Economic Mobility for Productive Livelihoods and Expanding Opportunity Act of 2021 or the EMPLEO Act
This bill permits employers to participate in a wage subsidy program for eligible Puerto Rican employees. Eligible employees must be (1) U.S. citizens, (2) have Social Security numbers, and (3) certify their residency in Puerto Rico and intent to remain residents for at least the next six months.
Employers who opt in must pay their eligible employees a minimum wage of $5. The Department of the Treasury then subsidizes those wages in an amount equal to 50% of the difference between $10 and the hourly wages the employees receive from their employers. For example, if a participating employer pays their eligible employees $5 hourly, the subsidy would equal $2.50 for an effective hourly wage of $7.50. Participating employers may elect advance payment of the aggregate subsidy amounts that exceed the employer's aggregate payroll taxes for the applicable period based on estimates the employer provides to Treasury.
The bill treats employers who make such wage subsidy payments to eligible Puerto Rico employees as having paid payroll taxes in an amount equal to such payments.