Outsourcing and staffing agencies in Peru: differences and joint liability
These are two different legal setups. In outsourcing (tercerización), the company that hires you takes on its own risk, resources and direction over your work, even if you do that work at another company's premises (the "principal" company). In labor intermediation (staffing), you're "assigned" to work under the direct orders of a "user" company, only for reasons of temporariness, complementary work, or specialization, capped at 20% of the user company's staff if it's temporary. If you're used as plain labor supply without meeting these requirements, the law gives you a direct employment relationship with the company where you actually work, and both setups carry joint liability — under different conditions — so you don't go unpaid.
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Congress of Peru · El Peruano
Checked 1 Oct 2026Next review 28 Mar 2027
The clock running against you
365 calendar days from the day your assignment to the principal company ended, in an outsourcing arrangement.This is a prescription period: once it lapses, you can no longer enforce it by that route.
That one year is only the deadline for the principal company's joint liability. Your actual employer — the outsourcing company — keeps owing you your labor benefits for the full ordinary labor-claim limitation period, which this law does not itself set in a specific number of days.
Law No. 29245, art. 9
What is outsourcing (tercerización)?
Outsourcing is hiring a company (the “outsourcing company”) to carry out a specialized activity or a complete project — not simply to supply you as labor. The law sets three conditions for it to be genuine: the outsourcing company must provide the service at its own account and risk, have its own financial, technical or material resources, and keep its workers under its exclusive direction — even if you physically work at the premises of the company that hired it (the “principal” company).
The law is explicit: plain labor supply is never admitted. Management contracts, works contracts, and arrangements where a third party takes over an integral part of the production process are typical examples of genuine outsourcing.
What is labor intermediation (staffing)?
Labor intermediation is different: here you’re genuinely “assigned” to work under the direction of another company, the “user company.” It can only be used in three cases: temporariness, complementary work, or specialization. The law also says explicitly: staff assigned this way cannot carry out the permanent, main activity of the user company.
Two types of entities can do this: service companies (set up as corporations) and worker cooperatives, each with their own sub-types — temporary, complementary, or specialized.
The key difference: who directs your work?
This is the question that separates the two setups in practice:
- In genuine outsourcing, your employer — the outsourcing company — keeps directing you, evaluating you, and giving you instructions, even though you work at another site.
- In labor intermediation, it’s the user company that directs you directly while you’re assigned, and you’re entitled to the same pay and working conditions it gives its own staff during that period.
The limits of each setup
Temporary labor intermediation has an explicit numeric cap: staff assigned this way cannot exceed 20% of the user company’s total workforce. That percentage doesn’t apply to complementary or specialized services, as long as the service company or cooperative takes on full technical autonomy and responsibility for its activities.
Outsourcing has no percentage cap, but a company that has just been formed, or that has just become subject to the law, gets a one-year adjustment period to meet the requirement of having multiple clients.
The 2026 change: outsourcing a company’s “core business” is no longer prohibited
Between 2022 and 2026, an additional, important and heavily disputed restriction existed: Supreme Decree No. 001-2022-TR amended the regulation of Law No. 29245 to prohibit outsourcing a company’s so-called “core business” (núcleo del negocio). That rule sparked prolonged litigation — Indecopi went so far as to suspend Sunafil’s power to enforce it, and the Constitutional Tribunal upheld the restriction in an amparo case in October 2025.
However, in a separate acción popular case, Peru’s Supreme Court declared that decree null, finding it exceeded what Law No. 29245 allows by creating a prohibition the law itself never contemplated. The ruling was reported by the official gazette El Peruano on April 1, 2026, under the headline “Suprema restituye la tercerización” (“Supreme Court restores outsourcing”). Since then, outsourcing is once again governed solely by Law No. 29245 and Legislative Decree No. 1038, without the core-business restriction — a company can outsource any specialized activity, including its main one, as long as the outsourcing company meets the autonomy, risk, and independent-resources requirements explained above.
What happens if these are misused: disguised employment
Both setups have an emergency exit for a worker when they’re used simply to cut labor costs:
- In outsourcing, if the autonomy requirements aren’t met and it amounts to plain labor supply, the law gives you a direct, immediate employment relationship with the principal company, and the outsourcing company can lose its registration.
