Special rules regarding remote work remain valid until December 2022. In case of employees at high risk of COVID-19 infection, disabled employees and pregnant employees, the employer must prioritise remote work or offer paid leave. In some specific cases, it is possible to follow a special process to return to the company premises.

Special protection for pregnant employees and women on breastfeeding leave (available until one year after the birth of a child) against dismissal extends to employees in the probationary period and part-time employees.

There has been a change in the requirements for lactation rooms, which are mandatory for companies that employ 20 or more women between 15 and 49 years old. If the employer does not have the minimum surface area (7.5 square metres) for the lactation room, it is possible to share a room with a neighbouring company.

There is mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 for all adult employees who work on-site, as of 1 April 2022. Employees must provide proof of three vaccinations.

Employees who are vaccinated against COVID-19 are entitled to up to four hours of paid leave.

There are new very serious labour infringements related to COVID-19 measures for:

• allowing or requesting non-vaccinated people to work on-site; and
• non-compliance with rules on vaccination against COVID-19 applicable to service providers.

New paid leave of two days has been brought in for employees who need to undergo annual oncological preventive examinations.

New restrictions have been introduced on the legal framework of outsourcing services in Peru, so that outsourcing of activities related to a company’s core business that includes permanent displacement of personnel is forbidden as of 22 August 2022.

As of 1 May 2022, the minimum wage has been increased, from USD225 to USD270 approximately per month.

There are new rules on collective bargaining as of 25 July 2022. Employees can affiliate directly not only to trade unions, but to federations (the union of two or more trade unions) and confederations (the union of two or more federations) if the by-laws of those organisations allow it. There are three new types of trade unions: a union of a group of companies, a union of a production chain, and a union of subcontracting networks. The special protection of union leaders against dismissal is no longer limited to a number of leaders.

New mandatory national holidays have been introduced on 6 October and 9 December.

The general employment legislation does not distinguish between blue-collar and white-collar workers.

There are special rules for trusted and managerial personnel in terms of protection against unfair dismissal, probationary periods, overtime rules and collective bargaining.

In general, there are two types of employment contracts: definite and indefinite contracts.

Definite employment contracts are considered an exemption and can only be used in the following cases:

• for new activities or services, market necessities or where there is an increase in production or demand;
• temporary or force majeure cases (eg, natural disasters);
• seasonal services (eg, fishing);
• specific services where the fixed-term arrangement is permitted by the local law.

Definite contracts must be executed in writing and detail the temporal and objective cause of hiring. In some specific cases, definite contracts can be extended for a maximum of five years.

It is also possible to engage personnel through a part-time contract (see 2.3 Working Hours).

Teleworking agreements must include specific terms, such as the purpose of telework and the working tools granted by the employer to facilitate teleworking.

Hiring foreign employees is subject to special restrictions and rules, which depend on the nationality of the candidates (see 5. Foreign Workers).

Maximum working hours are eight per day, or 48 per week. However, the following employees are exempt from such limits:

• managerial personnel;
• employees who are not subject to effective control over their working time; and
• those who render intermittent services of wait, safeguard or security.

Flexible arrangements are possible respecting the aforesaid limits and the minimum rest periods (eg, weekly 24-hour rest).

In the case of atypical working shifts (eg, mining), an employee may work more than eight hours per day and 48 hours per week, provided that the average working hours, calculated for a period of three weeks or a shorter period, do not exceed both limits.

Part-time employees work for less than 24 hours per week. Part-time employment contracts can be indefinite or definite, must be executed in writing and must be registered with the Labour Ministry.

Overtime is paid at a rate of 125% of the ordinary wage for each of the first 2 hours and at 135% for each additional hour per day. Alternatively, the company and the employee may agree to compensate overtime work with rest time.

Every hour working during the weekly rest day or mandatory national holidays is double paid. Alternatively, the company and the employee may agree to compensate overtime work with rest time during the same week. The compensation for working on 1 May has special rules.

Employees who work full-time are entitled to receive the minimum wage, which is currently PEN1,025 per month (USD270 approximately). For certain activities, the minimum salary is higher (eg, mining). Employees who work on night shifts (from 10pm to 6am) should receive a salary increase equivalent to 35% of the minimum wage.

In addition to the minimum wage, employees are entitled to the following mandatory benefits:

• family allowance;
• legal bonuses (one for Independence Day and one for Christmas);
• compensation for time of services (part-time employees are not entitled to this benefit);
• profit sharing;
• life insurance; and
• protection against unfair dismissal (part-time employees are not entitled to this benefit).

Full-time employees who have accomplished a minimum number of days worked within the year (which depends on the duration of the working week) are entitled to 30 calendar days of vacation per full year of service. Part-time employees are entitled to six business days of vacation per full year of service.

Peruvian law regulates leave in case of sickness, maternity, paternity and adoption, as well as leave for union leaders and employees who must look after a close relative with terminal illness, among other reasons.

Regarding limitations on confidentiality, disclosing confidential information is considered a just cause for dismissal.

Companies cannot dismiss employees based on discriminatory reasons, such as race, sex, sexual orientation, political or religious beliefs, age, physical disability, etc. In such case, the dismissal is considered null and the employee can sue for reinstatement.

Peruvian law does not regulate restrictive covenants. However, it is advisable to include non-compete clauses in the employment contract or in a separate agreement.

In practice, post-termination covenants are not enforceable.

Please see 3.1 Non-competition Clauses.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies to the employment sphere.

Limitations depend on the nationality of foreign workers.

