Peru is the third-largest country in South America, after Brazil and Argentina. It is made up of a variety of landscapes, from mountains and beaches to deserts and rainforests. The world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon, covers nearly half of Peru. Peru is bordered by Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador. It covers an area of approximately 1,285 million square kilometers. Services account for 59.9% of Peruvian GDP, followed by industry (32.7%) and agriculture (7.6%).
*Please note that the official currency is the currency of remuneration when employed through WorkMotion in Peru.
Fast-track your talent onboarding while ensuring 100% compliance with local regulations. using an Employer of Record in Peru
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Easily onboard your remote talent in Peru through our Employer of Record (EOR) solution. Our subsidiaries and network partners make this process fast and 100% compliant.
Peru is the third-largest country in South America, after Brazil and Argentina. It is made up of a variety of landscapes, from mountains and beaches to deserts and rainforests. The world’s largest rainforest, the Amazon, covers nearly half of Peru. Peru is bordered by Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador. It covers an area of approximately 1,285 million square kilometers. Services account for 59.9% of Peruvian GDP, followed by industry (32.7%) and agriculture (7.6%).
*Please note that the official currency is the currency of remuneration when employed through WorkMotion in Peru.
The national holidays mentioned below are valid for the year 2026 and are critical for hiring in Peru planning:
The holidays mentioned below are valid for the year 2026.
| January 1 | New Year's Day | |
| April 2 | Maundy Thursday | Movable |
| April 3 | Good Friday | Movable |
| May 1 | Labor Day | |
| June 29 | Feast of St Peter and St Paul | |
| July 23 | Air Force Day | |
| July 28 | Independence Day | |
| July 29 | Independence Day Holiday | |
| August 6 | Battle of Junín | |
| August 30 | Santa Rosa de Lima | |
| October 8 | Battle of Angamos | |
| November 1 | All Saints' Day | |
| December 8 | Immaculate Conception | |
| December 9 | Battle of Ayacucho | |
| December 25 | Christmas Day |
The approximate time for sharing the contract with an employee in Peru is 3 business days assuming no special requests or changes to our standard employment contract. Any such requests or changes would need to undergo internal and external review, directly leading to a time delay.
NOTE: This number is subject to change and is only an estimation of the Contract Sharing Time. The estimated Contract Sharing Time begins from the moment that WorkMotion has received all required information from both the client and the employee.
Remote work is regulated by Law 31572 which mandates employers to provide equipment and internet access service or assign economic compensation for the provision of these to the teleworker, in addition to compensation for electricity consumption.
There are several modalities for fixed-term contracts whose terms should not exceed five years.
The Peruvian social security system offers protection to its citizens by providing benefits in case of:
| Benefits | Employer Contribution |
| Health Insurance | 9% |
| Compensation for Time Services (CTS) | 8.33% (paid twice a year) |
| Family Allowances | 10% of the minimum wage (applicable to employees with children below 18 years of age) |
An employee’s normal working hours per day must not exceed eight hours per day or 48 hours per week. In case of work performed on a continuous timetable, the worker is entitled to a rest break of at least 45 minutes to have meals during the working day.
An employee is entitled to overtime for work that exceeds eight hours per day or 48 hours per week and is compensated with a minimum surcharge of 25% over the hourly value for the first two hours. For every extra hour, the surcharge cannot be less than 35% per hour.
The probation period is three months, at the end of which the worker reaches the right to protection against arbitrary dismissal.
The parties may agree to extend the probationary period where the work to be undertaken requires a period of training and adaptation or where the nature of the work or responsibility entailing such extension may be justified.
In case of resignation or voluntary withdrawal, the worker must give written notice 30 days in advance.
The employer may not dismiss for reasons related to the conduct or capacity of the worker without first granting in writing a reasonable period of no less than six calendar days so that the worker can defend themselves in writing against the charges made against them or 30 days for the worker to demonstrate their ability or correct their deficiency. In cases of flagrant serious misconduct, a notice period is not required.
An employee’s normal working hours per day must not exceed eight hours per day or 48 hours per week. In case of work performed on a continuous timetable, the worker is entitled to a rest break of at least 45 minutes to have meals during the working day.