- In labor intermediation, if a Sunafil inspection finds a breach of the legal requirements, the principle of primacy of reality applies: you’re treated as having had an employment contract with the user company from the very start.
Joint liability: who’s on the hook if you’re not paid
This is where the two setups diverge the most, and it’s the part that matters most to a worker who isn’t getting paid what they’re owed.
In outsourcing, the principal company is jointly liable, with no precondition, for the payment of your labor rights and benefits and social security obligations accrued during your assignment. That liability extends for one year after your assignment ended. That said, this joint liability only covers obligations of legal origin — not those arising from a private agreement — and if the principal company ends up paying, it has a right to seek reimbursement from the outsourcing company, plus it gets the privileges of a labor credit if that company becomes insolvent.
In labor intermediation, the user company’s joint liability is not automatic: the law first requires your employer — the service company or cooperative — to post a bond guaranteeing payment of your labor rights and social security obligations. Only if that bond turns out to be insufficient does the user company become jointly liable for the difference, and only for the time you worked there.
Mandatory registration of the companies
Neither setup can operate without registration. Outsourcing companies must register with the Registro Nacional de Empresas Tercerizadoras, run by the Labor Authority, within 30 business days of being formed. Service companies and worker cooperatives doing labor intermediation must register with the Registro Nacional de Empresas y Entidades que Realizan Actividades de Intermediación Laboral; without that current registration, they’re not authorized to operate.
As a worker, you can ask your employer for proof of registration — it’s public information that lets you check whether it’s actually authorized to outsource or supply staff.
How to file
- Identify who directs your work day to dayIf the company giving you instructions, supervising and evaluating you is the company where you physically work (not the company that formally hired you on paper), that points to labor intermediation, or to an outsourcing arrangement that isn't real — real outsourcing means your actual employer keeps directing you.
- Check whether your employer is registeredAn outsourcing company must be listed in the Registro Nacional de Empresas Tercerizadoras; a staffing company or worker cooperative must be listed in the Registro Nacional de Empresas y Entidades que Realizan Actividades de Intermediación Laboral. You can ask your employer for proof of registration.
- If it's temporary staffing, check the 20% capUnless the arrangement is a complementary or specialized service with full technical autonomy, the number of staff temporarily assigned to a user company cannot exceed 20% of that company's total workforce.
- Compare your conditions with those of regular staffIf you're assigned under labor intermediation, you're entitled to the same pay and working conditions the user company gives its own employees during that period.
- If you suspect a disguised arrangement, file a complaint with SunafilA Sunafil inspection can establish that, in fact, you were simply supplied as labor — which gives you a direct employment relationship with the principal or user company from the start of your services.
- If you're not being paid, claim from your employer first, then from the company where you workedIn outsourcing, the principal company is jointly liable for your benefits and contributions during your assignment, and for up to a year afterward. In labor intermediation, the user company is only liable if your employer's bond is not enough to cover the debt.
What people fail to ask in time
Do you know whether you've been paid profit-sharing (utilidades) as an employee of your actual employer, rather than of the company where you provide services?
Find out before it matters →What most people believe — and what the law says
If I work inside another company's premises, that company is always my real employer.
Not necessarily. In real outsourcing, your employer (the outsourcing company) keeps directing you even though your work is carried out at the principal company's premises. What matters is who actually directs and evaluates you, not the physical location.
The company where I physically work never has to pay me what I'm owed.
False in both setups, though differently: in outsourcing, the principal company is jointly liable for your benefits and contributions during your assignment and for up to a year afterward; in labor intermediation, the user company is liable if your employer's bond isn't enough to cover the debt.
Outsourcing and labor intermediation are the same thing under different names.
They're two distinct legal regimes, with different laws, registries and liability rules. Outsourcing transfers a whole activity to a company with its own resources and risk; labor intermediation only supplies you as staff under another company's direction, and only for reasons of temporariness, complementary work, or specialization.
You can no longer outsource any important activity of a company, only secondary tasks.
That restriction existed between 2022 and 2026 under the so-called 'core business' rule, but Peru's Supreme Court declared the decree that created it null, for exceeding what Law No. 29245 allows. The original rules are back in force: any specialized activity can be outsourced, as long as the requirements of autonomy, risk, and independent resources are met.
