Outsourcing and staffing in Peru: rules, limits and risks for employers

Most companies operating in Peru rely on third parties for part of their operations: cleaning, security, logistics, maintenance, IT, call centers, field services, even entire production lines. Peruvian law allows this, but it treats the question “who is the real employer?” with great seriousness. When the structure does not match the law, the consequences fall on the client company: the contractor’s workers can be declared its direct employees, with all accrued benefits, and the client can be held liable for obligations it never budgeted.

This guide explains the Peruvian framework for outsourcing and staffing, how the two regimes differ, where recharacterization risk comes from and how management and regional headquarters should govern third-party labor.

Executive overview

Peru regulates two distinct models, and the first strategic decision is choosing the right one:

• Outsourcing (tercerización) is the contracting of a company to perform a specialized activity or a piece of work on its own account and risk. The client buys a service or a result. It is governed by Law 29245, Legislative Decree 1038 and Supreme Decree 006-2008-TR.
• Labor intermediation (intermediación laboral) is the placement of workers by a staffing agency to work for a user company. The client receives people, not results. It is governed by Law 27626 and Supreme Decree 003-2002-TR and is permitted only in limited situations.

The central risk in both models is the same. If the arrangement does not meet its legal requirements, the law disregards the contract and treats the workers as direct employees of the client. On top of that, the client is jointly liable for certain obligations of its contractors even when the arrangement is valid.

The legal framework

Outsourcing under Law 29245

Law 29245 defines outsourcing as the contracting of companies to carry out specialized activities or works, provided the contractor:

• assumes the services on its own account and risk;
• has its own financial, technical or material resources;
• is responsible for the results of its activities; and
• keeps its workers under its exclusive subordination.

The law and its regulations add characteristic indicators of a genuinely autonomous contractor: a plurality of clients, its own equipment, capital investment and payment by work or service rather than by hours of labor supplied. Plurality of clients is not required in certain situations — for example, during a contractor’s first year of activity, or where the service by its nature can only be provided to a limited number of clients.

When a contractor’s workers are displaced on a continuous basis to the client’s premises or operations, additional rules apply: the contractor must register in the national registry of outsourcing companies kept by the labor authority, and it must inform its workers and the client about the displacement.

The status of Supreme Decree 001-2022-TR

In February 2022, Supreme Decree 001-2022-TR amended the outsourcing regulations to prohibit outsourcing the “core business” of the client, introduced criteria to identify that core and added new grounds for recharacterization. The decree generated significant litigation.

Supreme Decree 001-2022-TR was declared null by the Supreme Court in a popular action proceeding (acción popular, the judicial action used in Peru to challenge the legality of regulations), Acción Popular No. 30989-2023-LIMA, on the grounds that the decree exceeded the law it was meant to regulate. The nullity is reported as total: it covers the core-business prohibition, the criteria used to identify the core, the new recharacterization grounds and the obligation to adapt existing contracts. Sources differ on the exact date of the judgment and its publication, which is relevant to when its general effects began.

The practical consequence, as reported by Peru’s official gazette, is that the framework of Law 29245, Legislative Decree 1038 and Supreme Decree 006-2008-TR in the form preceding the 2022 decree applies again. Outsourcing core activities is possible, but only where the contractor meets the autonomy requirements of Law 29245. A mere supply of personnel remains unlawful.

Separately, the Constitutional Court had held in an individual constitutional protection case that the prohibition did not violate freedom of contract or freedom of enterprise. That ruling is not a binding precedent, and the Supreme Court noted that the legality of regulations is reviewed by the judiciary through popular action.

Labor intermediation under Law 27626

Labor intermediation through staffing agencies is lawful only in three situations:

• Temporary services, meaning occasional needs and substitution of employees whose contracts are suspended;
• Complementary services, meaning ancillary activities not linked to the client’s main activity, such as cleaning, security or maintenance; and
• Highly specialized services.

Staffing agencies cannot be used to replace workers on strike or to cover permanent activities within the client’s main business. Workers placed for temporary services cannot exceed 20% of the user company’s total workforce; that cap does not apply to complementary or specialized services. Temporary placed workers are entitled to the pay and conditions the user company grants its own employees.