An employee is entitled to overtime for work that exceeds eight hours per day or 48 hours per week and is compensated with a minimum surcharge of 25% over the hourly value for the first two hours. For every extra hour, the surcharge cannot be less than 35% per hour.
The probation period is three months, at the end of which the worker reaches the right to protection against arbitrary dismissal.
The parties may agree to extend the probationary period where the work to be undertaken requires a period of training and adaptation or where the nature of the work or responsibility entailing such extension may be justified.
In case of resignation or voluntary withdrawal, the worker must give written notice 30 days in advance.
The employer may not dismiss for reasons related to the conduct or capacity of the worker without first granting in writing a reasonable period of no less than six calendar days so that the worker can defend themselves in writing against the charges made against them or 30 days for the worker to demonstrate their ability or correct their deficiency. In cases of flagrant serious misconduct, a notice period is not required.
The Peruvian social security system offers protection to its citizens by providing benefits in case of:
| Benefits | Employer Contribution |
| Health Insurance | 9% |
| Compensation for Time Services (CTS) | 8.33% (paid twice a year) |
| Family Allowances | 10% of the minimum wage (applicable to employees with children below 18 years of age) |
WorkMotion operates in Peru through its trusted partner network, giving your company access to compliant employment infrastructure without the months-long process of setting up a local entity. Here is how the process works from contract to payroll.
WorkMotion generates a locally compliant employment contract in Spanish, aligned with Peru’s Ley de Productividad y Competitividad Laboral.
Contracts must be in writing and specify the duration of the agreement, the reason for it, and any other conditions arising from the employment relationship. A copy must be submitted to the Labour Administrative Authority within 15 days of signature.
WorkMotion handles this registration step as part of the standard onboarding process, so your team does not need to track the deadline or navigate the submission directly.
The employee is registered with SUNAT for income tax withholding, EsSalud for healthcare, and their chosen pension system (ONP or AFP) within five to seven business days.
The filing mechanism that ties everything together is PLAME: the electronic payroll registry that is now the mandatory monthly reporting standard for all formal employers.
WorkMotion’s partner network handles all registrations and declarations, so your hire is enrolled correctly from day one.
Peru’s payroll compliance framework combines a federal tax authority (SUNAT) handling income tax withholding with a parallel social insurance track covering health (EsSalud), pension (AFP or ONP), and workplace risk insurance (SCTR).
Employers must contribute 9% of the employee’s monthly salary to EsSalud, ensuring employees have access to healthcare.
WorkMotion calculates and remits all employer contributions accurately each month, with payroll processed in Peruvian Soles.
Beyond the monthly contribution cycle, Peru has one of the most generous statutory benefit structures in Latin America:
CTS funds are deposited twice per year – by 15 May and 15 November.
WorkMotion administers all of these obligations on schedule, including the biannual gratificaciones paid in July and December, each equivalent to one month’s salary.
Each month, WorkMotion processes payroll, withholds income tax and pension contributions, and files the PLAME declaration with SUNAT by the legal deadline.
Payslips are issued to employees showing salary, deductions, and all mandatory contributions, a legal requirement under Peruvian law.
SUNAFIL, the labour inspectorate, has increased enforcement activity significantly since 2022. Fines for statutory benefit failures are assessed per employee and per infraction, making systematic non-compliance with CTS or gratificación deadlines expensive at scale.
WorkMotion’s partner network monitors these deadlines so your company is never exposed.
Peru’s Labour Inspection Authority (SUNAFIL) has been issuing mass letters to employers requesting information for the purposes of assessing non-compliance with labour obligations, covering:
WorkMotion tracks regulatory changes in Peru and updates employment terms accordingly, so your team is not caught off guard by shifts in enforcement or legislation.