Frequently asked questions
Is it legal for me to work inside the premises of a company that isn't my employer?
Yes, if it's a genuine outsourcing or labor intermediation arrangement that meets the legal requirements: in outsourcing, your employer must take on its own resources, risk, and direction over you; in labor intermediation, your assignment can only happen for reasons of temporariness, complementary work, or specialization, and — if temporary — within the 20% cap on the user company's staff.
Can I demand my labor benefits from the company where I work, even if my contract is with another company?
It depends on the setup. In outsourcing, the principal company is jointly liable for your labor rights and benefits and for social security contributions accrued during your assignment, and for up to a year after your assignment ended. In labor intermediation, the user company is only liable if the bond your employer was required to post isn't enough to cover the debt.
My employer calls me 'outsourced,' but in practice I'm just supplied as labor with nothing more. What happens?
That's a disguised arrangement. If a Sunafil inspection finds that you were simply supplied as personnel — without the outsourcing company taking on its own risk, resources, or direction over you — the law treats you as having a direct employment relationship with the principal company from the start of your services, and the outsourcing company can lose its registration.
Can you no longer outsource a company's 'core business'?
That prohibition existed between 2022 and 2026 under Supreme Decree No. 001-2022-TR, which amended the regulation of Law No. 29245. Peru's Supreme Court declared that decree null for exceeding what the law allows, and its ruling was published on April 1, 2026. Since then, outsourcing is again governed solely by Law No. 29245 and Legislative Decree No. 1038, without the core-business restriction.
How long do I have to make a claim against the principal company after I stop working there?
In an outsourcing arrangement, the principal company's joint liability extends for one year counted from the day your assignment to its premises ended. After that year, your employer — the outsourcing company — keeps owing you your labor benefits for the ordinary labor-claim limitation period.
The exact law
Law No. 29245Article 1read
Law regulating outsourcing services
«La Ley regula los casos en que procede la tercerización, los requisitos, derechos y obligaciones, así como las sanciones aplicables a las empresas que desnaturalizan el uso de este método de vinculación empresarial.»
↳Article 2read
Law regulating outsourcing services
«Se entiende por tercerización la contratación de empresas para que desarrollen actividades especializadas u obras, siempre que aquellas asuman los servicios prestados por su cuenta y riesgo; cuenten con sus propios recursos financieros, técnicos o materiales; sean responsables por los resultados de sus actividades y sus trabajadores estén bajo su exclusiva subordinación. [...] En ningún caso se admite la sola provisión de personal.»
↳Article 5read
Law regulating outsourcing services
«Los contratos de tercerización que no cumplan con los requisitos señalados en los artículos 2 y 3 de la presente Ley y que impliquen una simple provisión de personal, originan que los trabajadores desplazados de la empresa tercerizadora tengan una relación de trabajo directa e inmediata con la empresa principal, así como la cancelación del registro...»
↳Article 8read
Law regulating outsourcing services
«Para iniciar y desarrollar sus actividades, las empresas tercerizadoras se inscriben en un Registro Nacional de Empresas Tercerizadoras a cargo de la Autoridad Administrativa de Trabajo, en un plazo de treinta (30) días hábiles de su constitución.»
↳Article 9read
Law regulating outsourcing services
«La empresa principal que contrate la realización de obras o servicios con desplazamiento de personal de la empresa tercerizadora es solidariamente responsable por el pago de los derechos y beneficios laborales y por las obligaciones de seguridad social devengados por el tiempo en que el trabajador estuvo desplazado. Dicha responsabilidad se extiende por un año posterior a la culminación de su desplazamiento. La empresa tercerizadora mantiene su responsabilidad por el plazo establecido para la prescripción laboral.»
L.D. No. 1038Article 2read
Legislative Decree clarifying the scope of Law No. 29245
«Las obligaciones y restricciones establecidas en los artículos 4 al 9 de la Ley Nº 29245 son aplicables a aquellas empresas tercerizadoras que realizan sus actividades con desplazamiento continuo de personal a las instalaciones de la principal, no así a los supuestos de tercerización sin desplazamiento ni a las que lo hagan en forma eventual o esporádica.»
