Countries › Peru › Guide › 7. Labor and employment › Outsourcing and temporary staffing in Peru: specialised outsourcing under Ley 29245, staffing agencies, the 20 percent cap and joint liability

Outsourcing and temporary staffing in Peru: specialised outsourcing under Ley 29245, staffing agencies, the 20 percent cap and joint liability

Last verified: 2026-10-28 · Status: Changing

Outsourcing is lawful when the contractor does specialised work or works on its own account and risk, with its own resources and exclusive control of its staff; mere supply of personnel is not allowed and turns the workers into the client's employees. Staffing (intermediation) is only allowed for temporary, complementary or highly specialised services through registered agencies, temporary agency staff cannot exceed 20 percent of the client's workforce, and agency workers get the client's pay and conditions. Clients are jointly liable for outsourced workers' statutory pay and social security while they are posted and for one year after, and a 2022 restriction on outsourcing core activities has been in litigation.

USD figures use S/ 3.452 per US dollar, the banking system selling rate published by the Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP for 27 October 2026, from the Banco Central de Reserva del Perú statistics series PD04640PD. UIT based amounts use the 2026 UIT of S/ 5,500 (Decreto Supremo Nº 301-2025-EF, as cited by SUNAT Resolución de Superintendencia Nº 000016-2026). Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Maximum temporary agency staff as share of the client's workforce	20 %Ley 27626 art. 6, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Client's joint liability for outsourced posted staff after the posting ends	1 yearsLey 29245 art. 9, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Deadline for outsourcing companies with posted staff to register	30 business days from formationLey 29245 art. 8, as of 2026-10-28 · in force
Agency staff get the client's pay and conditions while posted	Yes flagLey 27626 art. 7, as of 2026-10-28 · in force

The rule

1. Outsourcing (tercerización) is hiring companies to carry out specialised activities or works where the contractor assumes the services on its own account and risk, has its own financial, technical or material resources, is responsible for results and its workers are exclusively subordinate to it. Plurality of clients, own equipment, capital investment and pay per work or service are typical features. Mere supply of personnel is never allowed. Management contracts, works contracts, external outsourcing and contracts for a third party to take over an integral part of the production process are examples.Ley Nº 29245, Ley que regula los servicios de tercerización, Art. 2 and 3, 2008-06-24 official text · verified 2026-10-28

2. Outsourcing contracts that do not meet these requirements and amount to mere supply of personnel make the posted workers direct employees of the client and lead to cancellation of the contractor's registration. Outsourcing companies with posted staff must register in the national register of outsourcing companies within 30 business days of formation and inform the workers and the client's unions of the client's identity, the activities and the place.Ley Nº 29245, Art. 5, 6 and 8, 2008-06-24 official text · verified 2026-10-28

3. Outsourced workers keep all individual and collective rights against their employer and are not subordinate to the client. Outsourcing and fixed term hiring cannot be used to limit union freedom, bargaining, replace strikers or affect protected union leaders.Ley Nº 29245, Art. 7, 2008-06-24 official text · verified 2026-10-28

4. A client that contracts works or services with the contractor's staff posted to it is jointly liable for their statutory employment benefits and social security obligations accrued while posted, for one year after the posting ends. The joint liability covers only obligations set by law, not those agreed by contract or granted unilaterally, and the duties apply to outsourcing with continuous posting of staff at the client's premises, not to outsourcing without posting or occasional posting. The client can recover what it pays from the contractor.
Cost to do it: Exposure to the contractor's unpaid statutory benefits and contributions for posted staff, for one year after the posting.Ley Nº 29245 art. 9; Decreto Legislativo Nº 1038, Ley 29245 art. 9; DL 1038 art. 2 and 4, 2008-06-25 official text · verified 2026-10-28

5. Labor intermediation (staffing) can only be provided by service companies or worker cooperatives whose exclusive purpose is intermediation, registered in the national register kept by the Ministry of Labor. Staff working at the client's premises can only be supplied for temporary, complementary or specialised needs; temporary agency staff cover the occasional and replacement contract cases. Breaching these limits makes the workers the client's employees from the start.Ley Nº 27626, intermediación laboral, Art. 1, 3, 5, 9 to 11, 2002-01-09 official text · verified 2026-10-28

