Preparing for a SUNAFIL appearance summons

Not every labor inspection in Peru begins with an inspector at the door. Frequently, the company receives a summons to appear, a comparecencia, requiring its representative to attend on a given date, in person or virtually, with a list of documents. For a subsidiary managed from abroad, the summons can look deceptively routine: a meeting, a few files, a signature. In reality, it is an evidentiary diligence. What the company brings, what its representative says and what ends up in the written record will shape the rest of the inspection.

What a comparecencia is

SUNAFIL, Peru’s national labor inspection authority, can conduct its investigations through workplace visits, data verification and appearances. In a comparecencia, the inspector summons the employer to present itself, with the documentation specified, so the inspector can review compliance, ask questions and, where appropriate, follow up on inspection measures. Inspectors’ powers to require documents and information derive from article 5 of Law 28806, the General Labor Inspection Law, and the appearance is one of the modalities of investigation recognized in article 13 and in the implementing regulation, Supreme Decree 019-2006-TR.

The summons typically arrives through SUNAFIL’s electronic mailbox (casilla electrónica), the mandatory electronic notification channel. The period between notification and the appearance can be short, so the notice needs to reach the right people the same day.

Reading the summons

Before doing anything else, extract the essentials and circulate them internally:

• Inspection order number and the subjects under review;
• date, time and format (in person, with address, or virtual, with platform and link);
• documents required, item by item, and the period they cover;
• who is expected to attend, if specified; and
• any instructions on how documents should be delivered (paper, digital upload, specific formats).

If any item is unclear, for example a document described generically or a period that is not stated, the company can seek clarification in writing before the date. That is better than guessing and bringing the wrong file.

Choosing the representative

The representative speaks for the company and may be asked to confirm facts, explain practices and commit to follow-up actions. Three qualities matter:

1. Authority. The person should be the legal representative or hold a power of attorney or authorization letter adequate for the diligence. Check that the powers registered for the Peruvian entity support it; for branches and subsidiaries whose powers are granted by a board abroad, this may take time to arrange.
2. Knowledge. The person should understand how payroll, attendance and benefits actually work at the company, or be accompanied by someone who does.
3. Language. The appearance will be conducted in Spanish. An expatriate manager with limited Spanish should not attend alone.

Counsel commonly accompanies the representative. Counsel’s role is to help present the file coherently, ensure that the questions and answers are accurately recorded, and flag when a question strays into matters requiring further analysis.

A preparation timeline

Building the document file

The inspector will look at documents individually and against each other. Our note on documents SUNAFIL can request sets out the usual core: payroll registration, payslips, contracts, attendance records, benefits evidence and health and safety files. For an appearance, three practical rules apply.

Index everything. Prepare a numbered index that mirrors the summons item by item, stating for each item what is delivered, what does not exist (and why) and what will follow.

Reconcile before delivering. Attendance and payroll should match; contract terms should match actual positions and schedules; benefit payments should match the employees on payroll during the relevant period. If there is a discrepancy, it is better to identify and explain it beforehand than to have the inspector discover it.

Use Spanish. Documents held only in English, such as global policies or incentive plans, should be accompanied by a reliable Spanish version if the company intends to rely on them.

During the appearance

• Be punctual, and for virtual sessions, connect early.
• Answer the question asked, precisely and factually. If the representative does not know, say so and offer to provide the information within a stated period.
• Do not speculate about practices outside the representative’s knowledge, and do not characterize legal issues (“everyone here is a confidential employee”) without basis.
• Commit carefully. Any deadline agreed will be recorded and enforced. Agree only to periods the company can actually meet, bearing in mind approvals abroad.
• Keep a parallel note of every question, answer and request.

At the end, the inspector will normally record what happened. Read the record in full before signing. If it omits something relevant or records a statement inaccurately, ask for the company’s observations to be included.

After the appearance

The appearance may lead to further requests, a compliance order to correct a breach within a set period, or the conclusion of the matter. Investigations generally may not exceed 30 business days, subject to extensions except in health and safety matters. If a breach is identified, correcting it before an infringement report is issued brings the largest fine reduction available. Our note on what happens if a company ignores a SUNAFIL request explains why follow-up deadlines deserve the same attention as the appearance itself.

When the summons follows an employee complaint

Many appearances originate in a complaint. The company may be able to infer who filed it, but it should not act on that inference. Under Peruvian law, a dismissal motivated by an employee’s complaint or participation in proceedings against the employer before the competent authorities is null, unless it involves serious misconduct, and a null dismissal leads to reinstatement with back pay. Any change in the complainant’s duties, schedule or treatment during or after the inspection will be read in that light.

Internally, the message to managers should be simple: cooperate with the inspection, preserve records, and do not discuss the complaint with the employees concerned. If a disciplinary matter involving the same employee is already under way for unrelated reasons, it should be reviewed with counsel before any further step is taken, and documented with particular care.

Illustrative scenario

Illustrative scenario: the Peruvian subsidiary of an Australian software company, with 60 employees working in a hybrid model, is summoned to a virtual appearance following a complaint by a former employee about unpaid overtime and remote-work expenses. The general manager, a recent transferee, plans to attend alone and present the group’s global remote-work policy, drafted in English.

With preparation, the company instead appoints its local HR manager as representative, with an authorization letter, accompanied by counsel. It delivers an index, the employee’s contract and telework agreement in Spanish, the attendance and connection logs reconciled with payroll, and a Spanish translation of the relevant section of the global policy. When the inspector asks about expense compensation for employees using their own equipment, the HR manager explains the practice and offers the payment records within three business days, which the company meets. The inspection continues, but on a file the company controls.

Checklist before a SUNAFIL appearance

• The summons details (order number, date, format, documents) are circulated to HR, legal and counsel.
• A representative with documented authority is appointed; Spanish-language capacity is ensured.
• Every requested document is gathered, reconciled and indexed.
• Key documents in English have reliable Spanish versions.
• Likely questions have been rehearsed with counsel.
• For virtual sessions, the link, platform and file uploads have been tested.
• The representative knows not to sign the record without reading it and adding observations where needed.
• Follow-up deadlines will be entered in a tracker the same day.

Key takeaways

A SUNAFIL appearance rewards preparation more than advocacy: the right representative, an indexed and consistent file in Spanish, and a careful reading of the record. It penalizes absence and improvisation. For a wider view of the inspection process, see our guide to labor inspections in Peru, and for the first day of an unannounced visit, our note on what to do when SUNAFIL inspects your company. If you would like support preparing for an appearance, see our labor inspection defense service.