Agencies must be legal entities with an exclusive corporate purpose, must register in the RENEEIL, the national registry of labor intermediation companies, and must post a bond guaranteeing the labor and social security entitlements of their workers. Failing to register contracts with user companies or to report information to the labor authority is a serious infringement.

Outsourcing and intermediation compared

For a fuller comparison, see our insight on outsourcing vs. staffing agencies in Peru.

Joint liability: the exposure that exists even when everything is lawful

Many companies assume that liability arises only if the structure is flawed. That is not the case.

In outsourcing with continuous displacement of workers, the client is jointly liable for the payment of labor rights and benefits and for social security obligations during the displacement, and that liability extends for one year after the displacement ends. In practice, if a contractor fails to pay its workers’ CTS, gratificaciones or pension contributions, those workers can claim against the client.

In labor intermediation, the user company is jointly liable for the workers’ statutory and collectively agreed entitlements if the agency’s bond proves insufficient.

The client also has direct obligations of its own. It must verify that contractors and staffing agencies working on its premises comply with occupational health and safety rules; failing to do so is a serious infringement under the inspection regulations. The sexual harassment regulations also contain specific coordination rules for cases involving outsourced or placed workers.

Recharacterization: how outsourcing fails

Outsourcing is recharacterized (desnaturalizada) when it does not meet the requirements of Law 29245 or when, in substance, it is a simple supply of personnel. The consequence is severe: the displaced workers are deemed to have a direct, indefinite-term employment relationship with the client, in addition to administrative sanctions. Similarly, breaching the permitted cases, the 20% cap or the registration rules in labor intermediation leads to a direct employment relationship with the user company.

Risk signals cluster around two questions: who really directs the workers, and whether the contractor is a real business.

The first three signals depend entirely on the client’s own managers. That is why most recharacterization cases are, in the end, management problems rather than drafting problems. Our insights on when outsourcing is recharacterized and on managing outsourced personnel without creating employment develop these points.

Typical arrangements and how to assess them

The same legal test produces different answers depending on the activity. As a practical guide, these are the patterns that arise most often and the questions each one raises.

Ancillary services such as cleaning, security and maintenance. These are the classic complementary services that may be provided through a staffing agency, and they can also be outsourced to a contractor that manages the service itself. The key question is whether the provider supervises its own staff on site or whether the client’s facilities team does it in practice.

Specialized services such as IT, engineering or payroll processing. These usually fit well within outsourcing, because the contractor brings know-how, tools and methodology of its own. Risk appears when the contractor’s professionals are embedded full time in the client’s teams, report to the client’s managers and are indistinguishable from employees.

Operational processes close to the core, such as warehousing, field sales, production lines or customer service. Following the nullity of Supreme Decree 001-2022-TR, these activities are again capable of being outsourced. They are also where autonomy is hardest to demonstrate, because the work is tightly integrated with the client’s operation. The contractor should run the process end to end, with its own supervisors, equipment and performance indicators.

Temporary peaks and absences. Covering a seasonal peak or an employee on leave with people who will work under the client’s direction is intermediation, not outsourcing. It must go through a registered agency, within the temporary cases and the 20% cap — or through direct fixed-term hiring.

Contract clauses that support the model

A contract cannot cure a relationship that operates as a supply of labor, but a well-designed contract supports a genuine one and protects the client against joint liability. As a preventive standard, we recommend that outsourcing contracts in Peru include:

• a description of the service by deliverables, service levels and results, not by positions or headcount;
• an express allocation of supervision to the contractor, with a named coordinator as the single point of contact;
• the contractor’s warranties on registration, payroll, social security, insurance and health and safety compliance;
• a right for the client to request periodic evidence of payment and to audit compliance;
• indemnities covering claims by contractor staff, and the ability to withhold or offset amounts where compliance evidence is missing; and
• exit provisions requiring evidence that workers’ entitlements have been settled.

