Foreword

With the deepening of globalization, when enterprises expand their business in multiple countries, cross-border labor compliance has become one of the most complex and severe challenges. To help enterprises systematically address this issue, we have collaborated with top labor lawyers from over 50 major jurisdictions worldwide (all recommended by Chambers, Legal 500, or equivalent institutions) to jointly compile a Chinese-English labor & employment compliance guide exceeding 1 million words, and we will continuously update relevant key points.

This article publishes the key points of labor & employment compliance by September 2025 inPeru.

01 Overview of the Labor Law System

1. Legal System

Peru operates under a civil law system.

2.Resources and Agencies

In Peru there is no single comprehensive Labor Code; the defining feature of our labor regulation is that we have a dispersed set of norms that regulate the different labor institutions.

As for the responsible entities, the Ministry of Labor and Employment Promotion (MTPE) is the main authority in matters of labor regulations and policies, while the National Superintendence of Labor Inspection (SUNAFIL) exercises inspection and administrative sanction functions throughout the Peruvian territory.

02 Employment Qualifications and Classification

1. Employment Age

The general rule is that only those over 18 years of age may freely enter into an employment contract. However, exceptions are recognized for teenagers, provided they have the authorization of their parents or guardians and the corresponding registration before the competent authorities.

Regarding retirement age, Peruvian law establishes that at 70 years of age, retirement is automatic and mandatory unless otherwise agreed.

2.Qualifications for Foreign Employers

In order to hire locally, a branch, subsidiary or affiliate must be incorporated in Peru, registered with the National Superintendence of Public Registries (SUNARP), with tax domicile and taxpayer’s identification number RUC (Registro Único de Contribuyentes) before SUNAT.

3.Classification of Employment 

There are two forms of labor hiring of personnel:

Direct hiring, in which an immediate relationship is established between the worker and the employer;

Indirect hiring, whereby a third party assumes the quality of employer while the services are rendered in favor of the principal or user company.

4.Foreign Workers

Companies registered in the country, including subsidiaries and branches of foreign companies, may hire non-national personnel as long as they enter into a written employment contract specifying category, remuneration and duration -with a maximum of three years, extendable- and with the approval of the Labor Administrative Authority.

03 Recruitment and Employment Contracts

1.Background Examination 

In Peru, background checks of job applicants are subject to legal restrictions and must respect fundamental rights. As a general rule, the processing of personal data requires the consent of the owner, except for exceptions established by Law No. 29733 on the protection of personal data.

2.Contract Types

Within the framework of direct fixed-term contracts, Peruvian labor legislation recognizes various modalities that respond to the temporary nature of certain business needs. These modalities are regulated in the Sole Ordered Text of the Labor Productivity and Competitiveness Law (TUO of the LPCL) and must comply, in all cases, with specific requirements to guarantee their validity.

In addition to this, the so-called unnamed contracts are recognized, which allow hiring under modalities not expressly provided on the law, as long as they are for temporary services or whose duration is appropriate to the nature of the work.

3.Probationary Period 

The probationary period is three months for all workers. This period can be extended up to six months when the work requires a period of training or adaptation, or in the case of workers of trust; and up to twelve months for management workers, always by written agreement.

04 Working Standards

1.Remuneration

The typical structure of remuneration consists of the basic remuneration -which cannot be less than the minimum living wage (RMV)- and other remunerative items, such as family allowance and legal bonuses (July and December bonuses, compensation for time of services, vacations and overtime).

Peruvian regulation offers a flexible framework with respect to the form and frequency of payment of remuneration, but requires that it always complies with the legal minimums.

2.Statutory Benefits and Social Security

In Peru, social security benefits include the employer's contribution to social security (EsSalud), as well as the employee's obligation to join the national pension fund entity (ONP) or an private pension fund entity (AFP), with the employer being the withholding agent. For high-risk activities, a Complementary Risk Work Insurance (SCTR) is also required.

3.Working Hours

In Peru, the working hours are a maximum of 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week. In addition to the ordinary workday, the law allows atypical or cumulative workdays, as long as the average does not exceed the constitutional ceilings, and the night workday (10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.), whose salary cannot be less than the RMV plus an additional 35%.

