Employee benefitsin Peru

Employees in Peru are covered by EsSalud, the social health insurance system for formal workers, which provides medical care and cash benefits for sickness, maternity, breastfeeding and funeral costs. The employer pays a contribution of 9% of the employee's monthly pay; employees pay nothing towards it. In 2026 the minimum monthly contribution is PEN 110.70 (9% of the PEN 1,230 minimum wage). Cover extends to the employee's spouse or partner and to children under 18, or older children who are totally and permanently unable to work.

An employer can also give staff health cover through an Entidad Prestadora de Salud (EPS), a private health provider authorised to deliver the routine layer of care. When the workforce elects an EPS plan by majority vote, 25% of the 9% contribution is credited to the employer, so in practice 6.75% continues to go to EsSalud and 2.25% funds the private provider; EsSalud keeps paying the statutory cash benefits and complex care. Any extra premium for a richer private plan is agreed between employer and employees.

Access to benefits normally requires three consecutive months of contributions, or four non-consecutive months, in the six months before the claim; accidents are covered from affiliation.

Medium and large employers in Peru commonly give staff private health cover on top of EsSalud, the public social health insurer. The usual vehicle is a plan from an Entidad Prestadora de Salud (EPS), an authorised private health provider: the employer redirects 2.25 percentage points of its 9% EsSalud contribution to the provider and normally adds an extra premium for a broader plan and for dependants. Employees covered by an EPS plan use private clinics for routine and common conditions while keeping EsSalud for complex care and statutory cash benefits. Some employers buy separate private medical insurance instead, or in addition, including international medical plans for senior staff.

Plans typically cover the employee, spouse or partner and children, and many employers extend cover to adult children aged 18 to 28. Employees often pay a share of the dependant premium and co-payments at the point of care; the share of the premium the employer funds varies by employer and plan.

Workplace wellbeing programmes are common among medium and large Peruvian employers. They usually combine preventive health talks, active breaks during the working day, vaccination campaigns, nutrition plans and healthy-living training, often delivered with the company's health provider. In a 2019 survey of 127 companies, 69% ran preventive health talks, 59% active breaks and 59% vaccination campaigns, and 48% offered nutrition plans. Employers increasingly add mental-health and financial-wellbeing components; cash wellness allowances or gym subsidies are less widespread.

A growing minority of Peruvian employers offer psychological support, such as counselling sessions, employee assistance lines or coaching. In a 2023 survey of 360 companies, 43% provided personal psychological support and around 40% family psychological support or coaching programmes, up from roughly a fifth to a quarter of companies offering psychological counselling or stress-management programmes in 2019.

Beyond the occupational health and safety duties set by law, many Peruvian employers offer specialised preventive check-ups as a benefit. In a 2023 survey of 360 companies, 43% offered a specialised medical check-up as a benefit. Check-ups are usually provided through the company's health provider or a clinic network and are free to the employee.

Employers must buy a group life insurance policy, the Seguro de Vida Ley, for every employee from the first day of employment, whatever the contract type or working hours. The employer pays the premium. The policy pays 16 monthly salaries on death from natural causes, and 32 monthly salaries on accidental death or total and permanent disability caused by an accident, such as loss of sight in both eyes or of both hands.

The insured salary is the regular monthly pay on the payroll, excluding the statutory bonuses and other non-monthly payments. Benefits go to the spouse or partner and children, or failing them to parents and siblings under 18, as named in the employee's sworn beneficiary declaration; disability benefits are paid to the employee. An employer that fails to insure must pay the equivalent benefit itself. Policies must be registered in the Labour Ministry's online registry.

Employers in activities officially classified as high risk, such as mining, construction, fishing and many industrial operations, must buy the Seguro Complementario de Trabajo de Riesgo (SCTR), a complementary work-risk insurance paid entirely by the employer. It has two parts: health cover for work accidents and occupational diseases, contracted with EsSalud (the social health insurer) or a private health provider, and disability, survivor and funeral pensions arising from work accidents or occupational diseases, contracted with the national pension office or a private insurer. Disability pensions under this insurance start once the maximum EsSalud incapacity subsidy period has ended.

