Perfect suspension of work for force majeure in Peru: what can your employer do?

What a “perfect” suspension is

Peruvian labour law has two kinds of suspension. Article 11 of the TUO of the Labour Productivity and Competitiveness Law (LPCL, Decreto Supremo N.º 003-97-TR) says:

“Se suspende el contrato de trabajo cuando cesa temporalmente la obligación del trabajador de prestar el servicio y la del empleador de pagar la remuneración respectiva, sin que desaparezca el vínculo laboral. Se suspende, también, de modo imperfecto, cuando el empleador debe abonar remuneración sin contraprestación efectiva de labores.”

(The contract is suspended when the worker’s duty to work and the employer’s duty to pay both stop for a time, without the employment relationship ending. It is suspended “imperfectly” when the employer must pay even though no work is done.)

In a perfect suspension (suspensión perfecta) you do not work and you are not paid, but you are still an employee. In an imperfect one you do not work but you are paid. Article 12, item l), lists “el caso fortuito y la fuerza mayor” (fortuitous event and force majeure) among the causes of suspension.

What the law lets your employer do

Article 15 is the core rule:

“El caso fortuito y la fuerza mayor facultan al empleador, sin necesidad de autorización previa, a la suspensión temporal perfecta de las labores hasta por un máximo de noventa días, con comunicación inmediata a la Autoridad Administrativa de Trabajo. Deberá, sin embargo, de ser posible, otorgar vacaciones vencidas o anticipadas y, en general, adoptar medidas que razonablemente eviten agravar la situación de los trabajadores.”

(A fortuitous event or force majeure lets the employer suspend work without pay, with no prior approval, for up to ninety days, notifying the labour authority immediately. Where possible, it must grant overdue or advance vacation and take reasonable steps not to worsen the workers’ situation.)

Four rules follow:

• No prior approval. The employer suspends first; the authority checks afterwards.
• Immediate notice to the Autoridad Administrativa de Trabajo.
• A cap: ninety days at most.
• Try alternatives first: “de ser posible” (where possible), give vacation and avoid making things worse for you.

What counts as force majeure

The LPCL does not define it. Its regulation, Decreto Supremo N.º 001-96-TR, does in article 21:

“Se configura el caso fortuito o la fuerza mayor, cuando el hecho invocado tiene carácter inevitable, imprevisible e irresistible y que haga imposible la prosecución de las labores por un determinado tiempo.”

(There is a fortuitous event or force majeure when the event is unavoidable, unforeseeable and irresistible, and makes it impossible to continue working for a certain time.)

All three conditions must be met, plus a fourth: the event must make work impossible for a while. In our view a plain drop in sales does not meet that test, though the rule does not say so in those words. For economic reasons the law has a separate route with more safeguards: the collective dismissal procedure.

The authority’s check

The second paragraph of article 15 requires the authority to review the cause:

“La Autoridad Administrativa de Trabajo bajo responsabilidad verificará dentro del sexto día la existencia y procedencia de la causa invocada. De no proceder la suspensión ordenará la inmediata reanudación de las labores y el pago de las remuneraciones por el tiempo de suspensión transcurrido.”

(The labour authority must check, within the sixth day, whether the cause exists and justifies the suspension. If it does not, it orders work to resume immediately and the pay for the suspended time to be paid.)

The regulation fills in the procedure:

• Proportionality. The authority also checks that the cause “guarde proporcionalidad y razonabilidad” (is proportionate and reasonable) with the length of suspension the employer chose (article 22). A problem lasting a few days does not justify a long suspension.
• If the cause does not exist. The authority issues a decision “dentro de segundo día de realizada la visita inspectiva” (within the second day after the inspection visit) ordering work to resume, and “el período dejado de laborar será considerado como de trabajo efectivo para todo efecto legal” (the time not worked counts as time worked for all legal purposes) (article 23).
• If the authority does not check in time. The cause “se tendrá por cierta” (is taken as true) and the suspension stands. But if the check does not happen because of the employer (for example, it does not let the inspector in), that rule does not apply while that conduct continues (article 24).
• Appeal. Either side can appeal within “tres (3) días hábiles” (three business days). The authority decides within “cinco (5) días hábiles” (five business days); if it does not, the first decision is confirmed (article 25).

One technical point: the regulation dates from 1996, before the 1997 TUO, and cites the law by its old numbering (“Artículo 48 de la Ley”). We read it as referring to the rule now in article 15, but the regulation does not say so in those words.

After ninety days

If work still cannot resume, article 26 of the regulation gives two ways forward:

“De subsistir la imposibilidad de reanudar las labores, la suspensión podrá prolongarse por acuerdo de partes, con conocimiento de la Autoridad Administrativa de Trabajo, pudiendo, alternativamente, el empleador optar por el cese colectivo a que se refiere el Artículo 81 de la Ley.”

(If work still cannot resume, the suspension may be extended by agreement of the parties, with the labour authority informed, or the employer may instead opt for a collective dismissal.)

So an extension beyond the cap needs your agreement (or your representatives’). Without it, the other route is a collective dismissal.

If the event was serious enough to destroy all or part of the workplace, article 47 of the LPCL lets the employer, “dentro del plazo de suspensión a que se refiere el Artículo 15, solicitar la terminación de los respectivos contratos individuales de trabajo” (within the suspension period, ask for the individual employment contracts to be ended). It is a request: the law does not let the employer end the contracts on its own say-so. Your rights in a collective dismissal are on the collective layoffs page.

What you can do

1. Ask in writing for the reason, the start date and proof that the labour authority was notified.
2. Count the days: the cap is ninety.
3. If the business keeps running, or the event was foreseeable or avoidable, you can report it to Sunafil. See how to file a complaint with Sunafil and what inspectors can do.
4. If the suspension is ruled unjustified, you must be paid for the whole period, and that time counts as time worked.
5. If instead of suspending you, your employer dismisses you without any procedure, see unfair dismissal.

What this page does not cover

It does not cover the special suspension regimes issued during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as Decreto de Urgencia N.º 038-2020: they were temporary measures and we did not verify their text or the exact date they stopped applying. It also does not cover suspension for other causes (illness, maternity, disciplinary sanction, strike), what happens to your CTS, bonuses or health cover during the suspension, or Sunafil and court decisions on which specific events were accepted as force majeure.