4.Rest and Leave

In Peru, legislation recognizes mandatory weekly rest, equivalent to 24 continuous hours during the week, which generally coincides with Sunday, although it may be granted on another day as long as effective rest is guaranteed. Likewise, the annual rest, known as "vacations", is recognized, by means of which 30 paid days are granted per full year of services.

05 Occupational Health and Special Protection

1.Occupational Health and Security 

In the Peruvian legal system, there are general and special rules that provide for the adoption of safety and health measures in the workplace, the main one being Occupational Safety and Health Law (LSST) and its Regulation. The main obligations of the employer basically cover two aspects of Health and Safety: prevention and supervision.

2.Special Protection

In Peru, the legislation contemplates various special protections and affirmative measures in favor of groups considered vulnerable in the labor sphere, especially in the case of persons with disabilities and pregnant workers.

06 Personal Information and Privacy

1.General Rules

As a general rule, the processing of personal data requires the consent of the owner. Exceptionally, this will not be required when the processing is necessary for the selection process (for example, names and surnames), the execution of the employment relationship, its termination, among other exceptional cases provided for in article 14 of the LPDP.

2.Transnational Transfer 

The requirements are the same as for the processing of personal data of an employee in Peru, with the precision that, in matters of international transfer of data, article 11 of the LPDP enshrines the principle of adequate level of protection, by which any transborder flow must guarantee standards of protection equivalent to those provided by Peruvian law or, at least, to international standards on the matter.

07 Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment

1.General Rules 

Within this framework, employers have multiple obligations. These include:

Respecting equal treatment in the selection and hiring processes;

Avoiding any unjustified differentiation in employment;

Establishing remuneration policies free of discriminatory bias.

2.Protective Characteristics

The prohibition of discrimination is based on the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law and prohibits any distinction based on origin, race, sex, language, religion, opinion, economic status or any other kind.

08 Internal Policies

1.Applicability

In Peru, the management of labor relations through internal policies is a common practice and, in some cases, mandatory. Among the main internal policies that an employer must have been the Internal Work Regulations (RIT), and the equal pay policy, as provided for in the Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men.

2.Validity

The validity of a company's internal policies does not require the approval of the workers; however, it is mandatory that they be made known to all personnel at the time of their incorporation to the organization.

3.Whistleblowing

In Peru, there is no specific labor law that regulates the mandatory implementation of internal whistleblowing channels for corporate compliance. Therefore, it is up to each company to establish, on a voluntary basis, its own internal mechanisms for reporting irregularities, in accordance with its integrity and good corporate governance policies.

09 Transactions

1.Employment Relationship

Corporate operations such as mergers, acquisitions or sales of shares do not extinguish labor relations, so employment contracts remain in force and the new employer assumes the existing obligations. In the case of a simple sale of shares, there is no alteration in the labor relationship, since the employer remains the same.

2.Compensation 

Mergers, acquisitions or transfers of shares or assets do not legally generate the right of employees to receive special compensation. In these cases, the labor relationship remains in force and the new employer assumes the existing obligations. Only if as a result of the corporate reorganization some employees are dismissed, the payment of their social benefits will correspond and, if there is no just cause, the indemnity for arbitrary dismissal.

10 Termination of Employment

1.Termination Grounds

In the Peruvian system, a worker who has passed the legal probationary period and, on average, works more than four hours a day, may only be dismissed for just cause as provided by law.

According to the regulations, there are causes linked to the worker’s capacity. Among them are:

Supervening unfitness;

Poor performance;

Unjustified refusal to submit to occupational medical examinations.

2.Termination Procedure 

In the Peruvian system, the procedure for termination of the employment relationship requires that, prior to dismissal, the notice periods provided by law must be respected. Thus, in cases of dismissal for misconduct, the employer must grant in writing a reasonable period of not less than six calendar days for the employee to exercise his or her right of defense.

Exceptionally, dismissal may be executed immediately and without notice in cases of flagrant gross misconduct.

