Prevention
Internal work rules that meet Peru’s mandatory content requirements, reflect how the operation actually runs and give managers a disciplinary framework they can apply consistently.
In many jurisdictions an employee handbook is a management tool that the company can write and change as it sees fit. In Peru, employers with more than 100 employees must have internal work rules, known as the Reglamento Interno de Trabajo or RIT, with a minimum content set by regulation and filed with the labor authority. For a foreign-owned company, the question is how to meet that requirement while keeping consistency with the group’s own policies.
The mandatory content covers admission and hiring, working hours and meal breaks, attendance control, leave and absences, method of payment, disciplinary rules and sanctions, the person to whom complaints are addressed, safety and hygiene, and prevention of sexual harassment, among other points. Rules are approved automatically when filed and must be delivered to employees within five calendar days of approval. Not having them when required is a minor infringement under the inspection rules, but the bigger cost usually appears elsewhere.
That cost is in discipline. When a company in Peru warns, suspends or dismisses an employee, it must show that the conduct was a breach and that the response was proportionate. Clear rules, known to employees, are among the best evidence of both. Vague or outdated rules make each decision harder to defend. Our note on internal work rules in Peru explains the legal framework, and the one on disciplinary measures covers proportionality.
We start from practice, not from a template. We review how schedules, attendance, leave, pay and discipline actually work in the entity, and we read the group documents that the company expects to apply: codes of conduct, IT and monitoring policies, remote work policies, conflict of interest rules.
We then draft rules that contain the mandatory content, describe the operation accurately and include a disciplinary framework with graded measures. Where a group policy cannot apply in Peru as written, for example because it assumes at-will termination, we say so and propose a compliant alternative. The final text is in Spanish, which is what will be filed and enforced, with an English working translation for the regional team.
The service covers drafting or updating the rules, the disciplinary schedule, reconciliation with group policies, filing support and a rollout plan. It can be combined with the internal occupational safety rules or the sexual harassment policy where those are also due.
We do not apply the rules on the company’s behalf, and filing does not mean the authority has reviewed or endorsed the content. Collective agreements, where they exist, may impose additional terms that the rules cannot override; we take them into account but do not renegotiate them as part of this service.
Several provisions of the rules affect payroll directly: how attendance is recorded, how late arrivals and absences are treated, how and when pay is delivered. We confirm those points with the payroll provider before finalizing, so that the rules and the payroll system say the same thing. Regional HR receives a short note mapping each group policy to the relevant article of the rules. The wider context is covered in our guide to employment compliance in Peru.
We usually ask for current headcount, any existing rules or handbooks, and the group policies the company wants reflected. With that, we can propose the scope and the order of work.
Review current practice
We look at how schedules, attendance, leave, pay and discipline actually work, and at any group policies that must be reflected.
Draft the rules
We draft the rules with the mandatory content and a disciplinary framework the company can apply consistently.
Align with group policies
We reconcile the rules with the group handbook and code of conduct, and flag any group provision that cannot apply in Peru as written.
File and roll out
We support filing with the labor authority and prepare the delivery and communication plan for employees.
Usually not on its own. Peruvian internal work rules have a mandatory content list and a filing requirement. The handbook can be reflected in the rules or kept alongside them, but the rules themselves must meet local requirements.
The legal obligation applies above 100 employees. Smaller companies are not required to file rules, but many adopt written policies on attendance and discipline because they make disciplinary decisions easier to defend.
The rules are approved automatically upon filing. That does not validate their content: a provision that contradicts the law can still be challenged by employees or observed by an inspector.