Employers outside the high-risk list have no separate statutory work-injury policy: work accidents are handled through EsSalud medical care and the incapacity subsidy, and accidental death or disability is covered by the mandatory Vida Ley group life insurance.

Employees must join one of two pension systems and fund it themselves through payroll deduction; there is no employer pension contribution for ordinary private-sector employees. The national pension system, run by the Oficina de Normalización Previsional (ONP), the state pension office, takes at least 13% of monthly pay. The private pension system, run by Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones (AFP), private pension fund managers, takes 10% of insurable pay into the employee's individual account, plus a disability, survivor and funeral insurance premium (1.37% in late 2026) and the fund manager's commission, which varies by manager.

The insurance premium applies only up to a maximum insurable pay that the regulator updates quarterly (PEN 12,732.70 a month for October to December 2026). The employer withholds and remits contributions each month. Special regimes, such as those for fishers, miners and construction workers, carry different or additional rates. The standard retirement age is 65.

An employee on an indefinite contract who is dismissed after probation without a legally valid cause, or whose cause is not proven, is entitled to an indemnity of one and a half months' ordinary pay for each full year of service, up to a maximum of 12 months' pay. Part years are paid proportionally in twelfths and thirtieths. This is the only compensation for the dismissal itself, but the employee also receives all other accrued benefits, such as unused vacation, the proportional statutory bonuses and any pending severance-fund amount.

Peru has no general statutory severance payment on resignation or on a dismissal for proven cause; the severance savings fund (CTS) provides the cash cushion in those cases. Dismissals that are legally void, such as those linked to pregnancy, union activity or discrimination, can instead lead to reinstatement.

Employers must deposit the Compensación por Tiempo de Servicios (CTS), a severance savings benefit, into a bank account chosen by the employee twice a year. Each deposit equals roughly half a month's pay: the computable pay is the monthly salary plus one-sixth of the most recent statutory July or December bonus, and a full six-month period earns 50% of that amount, with shorter periods paid pro rata by months and days. Over a full year the deposits are therefore worth a little more than one month's salary.

Deposits for November to April are due by 15 May, and for May to October by 15 November; when the 15th is not a working day the deadline moves to the next working day (16 November 2026). Employees qualify after one month of service if they work on average at least four hours a day. Excluded are workers hired by registered micro-enterprises, employees on an annual 'integral remuneration' package above two tax units (which already includes this benefit), and some agricultural workers paid it with their daily wage. Workers hired by registered small enterprises receive half the standard amount.

The fund belongs to the employee and is released in full when employment ends. During employment, workers may withdraw up to 50% of the balance; under Ley 32322 they may withdraw 100% until 31 December 2026, and at any time if diagnosed with a terminal illness or cancer. Any amount accrued but not yet deposited at termination is paid with the final settlement within 48 hours.

Some Peruvian employers add oncology insurance, a policy that pays for cancer diagnosis and treatment, because cancer costs can exceed the limits of standard health plans and waiting times at EsSalud, the public social health insurer, can be long. In a 2019 survey of 127 mainly medium and large companies, 52% offered oncology cover. Policies are usually group plans for the employee and often dependants, funded wholly or partly by the employer.

Some employers buy personal accident insurance, paying a lump sum on accidental death or disability on and off the job, and business travel insurance for staff travelling abroad. In a 2019 survey of 127 companies, 33% provided personal accident cover and 31% travel insurance. These policies are separate from the mandatory Vida Ley group life insurance and from high-risk work insurance required in hazardous activities.

Many Peruvian employers offer interest-free or low-interest loans repaid through payroll, particularly for health costs and emergencies. In a 2019 survey of 127 companies, 64% offered health loans and 47% emergency loans, and some companies also lent for employees' or children's studies and housing. Loan amounts and repayment periods are set by company policy, and payroll deductions require the employee's written authorisation.

Employer contributions to an employee's voluntary pension savings are rare in Peru: in a 2023 survey of 360 companies, only 4% contributed to employees' voluntary private pension fund accounts. Employees can make voluntary contributions to their pension fund manager themselves, and employers that offer this benefit usually do so as a matching or fixed contribution for senior staff.