3.Termination Protection

Under Peruvian law, certain groups of workers have special protection against termination of employment. In the first place, pregnant and breastfeeding workers are covered by a reinforced guarantee. Secondly, union leaders and representatives enjoy the so-called union privilege.

Finally, protection against dismissal for discriminatory reasons is also recognized, which includes, among others, disability, political affiliation, religion or any other circumstance prohibited by the Constitution and the law.

4.Severance and Compensation

Labor legislation distinguishes between two types of compensation for arbitrary dismissal, depending on whether the contract is for an indefinite term or a fixed-term contract. In the case of indeterminate term contracts, the indemnity is equivalent to one and a half monthly remuneration for each full year of service, with a maximum limit of twelve remunerations.

In the case of fixed-term contracts, the indemnity is calculated on the basis of one and a half remuneration for each month pending until the expiration date of the contract, also with a maximum limit of twelve remunerations.

5.Wrongful Termination

The legislation has typified two types of dismissals that are regulated in our legal system:

Null dismissal;

Arbitrary dismissal.

Null dismissal is regulated in a closed list, which can be grouped in the following reasons:

Anti-union;

Retaliation to the filing of a complaint or administrative proceeding against the employer;

Discrimination based on prohibited grounds;

Pregnancy, childbirth and its consequences or breastfeeding.

6.Mass termination and Layoffs

The legislation contemplates specific cases of collective termination of employment contracts. These do not generate in the workers the right to receive any indemnity, since they respond to objective causes. Such cases are:

An act of God or force majeure that entails the disappearance of the work center;

The restructuring of the company’s assets;

The dissolution, liquidation or bankruptcy of the company;

Economic, technological, structural or similar reasons.

11 Confidentiality, Non-Compete, and Non-Solicitation

1.Confidentiality

It is not mandatory to sign confidentiality agreements, although they are one of the most common covenants in employment contracts. The duty of confidentiality is not expressly regulated in our legal system, but it is derived from the duties of good faith in the workplace.

2.Non-Compete and Non-Solicitation

Non-competition covenants are not expressly regulated, which is why they must necessarily be formalized by express agreement, as is the case with confidentiality agreements. This type of clauses are more common in relation to specialized workers who have access to reserved information or particular production techniques, since their purpose is to prevent a competitor from obtaining undue advantages from the know-how transmitted by the company; however, it is not restricted only to them.

12 Work Representation and Trade Unions

1.Work Representation

The essential function of workers' representatives is to actively participate in these committees and to comply with the responsibilities assigned to them by the regulations, in matters such as occupational safety and health, or in the investigation and punishment of sexual harassment. The legislation requires their participation as a guarantee of balance in the composition of the collegiate bodies, ensuring that the interests of the workers are duly considered in the decisions adopted.

2.Trade Unions 

With respect to union practice, in Peru there are unions such as the General Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CGTP), the Central Unitary Workers' Union (CUT), the Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CTP), the Autonomous Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CATP) and sectoral organizations such as SUEECEA in the electricity sector. In strategic sectors such as mining, construction, energy and telecommunications, collective bargaining agreements are common.

13 Dispute Resolution

1.Procedures & Enforcement 

In Peru there is no single mandatory procedure for the resolution of labor disputes. Generally, the worker can choose between filing a complaint before SUNAFIL, or filing a lawsuit before the Judiciary.

2.Waiver & Enforcement

In Peru, workers cannot waive the minimum rights recognized by law, such as minimum remuneration, bonuses, compensation for time of service, vacations, social security contributions, among others.

14 Others

1.Latest Development & Trends

One of the most relevant developments is the discussion around the draft Labor Code, which seeks to unify and modernize labor legislation, unifying figures that are currently scattered in a number of different norms.

2.Cultural and Religious Considerations

In Peru, international investors should consider that it is a multicultural and diverse country, with labor practices that vary between the coast, highlands and jungle. Workers value trust, directness and respect for their religious beliefs, so cultural sensitivity is key to maintaining harmonious labor relations.

* To avoid ambiguity, this article should not be regarded as legal advice.