In broad terms, the restrictions are twofold:

• the number of foreign employees cannot exceed 20% of a Peruvian company’s total employee headcount; and
• the maximum aggregate salary for all foreign employees cannot exceed 30% of the Peruvian company’s total payroll.

In limited cases, employees may apply to be exempt from both restrictions. Furthermore, the aforesaid restrictions do not apply to some foreign citizens (eg, those who have Peruvian children).

Foreign employment contracts must be definite (they cannot exceed three years), must be executed in writing and must be registered with the Labour Ministry. The parties may agree to extend the contract. The number of extensions depends on each individual case. After such approval, foreign citizens must obtain a worker visa.

Unions are prevalent in some sectors. The rate of unionisation is 6%.

All employees are entitled to join a union, federation and confederation, as indicated in 1.1 Main Changes in the Past Year. The minimum number of employees required to form a union within a company is 20. However, if the company has less than 20 employees can name two delegates to represent them. Other unions - such as a trade union or union of activity - require at least 50 employees from different companies to form a union.

Unions may designate leaders or representatives so that they can enjoy the so-called union privilege, which includes:

• special protection against unfair dismissal;
• not to be transferred to another worksite of the company without a justified cause or without the employee’s acceptance; and
• to enjoy paid leaves of absence.

Unions, federations and confederations are the three collective organisations recognised by law.

In addition to them, the Internal Occupational Health and Safety Committee and the Internal Committee for Investigation against Sexual Harassment at Work must be equally recognised, including employees’ representatives.

Collective bargaining agreements must be registered before the Labour Authority. Such collective agreements will apply to its affiliated employees and all the employees within the union’s scope in the case of a majority union trade.

According to the new rules, the employer is prohibited from extending the benefits set forth in the collective bargaining agreement at its sole discretion.

Terminations requires motivation a priori. After the probationary period, employees benefit from protection against unfair dismissal, which means that companies may only terminate employees with justified cause, after providing prior written notice pursuant to law.

There are different procedures depending on the grounds for dismissal.

Collective redundancies need the approval of the Labour Authority, which does not usually approve these measures. In addition, the requirements are difficult to meet.

For the termination of definite contracts, it is not necessary to give notice to the employees of the termination of their contracts.

Notice periods are required in case of dismissal for cause.

It is important to highlight that unfair dismissal is forbidden by law. In case of unfair dismissal, an employee who does not occupy a trusted or managerial position may choose between requiring indemnity or restitution in the same job category. The indemnity is equal to 150% of the employee monthly salary for each year of service, if the employee is on an indefinite employment contract. Periods of time less than one year must be paid proportionally. If the employee is on a definite contract, the indemnity is equal to 150% of their monthly salary for each month remaining until the end of the contract. Such indemnity may not exceed, in either case, 12 monthly salaries.

The dismissal for serious misconduct includes the following causes.

• Serious infringement of the main duties, which makes unreasonable to maintain the labour relationship, for example:
1. repeated refusal to comply with orders related to their functions;
2. serious unfulfillment of the general or the occupational health and safety regulations of the company;
3. appropriation of services or goods of the company, or that are under their custody, as well as the illegal use or retention of them, for their own benefit or in favour of third parties;
4. use or delivery of confidential information of the company;
5. removal or unauthorised use of documentation of the company;
6. giving false information to the company in order to cause damage or get an advantage;
7. unfair competition;
8. unjustified absence for more than three consecutive calendar days;
9. unjustified absence for more than five calendar days during 30 calendar days, or more than 15 calendar days during 180 calendar days
10. repeated tardiness previously sanctioned;
11. sexual harassment; and
12. false complaint of sexual harassment
• Final judicial decision of a criminal act in bad faith, as soon as it is known by the company, unless the company knows of said criminal act before hiring the employee.
• Administrative or judicial disqualification for three months or more in the functions that the employee performs for the company.

When the cause is related to misconduct, the employer must send a letter with the imputation of charges to the employee and grant them a minimum of six calendar days for their written defence. After that period, with or without the response, the employer is entitled to send the dismissal letter.

Requirements of dismissal for an employee’s incapacity are very difficult to meet.

Termination agreements are permissible and must be in writing. Using a wet ink signature or digital signature is highly advisable. Other formalities, such as notarised signature, depend on the clauses included in the termination agreement.

A dismissal will be considered null and the employee will be entitled to claim reinstatement if the dismissal is based on one of the following causes: pregnancy, maternity leave, making a complaint against the employer, race, sex, religion, political opinion, or trade union membership (see 1.1 Main Changes in the Past Year and 6.1 Status/Role of Unions).

An employee who does not occupy a trusted or managerial position may choose between requiring an indemnity payment or restitution in the same job category (see 7.2 Notice Periods/Severance).

In addition, in some cases, the employee may ask the judge to grant the payment of damages.

A dismissal will be considered null and the employee will be entitled to claim reinstatement if the dismissal is based on discriminatory ground (see 7.5 Protected Employees). In addition, in some cases, the employee may ask the judge to grant the payment of damages.

There are special labour courts. Likewise, constitutional courts have jurisdiction to resolve certain labour cases in which a constitutional right is at stake, and an evidentiary hearing is not required.

Class action claims are not common. Unions can represent affiliated employees before a court.

Arbitration is possible during the collective bargaining process. After the last reform, only the union can request the arbitration.

In individual cases, the arbitration clause must be included within the termination agreement or any other agreement upon the employment termination, and the employee must perceive a minimum monthly salary of PEN32,200 (about USD8,480).

The prevailing party in a lawsuit may be reimbursed for its attorney's fees, but the fees are limited to the bar association’s chart.