Employees earn 30 calendar days of paid vacation for each full year of service with the same employer, provided they work at least four hours a day and meet a minimum attendance record: 260 days of actual work for a six-day week, or 210 days for a five-day week. Rest days and public holidays falling within the vacation count as part of the 30 days. Vacation pay equals normal pay and must be paid before the vacation starts.

The timing is agreed between employer and employee, or set by the employer if there is no agreement. At the employee's written request the leave can be split: a first block of at least 15 consecutive days (or two blocks of at least 7 and 8 days), with the remaining 15 days taken in periods as short as one day. By written agreement the employee can reduce the rest period to 15 days and receive 15 days' pay in exchange, accumulate up to two consecutive years, or take days in advance. Leave not taken within the year after it is earned triggers an extra indemnity of one month's pay on top of pay for the work and for the untaken leave.

On termination, earned but untaken vacation is paid in full, and incomplete years are paid proportionally after at least one month of service. Workers hired by registered micro and small enterprises are entitled to 15 calendar days.

An employee unable to work because of illness or injury keeps full pay from the employer for the first 20 days of incapacity in each calendar year; these days accumulate across separate absences. From the 21st day, EsSalud, the social health insurer, pays an incapacity subsidy equal to the employee's average daily pay over the previous 12 months, for as long as the incapacity lasts up to a maximum of 11 months and 10 consecutive days. The employer pays the subsidy through payroll and then claims reimbursement from EsSalud.

To receive the subsidy, the employee must have three consecutive months of contributions, or four non-consecutive months, in the six months before the incapacity began, except after an accident, where affiliation is enough. Absences must be supported by a medical certificate, and private certificates covering more than 20 days must be validated by EsSalud. The subsidy stops if the employee recovers, is declared permanently disabled, does paid work or abandons treatment.

Employees can take up to seven calendar days of paid leave to care for a child, parent, spouse or partner who has a serious or terminal illness or a serious accident. If more time is needed, up to 30 further days can be granted and charged against the employee's vacation, and hours beyond that can be made up with overtime by agreement. An employee whose child under 18 is diagnosed with cancer can take paid leave of up to one year as needed for the child's treatment.

Many Peruvian employers give extra paid days off beyond the 30-day statutory vacation. The most widespread is a day or afternoon off for the employee's birthday, offered by 61% of companies in a 2019 survey of 127 mainly medium and large employers; 57% gave extra days off at year end, 44% personal-matters days, and 39% days off for the employee's wedding. Companies also grant compensatory days after business travel (37% in 2019; 14% in a 2023 survey of 360 companies). These days are set by company policy and do not reduce statutory vacation.

After maternity leave ends, a working mother is entitled to one hour of paid time off a day for breastfeeding until her child turns one, or two hours a day after a multiple birth. The hour can be split into two equal periods, its timing is agreed with the employer, and it cannot be deducted from pay.

EsSalud, the social health insurer, also pays a one-off nursing subsidy of PEN 820 for each live newborn of an insured employee, provided the employee has three consecutive or four non-consecutive months of contributions in the previous six months and the baby is registered as a dependant. EsSalud separately reimburses funeral costs of up to PEN 2,070 on the death of an insured employee.

Pregnant employees are entitled to 98 days of maternity leave: 49 days before the expected birth and 49 days after. With two months' notice to the employer, the employee can defer some or all of the pre-natal days and add them to the post-natal period. The leave extends by 30 days for multiple births or the birth of a child with a disability.

During the leave the employee receives a maternity subsidy from EsSalud, the social health insurer, equal to her average daily pay over the previous 12 months. The employer pays it with salary and claims reimbursement. To qualify, the employee must have three consecutive or four non-consecutive months of contributions in the six months before the leave starts, and must have been employed in the month of conception. Pregnant employees and new mothers are protected from dismissal: a dismissal during pregnancy or within 90 days after birth is presumed to be due to pregnancy and is void unless the employer proves a just cause.

Fathers receive 10 consecutive calendar days of paid paternity leave for a natural or caesarean birth, paid by the employer. The leave is 20 days for premature or multiple births, and 30 days if the baby is born with a terminal congenital disease or severe disability or if the mother suffers serious health complications. The employee chooses whether the leave starts on the birth date, on the date mother or baby leaves hospital, or from three days before the expected birth date.