For most companies hiring one to a handful of employees in Peru, entity setup creates far more friction than it resolves. Here is how the two paths compare.
| WorkMotion EOR | Own Peru Entity | |
| Setup cost | Per-employee monthly fee; no incorporation costs | Estimated incorporation, legal counsel, and SUNARP/SUNAT registration fees, plus ongoing annual compliance costs |
| Time to first hire | Days from signed contract | Weeks to months – SUNARP registration, SUNAT RUC, EsSalud registration, bank account opening, and notarised bylaws all required before any hiring can begin |
| Ongoing legal exposure | Managed by WorkMotion’s partner network; compliance with SUNAFIL, SUNAT, and EsSalud handled end to end | Fully borne by your company; SUNAFIL inspections, PLAME filings, and CTS deadlines are your responsibility |
| Ongoing admin burden | Single monthly invoice; payroll, contributions, and statutory filings handled | Dedicated local HR or accounting resource required; monthly SUNAT filings, biannual CTS deposits, gratificaciones, and profit-sharing calculations |
| Exit flexibility | Wind down a hire without dissolving a legal entity | Closing a Peruvian entity involves regulatory filings, tax clearance, and can take months |
EOR in Peru fits companies that need to hire quickly, want to test the market before committing to a permanent structure, or are hiring a small number of specialised roles.
Using an Employer of Record service allows companies to hire employees immediately under formal contracts, deferring the establishment of a permanent entity until later phases, when full registration and compliance are required.
If you are building a large, permanent commercial operation in Peru with a significant local headcount, entity setup may eventually make sense, but EOR removes the barriers to getting started.
Use WorkMotion’s employment cost calculator to estimate the full cost of a hire in Peru, including employer contributions and statutory benefits, before you commit.
Peru’s labour framework is detailed and actively enforced. These are the compliance gaps that catch foreign employers off guard most often.
CTS (employment stability compensation) requires semi-annual deposits that cannot be substituted with other benefits.
Many foreign employers assume CTS is similar to a discretionary severance arrangement they can manage at the end of employment. It is not.
The deposits must land in the employee’s designated bank account by 15 May and 15 November each year, regardless of whether the employee has resigned or been dismissed.
WorkMotion’s partner network tracks these deadlines and processes the deposits as part of standard payroll operations.
Employers must submit a copy of the employment contract to the Labour Administrative Authority within 15 days of signature.
Foreign companies unfamiliar with this requirement often skip it entirely, creating a compliance gap that SUNAFIL can identify during an inspection.
WorkMotion handles this registration as part of the onboarding workflow.
Key risks include underestimating total employment costs, which exceed base salary by 50–60%.
The headline salary is only part of the picture. The true cost of employment includes:
WorkMotion provides a full cost breakdown before you make a hiring decision, so finance teams can forecast accurately.
Since Law 29351 (2011), gratificaciones are exempt from EsSalud and pension deductions.
Payroll systems that apply the standard 9% EsSalud rate to July and December bonus payments are overcalculating employer costs and miscalculating employee net pay. This is a common error in manual or generic payroll setups.
WorkMotion’s partner network applies the correct treatment automatically.
Fixed-term contracts are only lawful for specific temporary causes listed in Article 53 of the Ley de Productividad y Competitividad Laboral, such as project work, seasonal demand, or temporary replacement.
Using a fixed-term contract for what is effectively a permanent role exposes the employer to a claim that the employment relationship is indefinite, with the full statutory protections that entails.
WorkMotion’s contracts are drafted to match the actual nature of the role.
There has been a substantial surge in verification of labour compliance. SUNAFIL is anticipated to continue sending mass letters throughout 2025; employers are advised to verify compliance with their labour obligations, either internally or through audits.
Foreign employers without local HR infrastructure are particularly exposed here.
WorkMotion’s partner network maintains all employment records in the Planilla Electrónica system and is prepared to respond to SUNAFIL requests.
Germany, Netherlands, and UK-based SaaS companies increasingly look to Peru to hire senior software engineers and product specialists when local vacancy times stretch beyond three months.
Peru offers a growing pool of technically skilled professionals, a time zone that overlaps with US East Coast hours, and employment costs that compare favourably to Western European markets.
WorkMotion’s EOR in Peru handles the full employment relationship: contract, payroll in Soles, EsSalud, CTS. The engineering team can start contributing without the company needing any local presence.
A US company hiring its first sales or customer success hire in Peru faces an immediate compliance question: how do you employ someone legally without a Peruvian entity?
Using WorkMotion’s employer of record services in Peru, the company can onboard a locally compliant employee within days, with a contract aligned to Peruvian labour law, payroll in local currency, and all statutory benefits handled.
