Countries › Peru › Guide › 16. What is normal abroad but not here › Two legal bonuses a year: gratificaciones in July and December

Two legal bonuses a year: gratificaciones in July and December

Last verified: 2026-10-29 · Status: Stable

Abroad a year end bonus is usually discretionary; in Peru every private sector employee is owed two gratificaciones a year by law, each worth one monthly salary. They are paid in the first half of July and the first half of December, carry no social security contributions, and the 9 percent the employer would have paid to EsSalud on them goes to the worker as an extra bonus. Workers who joined or left during the semester receive a proportional bonus, and regular variable pay such as commissions enters the base.

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 amounts use the 2026 UIT of S/ 5,500 set by Decreto Supremo Nº 301-2025-EF, as cited in SUNAT Resolución de Superintendencia Nº 000016-2026/SUNAT. Conversions are for orientation only.

Key facts

Legal bonuses (gratificaciones) per year	60 days of salaryLey 27735 art. 1 and 2, as of 2026-10-29 · in force
Extraordinary bonus on each gratificación (EsSalud amount paid to the worker)	9 %Ley 30334 art. 3; Ley 26790 art. 6 a), as of 2026-10-29 · in force
Gratificación payment windows	First half of July and first half of December textLey 27735 art. 5, as of 2026-10-29 · in force

The rule

1. Every worker under the private sector labor regime is entitled to two gratificaciones a year, one for Fiestas Patrias (national holidays in July) and one for Christmas, whatever the type of contract and the time of service.
Cost to do it: Two extra monthly salaries a year per employee.
Example: An employee earning S/ 5,000 a month is owed S/ 10,000 a year in gratificaciones before the 9 percent bonus. / About US$2,897 a year.Ley Nº 27735, Ley que regula el otorgamiento de las gratificaciones (El Peruano 28 May 2002), Art. 1, 2002-05-28 official text · verified 2026-10-29

2. Each gratificación equals the remuneration the worker earns when it falls due: basic pay plus all amounts received regularly in cash or in kind that are freely available to the worker. Variable pay counts as regular if received in at least three months of the semester; the amounts are added up and divided by six.
Cost to do it: One monthly remuneration including regular variable pay.
Example: A salesperson on S/ 5,000 who earned S/ 1,200 of commissions over four months of the semester adds S/ 200 to the base, so the bonus is S/ 5,200. / About US$1,506 instead of US$1,448.Ley Nº 27735, Art. 2 and 3, 2002-05-28 official text · verified 2026-10-29

3. Gratificaciones are paid in the first half (quincena) of July and of December. A worker must be employed on that date (or on vacation, paid leave or receiving social security benefits) to receive the full bonus; a worker with less than six months receives a proportional bonus, and a worker who left after at least one full month in the semester receives a proportional bonus for the months actually worked.
Cost to do it: Proportional share of one monthly salary per month worked in the semester.
Example: An employee on S/ 5,000 hired on 1 March has four full months (March to June) by July and receives four sixths, S/ 3,333.33, plus the 9 percent bonus of S/ 300.00. / About US$1,052.53 in total.Ley Nº 27735, Art. 5, 6 and 7, 2002-05-28 official text · verified 2026-10-29

4. Gratificaciones for Fiestas Patrias and Christmas are not subject to contributions or deductions of any kind, except deductions set by law or authorised by the worker. The amount employers would have paid to EsSalud on them is paid to the worker as a temporary extraordinary bonus that is neither remuneration nor pensionable.
Cost to do it: 9 percent on top of each gratificación instead of the employer's EsSalud contribution.
Example: On a S/ 5,000 gratificación the worker receives S/ 5,000 plus S/ 450, S/ 5,450, with no EsSalud or pension contribution withheld. / About US$1,579 per payment and US$3,158 a year.Ley Nº 30334, Ley que establece medidas para dinamizar la economía en el año 2015 (El Peruano 24 June 2015); Ley Nº 26790 (El Peruano 17 May 1997), Ley 30334 art. 1 and 3; Ley 26790 art. 6 a) (9 percent EsSalud rate), 2015-06-24 official text · verified 2026-10-29 · changed: Ley Nº 30334 of 24 June 2015 made permanent the exemption of gratificaciones from contributions and the 9 percent bonus, which Ley Nº 29351 of 1 May 2009 had introduced for a limited period.

5. If the worker already receives a similar benefit under special laws, collective agreements or custom, the two are incompatible and the more favourable one is paid.
Cost to do it: No double payment, but the legal bonus is a floor.
Example: A contractual 13th month salary paid in December can replace the Christmas gratificación only if it is at least as favourable. / A S/ 5,000 contractual December bonus is about US$1,448.Ley Nº 27735, Art. 8, 2002-05-28 official text · verified 2026-10-29

Monthly salary	Each gratificación with 9% bonus	Yearly total	Yearly total in USD
S/ 1,230	S/ 1,340.70	S/ 2,681.40	US$777
S/ 3,000	S/ 3,270.00	S/ 6,540.00	US$1,895
S/ 5,000	S/ 5,450.00	S/ 10,900.00	US$3,158
S/ 10,000	S/ 10,900.00	S/ 21,800.00	US$6,315
S/ 20,000	S/ 21,800.00	S/ 43,600.00	US$12,630

Gratificación cost per employee by monthly salary (USD at S/ 3.452, 27 October 2026)

Worked example

Annual cost for a S/ 5,000 a month employee: two gratificaciones of S/ 5,000 each plus two bonuses of S/ 450, S/ 10,900, about US$3,158, roughly 2.18 extra monthly salaries on top of 12.
At the minimum wage of S/ 1,230 (DS 015-2026-TR, from 1 October 2026) each gratificación with bonus is S/ 1,340.70, about US$388.

Step by step

Budget 14 salaries a year for each employee plus the 9 percent bonus on two of them.
Calendar the payments for the first half of July and of December and fund cash flow ahead of both dates.
Track variable pay by semester: if a component is received in three or more months, add one sixth of the semester total to the base.
On exits, pay the proportional gratificación for each full month worked in the semester together with the final settlement.
Show the gratificación and the 9 percent bonus separately on the payslip and do not withhold EsSalud or pension contributions on them.

Common traps

Paying a discretionary year end bonus does not replace the legal gratificación unless it is at least as favourable; otherwise both are owed.
Commissions and other regular variable pay raise the base; leaving them out leads to underpayment claims.
The 9 percent bonus applies to gratificaciones, not to ordinary monthly salary, on which the employer still pays EsSalud.
The gratificación is part of the CTS base at one sixth, so understating it also understates the CTS deposit.
Each minimum wage increase lifts the gratificación of minimum wage workers automatically.

Sources

← What is normal abroad but works differently in PeruSeverance is prefunded twice a year: the CTS deposits →

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