If the mother dies during childbirth or during her maternity leave, the father takes over the remaining maternity leave with pay. Fathers can take any pending vacation immediately after paternity leave if they tell the employer at least 15 calendar days before the expected birth date.

An employee adopting a child aged 12 or under is entitled to 30 calendar days of paid leave, starting the day after the child is formally placed with the family or the adoption ruling becomes final. The employee must notify the employer at least 15 calendar days before the child is handed over; otherwise the right is lost. The leave cannot exceed 30 days in a calendar year however many adoption procedures are started, and when both adoptive parents are spouses the leave is taken by the mother. Pending vacation can start immediately after the adoption leave with 15 days' notice.

Peru has no general statutory parental leave beyond maternity, paternity and adoption leave.

Some employers extend family leave beyond the statutory 98 days of maternity leave and 10 days of paternity leave. In a 2023 survey of 360 companies, 32% gave fathers additional paternity leave, and in a 2019 survey of 127 companies, 21% granted extra maternity days. Employers also commonly offer flexible hours or reduced schedules for parents returning to work (41% for maternity in 2019).

A minority of employers help with children's schooling, through education support for employees' children or a school-supplies payment at the start of the school year in March. In a 2019 survey of 127 companies, 21% supported children's education.

Private-sector employees whose pay is not set by collective bargaining receive a monthly family allowance, the asignación familiar, of 10% of the national minimum wage if they support at least one child under 18, a child in higher education up to age 24, or an adult child with a certified severe disability. From 1 October 2026 the allowance is PEN 123 a month, and it rises to PEN 130 when the second minimum-wage increase takes effect in 2027. The amount is the same regardless of salary or number of children.

The employer pays it from the month the employee proves the child's existence, in the same way as salary. If both parents work for the same employer, both receive it, and an employee with several employers receives it from each. It counts as pay for calculating other benefits, such as the statutory bonuses, vacation pay, the severance savings fund and profit sharing, and it is subject to pension, income-tax and health contributions.

Private-sector employees receive two statutory bonuses a year, known as gratificaciones: one for National Holidays, paid in the first half of July (by 15 July), and one for Christmas, paid in the first half of December (by 15 December). Each equals one full month's regular pay for a complete six-month period (January to June, and July to December). Employees with less than six months in the period receive one-sixth for each full calendar month worked. The benefit applies to indefinite, fixed-term and part-time employees with no minimum daily hours.

The bonuses are exempt from employee and employer social contributions. Instead, the 9% health contribution the employer would have paid to EsSalud, the social health insurer, is paid to the employee as an extraordinary bonus, so the employee receives the bonus plus 9% (6.75% where the employee is covered by a private health provider plan). An employee who leaves after at least one full month in the period receives a proportional bonus in the final settlement. Workers of registered small enterprises receive half bonuses; workers hired by registered micro-enterprises have no entitlement.

Companies with more than 20 employees that earn business income must share part of their annual pre-tax taxable income with employees. The share depends on the sector: 10% for fishing, telecommunications and industrial companies; 8% for mining, wholesale and retail trade, and restaurants; and 5% for all other activities, including most services and technology businesses. Half of the pool is distributed according to days actually worked and half in proportion to each employee's pay for the year.

Each employee's share is capped at 18 monthly salaries; any excess goes to a public fund for training and employment promotion in the region where it arose (except Lima and Callao). Employees on full-time hours share fully, and part-time employees share in proportion to their hours. Payment is due within 30 calendar days after the deadline for the company's annual income-tax return, usually in April or May, and former employees can claim their share. Whether a company exceeds 20 employees is based on its average monthly headcount over the year.

Performance bonuses are a common part of pay for professional and management roles at medium and large Peruvian employers, in addition to the statutory July and December bonuses and statutory profit sharing. Variable pay typically takes the form of an annual bonus linked to company and individual objectives, with sales commissions, project-completion bonuses and production bonuses in sales, technology and mining roles, and service-charge or tip distribution in retail and hospitality. A 2023 survey of 360 companies found that fixed salary makes up 60% to 70% of total compensation from executive to operational levels, with the remainder made up of guaranteed payments, short- and long-term incentives and benefits.