This is a common entry point for US-based companies building their first Latin American team before deciding whether to incorporate locally. Companies building a broader regional footprint often extend from Peru into neighbouring markets like Colombia or Panama as their LATAM presence grows.
E-commerce and fintech businesses with distributed operations often need to hire operations managers, compliance analysts, or customer support leads in markets where their customers are based.
Peru’s growing digital economy and bilingual professional workforce make it an attractive location for these roles.
WorkMotion’s Peru EOR solution gives these companies a compliant employment structure without the overhead of a local entity, and without the compliance risk of misclassifying an operations lead as a contractor.
An employee who relocates from Germany or the UK to Peru creates an immediate employment compliance question for their employer.
The existing employment contract is no longer valid in the new jurisdiction, and the company needs a locally compliant arrangement in place from the date of relocation.
WorkMotion’s partner network in Peru can establish a compliant employment relationship quickly, covering the statutory benefits and contributions required under Peruvian law, so the transition does not create a compliance gap.
Peru’s labour framework is detailed, actively enforced, and easy to get wrong without local expertise.
The CTS deposit deadlines, PLAME filings, gratificaciones, and SUNAFIL inspections are not administrative formalities. They are legal obligations with real financial consequences for non-compliance.
WorkMotion’s employer of record services in Peru, delivered through our trusted partner network, handle all of this on your behalf, so your company can hire the right person quickly and compliantly without setting up a local entity.
From contract generation to monthly payroll remittance, the compliance burden moves off your team and onto ours.
If you have an open role in Peru and need to move fast, Book a Demo to see how WorkMotion can get your hire onboarded in days.
CTS (Compensación por Tiempo de Servicios) is a statutory severance fund that requires biannual deposits, by 15 May and 15 November each year, equivalent to roughly half a month’s salary per deposit period. These deposits go directly into a bank account in the employee’s name and cannot be substituted with other benefits or deferred to the end of employment. When evaluating the true cost of a hire in Peru, finance teams should factor in CTS alongside the 9% EsSalud contribution and two annual gratificaciones, each worth one month’s salary. Total employer costs in Peru typically exceed base salary by 50–60%, which is why a full cost breakdown before committing to a hire is essential.
Fixed-term contracts in Peru are only lawful for specific temporary causes listed in Article 53 of the Ley de Productividad y Competitividad Laboral, such as project-based work, seasonal demand, or temporary replacement of an absent employee. Using a fixed-term contract for what is effectively a permanent role exposes the employer to a legal claim that the relationship is indefinite, with full statutory protections applying from day one. WorkMotion’s partner network drafts contracts to match the actual nature of the role, ensuring the contract type is defensible under Peruvian labour law rather than chosen for administrative convenience.
SUNAFIL, Peru’s labour inspectorate, has significantly increased enforcement activity since 2022 and has been issuing mass letters to employers requesting documentation on wage policies, mandatory life insurance, occupational health and safety, and statutory benefit compliance. When WorkMotion operates as the employer of record in Peru through its partner network, all employment records are maintained in the Planilla Electrónica system and all statutory filings are kept current, so the company is prepared to respond to a SUNAFIL request without scrambling for documentation. The compliance burden sits with WorkMotion’s partner network, not with your internal team.
Yes, Peru operates a dual pension system, and the employee must choose between the private AFP (Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones) system and the public ONP (Oficina de Normalización Previsional) at the point of hire. The contribution rates and administrative processes differ between the two: AFP contributions are managed by private fund administrators and vary by provider, while ONP contributions are fixed at 13% of the employee’s salary. WorkMotion’s partner network registers the employee with their chosen pension system during onboarding and ensures the correct contribution rates are applied in payroll from the first pay cycle.
WorkMotion can typically onboard an employee in Peru within five to seven business days from the point of a signed contract, covering SUNAT income tax registration, EsSalud enrolment, and pension system registration. The timeline also includes submission of the employment contract to the Labour Administrative Authority, which Peruvian law requires within 15 days of signature, a step WorkMotion’s partner network handles as part of the standard onboarding workflow. The main factors that can extend this timeline are delays in receiving the employee’s personal documentation or bank account details required for CTS deposit setup.
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