How to structure and manage third-party labor: a process

1. Map third-party labor. List every contractor and agency whose workers operate on your premises or in your processes, the activity, headcount and whether displacement is continuous.
2. Choose the correct model for each activity. Ask whether you are buying a result (outsourcing) or people (intermediation). If you need people under your direction, intermediation is the only lawful route, and only within its permitted cases.
3. Verify the contractor before signing. Check registration, corporate purpose, equipment, capital, client base, payroll and insurance compliance and, for agencies, the bond. Our checklist before hiring an outsourcing provider sets out what to request.
4. Draft for autonomy. Define the service by deliverables and service levels, price it by service rather than by headcount, keep supervision within the contractor and include audit rights, compliance warranties and indemnities.
5. Train client managers. Supervisors must know what they may do (manage the service, raise quality issues with the contractor’s coordinator) and what they may not do (give direct orders, discipline, control attendance of contractor staff).
6. Monitor compliance periodically. Request evidence of payment of wages, CTS, gratificaciones, social security and SCTR where applicable, and verify health and safety compliance.
7. Track the 20% cap and permitted cases for staffing arrangements, and review the model whenever the activity changes.
8. Manage exits. When a contract ends, confirm that the contractor has settled its workers’ entitlements, since joint liability survives for one year.

What management and regional headquarters should do

Global procurement policies are often designed for jurisdictions where contractor risk is mainly commercial. In Peru it is also a labor risk, and the policy needs to reflect that.

• Make labor review part of procurement. Any contract involving contractor staff on site or embedded in processes should pass through a labor review, not only a commercial one.
• Separate the chain of command. Contractor staff should receive instructions from their own coordinator. Group collaboration tools, badges and internal channels should be configured accordingly.
• Budget for joint liability. Treat contractor payroll compliance as part of the risk profile of the Peruvian entity, and require periodic evidence of payment.
• Reassess arrangements made under the 2022 decree. Some groups restructured contracts to comply with Supreme Decree 001-2022-TR. After its nullity, those structures may be revisited — but only after verifying the current legal position and confirming that any new model meets the autonomy requirements.
• Report on it. A short periodic report listing contractors, headcount, compliance evidence received and open issues gives regional headquarters real visibility.

Our insight on outsourcing requirements under Peruvian law is a useful briefing for procurement and legal teams outside Peru.

Frequent mistakes

• Using staffing agencies for permanent core roles, often because it seemed faster than hiring.
• Calling a staffing arrangement “outsourcing” in the contract while the client directs the workers.
• Signing without due diligence on the contractor’s registration, resources and payroll compliance.
• Ignoring the 20% cap on temporary placements as the business grows.
• Allowing client supervisors to manage contractor staff directly, including attendance and discipline.
• Assuming joint liability ends with the contract. It extends for one year after continuous displacement ends.
• Overlooking health and safety verification of contractors on site.
• Treating the nullity of Supreme Decree 001-2022-TR as a green light for any arrangement. The autonomy requirements still apply in full.

Exposure

The exposure from a failed outsourcing or staffing model has several layers. Labor inspectors may order the incorporation of workers into the client’s payroll and impose fines, which under Peru’s inspection rules depend on the severity of the infringement and the number of workers affected. Workers may bring claims for recognition of an indefinite-term relationship with the client, together with the difference in pay and benefits between what the contractor paid and what the client pays its own employees. In a transaction, a buyer will treat a large, poorly documented contractor workforce as a contingent liability. How that exposure is sized and reported is explained in our guide on employment risk in Peru.

Where to go deeper

This guide is the reference for our outsourcing and staffing cluster. The following insights cover each topic in detail:

• The autonomy test under Law 29245: Outsourcing requirements under Peruvian law.
• Choosing between models: Outsourcing vs. staffing agencies in Peru.
• Consequences of a failed model: When outsourcing is recharacterized in Peru.
• Day-to-day conduct of client managers: Managing outsourced personnel without creating employment.
• Pre-contract diligence: What to check before hiring an outsourcing provider in Peru.

When you need to design, review or restructure third-party labor arrangements, our outsourcing and staffing service covers model selection, contract drafting, vendor diligence and manager training, and an employment audit can test existing arrangements against the recharacterization signals above. To see how your company compares across the main risk areas, start with the employment compliance check.

Key takeaways

Peruvian law permits outsourcing and staffing, but it protects the workers involved by looking through the contract to the reality of the relationship. Genuine outsourcing requires a contractor with its own organization, resources and exclusive direction of its staff; staffing agencies are lawful only within narrow cases and limits. With the nullity of Supreme Decree 001-2022-TR, the core-business prohibition no longer applies — subject to verifying the current position — but the autonomy test is as demanding as ever. Companies that choose the right model, verify their contractors, train their managers and monitor contractor compliance keep this area under control.