↳Article 3read
Legislative Decree clarifying the scope of Law No. 29245
«La solidaridad a que se refiere el artículo 9 de la Ley Nº 29245 se contrae únicamente a las obligaciones laborales y de seguridad social de cargo de la empresa tercerizadora establecidos por norma legal, y no a las de origen convencional o unilateral.»
↳Article 4read
Legislative Decree clarifying the scope of Law No. 29245
«La empresa principal obligada a asumir obligaciones de la tercerista, en razón de la solidaridad establecida por la Ley Nº 29245, tiene derecho de repetición contra ésta, y adquiere los derechos y privilegios del crédito laboral en caso de insolvencia o quiebra.»
Law No. 27626Articles 2 and 3read
Law regulating special service companies and worker cooperatives
«La intermediación laboral [...] que involucra a personal que labora en el centro de trabajo o de operaciones de la empresa usuaria sólo procede cuando medien supuestos de temporalidad, complementariedad o especialización. Los trabajadores destacados a una empresa usuaria no pueden prestar servicios que impliquen la ejecución permanente de la actividad principal de dicha empresa.»
↳Article 5read
Law regulating special service companies and worker cooperatives
«La infracción a los supuestos de intermediación laboral que se establecen en la presente Ley, debidamente comprobada en un procedimiento inspectivo por la Autoridad Administrativa de Trabajo, determinará que, en aplicación del principio de primacía de la realidad, se entienda que desde el inicio de la prestación de sus servicios los respectivos trabajadores han tenido contrato de trabajo con la empresa usuaria.»
↳Article 6read
Law regulating special service companies and worker cooperatives
«El número de trabajadores de empresas de servicios o cooperativas que pueden prestar servicios en las empresas usuarias, bajo modalidad temporal, no podrá exceder del veinte por ciento del total de trabajadores de la empresa usuaria. El porcentaje no será aplicable a los servicios complementarios o especializados, siempre y cuando la empresa de servicios o cooperativa asuma plena autonomía técnica y la responsabilidad para el desarrollo de sus actividades.»
↳Article 7read
Law regulating special service companies and worker cooperatives
«Los trabajadores y socios trabajadores de las empresas de servicios o cooperativas, cuando fueren destacados a una empresa usuaria, tienen derecho durante dicho período de prestación de servicios a percibir las remuneraciones y condiciones de trabajo que la empresa usuaria otorga a sus trabajadores.»
↳Article 13read
Law regulating special service companies and worker cooperatives
«La inscripción en el Registro es un requisito esencial para el inicio y desarrollo de las actividades de las entidades referidas en el Artículo 10 de la presente Ley. Su inscripción en el Registro las autoriza para desarrollar actividades de intermediación laboral quedando sujeta la vigencia de su autorización a la subsistencia de su Registro.»
↳Article 24read
Law regulating special service companies and worker cooperatives
«Las empresas de servicios o las cooperativas [...] cuando suscriban contratos de intermediación laboral deberán conceder una fianza, que garantice el cumplimiento de las obligaciones laborales y de seguridad social de los trabajadores destacados a la empresa usuaria.»
↳Article 25read
Law regulating special service companies and worker cooperatives
«En caso de que la fianza otorgada por las entidades resulte insuficiente para el pago de los derechos laborales adeudados a los trabajadores destacados a las empresas usuarias, éstas serán solidariamente responsables del pago de tales adeudos por el tiempo de servicios laborado en la empresa usuaria.»
Diario Oficial El Peruano — news itemHeadline and standfirstread
Cambio de reglas: Suprema restituye la tercerización y así impacta en empresas y trabajadores
«Cambio de reglas: Suprema restituye la tercerización y así impacta en empresas y trabajadores. Con esta decisión las empresas pueden continuar utilizando la tercerización sin contingencias legales, conforme a las reglas originales, señala firma Vinatea & Toyama.»
Also searched as: difference between outsourcing and staffing agencies Peru · what is a service company Peru labor law · outsourcing company joint liability Peru · 20 percent cap temporary staffing Peru · can I sue the company where I work if my contract is with another company · disguised outsourcing Peru · national registry of outsourcing companies Peru
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