expressly prohibits using justified sick absences as an efficiency criterion in evaluations, raises or promotions, or to discipline you.

4. 4

   Step 4: When you leave, collect what you accrued

   If you leave the job — resignation or dismissal — the employer must pay you all vacation accrued to date, even with less than a year of service. If they do not, the claim runs through the Department of Labor or the summary labor procedure; violations of the law also carry civil liability for double damages.

Rights are exercised directly with the employer. For noncompliance: guidance and complaints at the Department of Labor and Human Resources (trabajo.pr.gov), or a claim through the summary labor procedure. Public and municipal employees are governed by their own rules, not this law.

• Believing everyone accrues the same: the vacation ladder depends on years of service, employer size, and whether you were hired before Act 4-2017.
• Forgetting the 130-hour trigger: a month with fewer than 130 hours worked accrues no leave.
• Losing vacation by over-accruing: the maximum accruable by agreement is 2 years, and past that maximum the employer must pay the excess at double salary.
• Not claiming the payout when resigning: the accrued total is paid even with less than a year of service.
• Not knowing up to 5 sick days serve to care for sick children, spouse or parents (with a 5-day minimum balance and outside businesses of 15 or fewer employees).
• Accepting that justified sick absences count in your evaluation or discipline: the law expressly prohibits it.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento del Trabajo y Recursos Humanos (DTRH)

  Departamento del Trabajo

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov

• Department of Labor and Human Resources

  DTRH

  www.trabajo.pr.gov