Discretionary bonuses must appear on payslips. Bonuses paid regularly can become part of computable pay for the statutory bonuses and severance savings, so employers usually define them in writing as occasional and tied to results.

Private employers must provide teleworkers with the equipment and internet service needed for the job. If the employee agrees to use their own equipment or internet, the employer must compensate those costs unless the parties agree otherwise, and in all cases the employer compensates the electricity used, again unless agreed otherwise. Equipment compensation applies to full and partial telework wherever the work is done; internet and electricity compensation apply only when the employee works from home.

The Labour Ministry publishes annual reference values for internet and electricity compensation, updated for 2026 in February 2026. Compensation is recorded as a working condition rather than pay, so it does not count towards salary-based benefits. Employers registered as micro or small enterprises are exempt from these compensation duties unless they agree to pay.

Peru's Telework Law (Ley 31572) lets employer and employee agree full or partial telework, in the employment contract or an annex, and gives teleworkers the same rights as office-based staff. The agreement must set out the work pattern, working hours, the daily digital disconnection period, the reference location, how the employer will communicate and supervise, the equipment and internet arrangements, and how the employee will be compensated for costs. Either party can ask to switch back to office work under the agreed procedure.

Teleworkers have a right to digital disconnection: outside working hours they are not required to answer messages except in emergencies. Staff with management roles, unsupervised work or flexible schedules must have at least 12 consecutive hours of disconnection in each 24 hours. The employer must inform teleworkers of health and safety risks, train them in the tools used and identify workplace hazards, either by inspecting the home workspace with the employee's cooperation or by an agreed self-assessment form issued by the Labour Ministry.

Flexible start and finish times are common among medium and large Peruvian employers. A 2023 survey of 360 companies found 56% allowed flexible entry and exit times, and a 2019 survey of 127 companies found 64% offered flexible hours, 62% a flexible lunch break and 50% 'flexible Fridays' with an early finish. Arrangements are set by company policy within the statutory 48-hour week and typically let employees shift their day within core hours rather than reduce total hours.

Some Peruvian employers provide meals at a company canteen, meal vouchers or prepaid food cards. Under the food-benefits law, food provided directly or through voucher administrators is not treated as pay and so does not count for contributions or salary-based benefits, provided the employer follows the law's formalities; benefits through vouchers or cards are capped at two minimum wages a month (PEN 2,460 in late 2026). Food benefits are a recognised option in employer benefit surveys, but no current survey measures how many employers provide them.

Company cars or vehicle allowances are provided mainly to managers, executives and sales staff. In a 2023 survey of 360 Peruvian companies, 43% assigned vehicles to some positions.

Hybrid work is offered by a minority of Peruvian employers, with office attendance the dominant model. Around eight in ten Peruvian companies reported staff working in the office five days a week in a 2025 workplace survey, while hybrid arrangements are concentrated among knowledge workers: 56% of knowledge workers surveyed by a coworking operator in 2024 worked hybrid and 15% fully remote, and a third of 330 professionals surveyed in 2026 currently worked hybrid although 62% would prefer it, mostly with two or three office days. Where employers agree telework, the Telework Law requires a written agreement and compensation for equipment, internet and electricity costs.

Some Peruvian employers fund employees' education beyond job training, such as university courses, postgraduate degrees and language classes. In a 2019 survey of 127 companies, 44% offered education support for employees, 45% funded specialised postgraduate or master's study, and 39% paid for language courses; 36% offered study loans. Support is usually subject to a service commitment and an approval process.

Housing, hardship and remote-location allowances are standard in mining, oil and gas and other operations at remote sites, where employers provide camp accommodation, transport to site, shift rotations and location premiums. Outside these sectors, housing allowances are used mainly for relocating staff and expatriate managers.

The minimum monthly wage for private-sector employees is PEN 1,230 from 1 October 2026, up from PEN 1,130. Supreme Decree 015-2026-TR sets a total increase to PEN 1,300 in two stages; the second stage of PEN 70 will take effect through a further decree to be issued in the first half of 2027. The minimum applies to a full working day of at least four hours; employees working fewer hours can be paid proportionally.

