PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Dec 6, 2016
Economic Mobility for Productive Livelihoods and Expanding Opportunity Act of 2016 or the EMPLEO Act
This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require every employer to pay to each of his or her eligible Puerto Rican employees who in any workweek are engaged in commerce and who receive qualified wage subsidy payments minimum wages of $5.00 an hour, determined without regard to those wage subsidy payments.
The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat certain employers who make qualified wage subsidy payments to eligible Puerto Rico employees as having paid payroll taxes in an amount equal to the wage subsidy payment.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
An “eligible Puerto Rico employee” is any individual who: (1) is a U.S. citizen, (2) has a Social Security number, and (3) certifies to the employer that he or she is a resident of Puerto Rico and intends to remain a resident for at least the next six months.
A “qualified wage subsidy payment” is a payment equal to 50% of the excess (if any) of: (1) the median hourly wage for Puerto Rico ($10 for 2017 and 2018), over (2) the hourly wage paid to the eligible Puerto Rico employee.
The bill sets forth reporting requirements for participating employers and requirements for determining the median hourly wage for Puerto Rico after 2018.
People & committees
Sen. Rubio, Marco [R-FL] · R–FL
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Aug 12, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.3503 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.3503 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.3503 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.3503 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.