Splitting and advancing annual leave in Peru: what the rules allow

Employees rarely want 30 consecutive days of vacation, and most businesses cannot afford to lose a key person for a full month. Since the reform introduced by Legislative Decree 1405 and its 2019 regulations, Peruvian law has offered a structured set of tools to make annual leave more flexible: splitting it into blocks, advancing it before it is earned, accumulating it and, within limits, reducing it in exchange for pay. Each tool has its own conditions, and the conditions are mostly formal. That is where companies managed from abroad tend to slip: the flexibility is used in practice, but the paperwork that makes it valid is missing.

This article sets out what each option allows, how the options combine, and how to configure a leave process that uses them safely. The basic entitlement, 30 calendar days per year of service, is covered in our article on annual leave in Peru.

The four flexibility tools at a glance

Splitting: the 15 + 15 structure

Legislative Decree 1405, which amended Legislative Decree 713, and its regulations (Supreme Decree 002-2019-TR) divide the 30-day entitlement into two halves when the employee asks in writing to split it:

• The core half (15 calendar days) may be taken without interruption, or in two uninterrupted periods of 7 and 8 days.
• The flexible half (the remaining 15 days) may be taken in periods shorter than seven days, with a minimum of one day per period.

The design is deliberate. The core half protects genuine rest; the flexible half gives the employee the single days and long weekends that modern leave policies are built around.

What this means for global “day off” practices

Many international groups encourage employees to take occasional days: a Friday before a holiday, a day for a family event, a “wellness day.” Under Peruvian law, those days can be charged against statutory leave only through the flexible half, and only if the request is documented. Once the flexible 15 days are exhausted, further single days cannot be charged to the core block without breaking the 15 or 7 + 8 structure.

If the group wants to grant more flexible days, the cleaner solution is to treat them as an additional contractual benefit, separate from statutory leave.

Advancing leave before it is earned

Employer and employee may agree in writing to advance leave days on account of the entitlement that will vest in the future. Once the employee completes the year of service and meets the récord vacacional (the statutory minimum of days effectively worked), the advanced days are offset against the new entitlement.

If employment ends before the entitlement vests, the advanced days are offset against the vacaciones truncas, the pro-rated leave pay the employee receives on exit.

Advancing leave is useful for new hires who join with prior commitments, for company-wide shutdowns, and for international assignees whose home-country holidays do not match Peru’s calendar. It should always specify how many days are advanced and which future entitlement they are charged to.

Accumulating up to two periods

Legislative Decree 713 (Article 18) allows accumulation of up to two consecutive leave periods by written agreement, provided that after each year of continuous service the employee enjoys at least seven calendar days. This option helps expatriate or long-distance employees who prefer one longer trip every two years.

Accumulation must be handled carefully alongside the rule on leave not taken on time. Without a proper written agreement, a period that is simply left pending may pass its deadline and trigger the additional indemnity described in our article on accrued unused leave and the triple-pay rule.

Reducing leave to 15 days

Under Article 19 of Legislative Decree 713, as amended by Legislative Decree 1405, leave may be reduced from 30 to 15 days, with the employee receiving 15 days’ remuneration as compensation. The agreement must be in writing. Following the reform introduced by Legislative Decree 1405, the reduction can only be charged to the flexible half of the leave, never to the core block of 15 days.

From a budget perspective, reduction does not save money: the company pays the vacation pay for the days enjoyed, plus the compensation for the days sold, while also receiving work on those days. It is a tool for employees who prefer cash to rest, not a cost measure.

Illustrative scenario

Configuring the HR system

Parent-company HR platforms usually model leave as one balance. To use Peruvian flexibility properly, the local record should distinguish:

• The core half and the flexible half of each entitlement;
• Advanced days and the future entitlement they are charged to;
• Accumulated periods and the minimum seven days taken for each year;
• Reduced days paid as compensation;
• The deadline for enjoyment of each period.

Where the global platform cannot hold this structure, a local register reconciled monthly with the platform is the practical solution. Key dates should also feed the company’s annual employment compliance calendar.

Checklist

• Use a standard form for the employee’s written request to split leave.
• Use a standard written agreement for advancing, accumulating or reducing leave.
• Verify that the core 15 days are taken in one block or in 7 + 8.
• Stop charging single days once the flexible half is used up.
• Record advanced days and their offset.
• Confirm that at least seven days are taken per year when periods are accumulated.
• Pay vacation pay before each block begins.

Common mistakes

• Charging single days off against the core block.
• Advancing leave without a written agreement.
• Treating company shutdown days as statutory leave without an agreement or request that supports it.
• Reducing leave below 15 days or charging the reduction to the core block.
• Allowing accumulated periods to drift past their deadlines.
• Confusing flexible schedules with split leave: working-time arrangements are governed by different rules, discussed in our article on maximum working hours in Peru.

Consequences

If splitting, advancing or reduction is not properly documented, the company may face a dispute over whether the leave was validly granted. In a labor inspection by SUNAFIL, Peru’s national labor inspection authority, or in a claim after termination, the employer bears the practical burden of showing when and how leave was taken. Days that cannot be proven may be treated as pending, with the risk that some periods have already passed their deadline.

Preventive recommendations

As a preventive criterion, we recommend adopting a one-page Peruvian leave procedure that sets out the four tools, attaches the standard forms and assigns local ownership of the register. Managers abroad who approve leave for Peruvian staff should know that their approval is not enough on its own; the written request or agreement must be filed locally.

For a review of leave documents, forms and system configuration, our annual leave advisory service can help, and the wider framework is explained in our guide to mandatory employee benefits in Peru.

Key takeaways

Peruvian leave rules are more flexible than their reputation suggests. Employees can take long weekends, new hires can travel before their first anniversary, and expatriates can combine two years of leave. What the law requires in return is structure and written evidence. Companies that build both into their leave process get the flexibility without the liability.