Several other amounts are tied to the minimum wage: the family allowance (10%, now PEN 123), the minimum pay for night work (the minimum plus 35%, PEN 1,660.50), the mining-sector minimum (plus 25%, PEN 1,537.50) and the minimum contribution to EsSalud, the social health insurer (PEN 110.70).

Employees who regularly work at night (between 10 pm and 6 am) cannot earn less than the minimum wage plus 35%, which is PEN 1,660.50 a month from 1 October 2026. Employees who work on their weekly rest day or on a public holiday without receiving a substitute rest day are paid for the work done plus a surcharge of 100%, so a day worked on a holiday earns the normal daily pay for that holiday plus double pay for the work.

The standard probation period is three months, after which the employee gains protection against dismissal without cause. The parties can agree in writing to extend it where the role needs training or adaptation or carries particular responsibility, up to a total of six months for qualified workers and one year for management staff or employees in positions of trust. During probation either party can end the relationship without the dismissal indemnity, although accrued benefits remain payable. Employees rehired for the same role are exempt from a new probation period.

An employee who resigns must give 30 calendar days' written notice. The employer can waive all or part of the notice period, and a request by the employee to be released early is treated as accepted unless the employer refuses in writing within three days. There is no general statutory notice period that an employer must give, and no payment in lieu of notice, because dismissals depend on just cause and the pre-dismissal procedure instead.

Whatever the reason for leaving, the final settlement must be paid within 48 hours of termination and includes outstanding salary, untaken and proportional vacation pay, the proportional statutory bonus for the current period, any severance savings amount not yet deposited, and profit sharing for the previous year when due. The employer also issues a certificate of employment and a certificate allowing release of the severance savings fund.

Employment income, called fifth-category income, is taxed at progressive rates set in tax units, the Unidad Impositiva Tributaria (UIT), a reference amount fixed each year; for 2026 one UIT is PEN 5,500. Resident taxpayers first deduct a fixed 7 UIT (PEN 38,500) a year, plus up to 3 UIT of certain documented personal expenses, then pay 8% on net income up to 5 UIT, 14% from 5 to 20 UIT, 17% from 20 to 35 UIT, 20% from 35 to 45 UIT and 30% above 45 UIT. The employer withholds the tax monthly based on projected annual pay, including the statutory bonuses.

Non-residents pay a flat 30% on Peruvian-source employment income with no deductions. An individual generally becomes resident after more than 183 days in Peru in a 12-month period. The tax is not affected by marital status or number of children.

The main recurring statutory cost for a Peruvian employer is the 9% contribution on monthly pay to EsSalud, the social health insurer; employees fund their own pension (13% to the national system or about 10% plus premium and commission to a private fund manager), which the employer withholds. On top of 12 monthly salaries, the employer pays two statutory bonuses of one month's pay each, plus the 9% extraordinary bonus on each, and two severance savings deposits worth together about 1.17 months' pay a year. The bonuses and severance deposits alone add about 28% to annual base salary; with the health contribution, mandatory employer costs come to roughly 37% of base salary before the items below.

Other statutory costs depend on the workforce: the family allowance (PEN 123 a month per eligible employee), Vida Ley group life insurance premiums for every employee, high-risk work insurance in hazardous activities, and profit sharing of 5% to 10% of pre-tax profit for companies with more than 20 employees. EsSalud contributions, national-pension contributions and employee income tax are declared and paid to the tax authority (SUNAT) monthly on a schedule set by the last digit of the employer's tax registration number; private pension contributions go to the fund managers within the first five working days of the following month.

Employers can hire foreign nationals up to 20% of their total workforce, and the pay of foreign staff cannot exceed 30% of the total payroll. Exemptions apply, for example to foreigners with a Peruvian spouse, parent, child or sibling, nationals of countries with labour reciprocity or dual nationality agreements, and highly specialised professionals or managers starting a new business activity on request. Contracts with foreign workers must be in writing, for a fixed term of up to three years (renewable), include a commitment to train Peruvian staff in the same role, and be registered in the Labour Ministry's online foreign contracts system.

Foreign employees also need a migration status that permits work, such as a resident visa for work purposes processed with the immigration authority after the contract is approved, and then receive a foreigner's identity card. Once employed they receive the same statutory benefits as Peruvian employees.