6. Temporary agency staff cannot exceed 20 percent of the client's total workforce; the cap does not apply to complementary or specialised services where the agency has full technical autonomy and responsibility. Agency staff are entitled, while posted, to the pay and conditions the client gives its own workers. A client cannot use agencies to replace strikers or to cover staff at another agency, and intermediation that limits collective rights is void.
Example: A client with 200 workers can have at most 40 temporary agency workers at any time; cleaning or security contractors with full autonomy fall outside the cap. / Not a money rule; the cap limits headcount.Ley Nº 27626, Art. 4, 6, 7 and 8, 2002-01-09 official text · verified 2026-10-28

7. Agencies must give a guarantee (fianza) to secure their workers' labor rights when they sign intermediation contracts; if the guarantee is insufficient, the client is jointly liable for the posted workers' unpaid entitlements for the time worked at its premises. Clients must ask for and keep a copy of the agency's current registration.Ley Nº 27626, Art. 24 to 26, 2002-01-09 official text · verified 2026-10-28

8. A 2022 supreme decree, Decreto Supremo Nº 001-2022-TR, amended the outsourcing regulation to bar outsourcing of core business activities. Its legality was challenged in a popular action before the courts. A Constitutional Court ruling of 6 February 2026 records that Indecopi suspended the effect of its own decisions on core activity outsourcing until the Supreme Court rules on the decree's constitutionality and legality, a process that was still pending when the Court issued its Sentencia 170/2025.Decreto Supremo Nº 001-2022-TR; Tribunal Constitucional, Expediente 04901-2023-PA/TC, Ruling of 6 February 2026, background section, 2026-02-06 official text · verified 2026-10-28 · changed: The 2022 bar on outsourcing core activities has been under judicial review; check the Supreme Court's final ruling in the popular action before structuring core activity outsourcing.

Worked example

A Spanish owned mining services group runs a Peruvian concentrator plant with 300 direct staff.
It outsources maintenance to a specialised contractor that brings its own equipment, has other clients and directs its own technicians: lawful outsourcing (Ley 29245 art. 2).
Because the technicians are posted continuously at the plant, the group is jointly liable for their statutory pay and contributions during the posting and for one year after; it asks the contractor for monthly proof of payment (Ley 29245 art. 9; DL 1038 art. 2).
For a three month peak it also uses a registered staffing agency for 40 temporary operators, within the 20 percent cap of 60, and pays them the plant's rates (Ley 27626 art. 6 and 7).

Step by step

Decide whether you need a specialised service (outsourcing) or extra hands under your direction (intermediation), since each has its own law (Ley 29245; Ley 27626).
For outsourcing, check the contractor's own resources, other clients and control of its staff, and its registration if staff are posted (Ley 29245 art. 2 and 8).
Put in the contract the activity and the client units where it is carried out, and a right to audit statutory payments (Ley 29245 art. 4 and 9).
For staffing, use only registered agencies, keep a copy of their registration, check the guarantee, cap temporary staff at 20 percent and match pay (Ley 27626 art. 6, 7, 24 and 26).
Never use outsourced or agency staff to cover striking workers (Ley 29245 art. 7; Ley 27626 art. 8).
Before outsourcing a core activity, check the final status of the litigation over Decreto Supremo Nº 001-2022-TR.

Common traps

An outsourcing that is really labor supply makes the contractor's workers your employees, with all past benefits (Ley 29245 art. 5).
Joint liability survives the end of the contract by one year (Ley 29245 art. 9).
Temporary agency staff beyond the 20 percent cap, or in cases outside temporary, complementary or specialised needs, are deemed your employees from day one (Ley 27626 art. 5 and 6).
Agency workers' pay must match the client's own staff, so staffing is not a way to pay less (Ley 27626 art. 7).
Rules on core activity outsourcing have shifted since 2022; recheck before relying on any structure.

Sources

← Unions, collective bargaining and strikes in Peru: 20 worker company unions, union protection, one year agreements and strike rulesHiring foreign workers in Peru: the 20 percent headcount and 30 percent payroll caps, exemptions and approval of the written contract →

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