Public holidays in Peru: which days are they, and what are you paid if you work?

Which days are public holidays

For private-sector workers, public holidays (feriados) are listed in article 6 of Legislative Decree 713, the paid-rest law. Its current text is the one set by Ley 31822, published on 8 July 2023:

“Son días feriados los siguientes: - Año Nuevo (1 de enero) - Jueves Santo y Viernes Santo (movibles) - Día del Trabajo (1 de mayo) - Batalla de Arica y Día de la Bandera (7 de junio) - San Pedro y San Pablo (29 de junio) - Conmemoración al heroico sacrificio del Capitán FAP José Abelardo Quiñones Gonzales (23 de julio) - Fiestas Patrias (28 y 29 de julio) - Batalla de Junín (6 de agosto) - Santa Rosa de Lima (30 de agosto) - Combate de Angamos (8 de octubre) - Todos los Santos (1 de noviembre) - Inmaculada Concepción (8 de diciembre) - Batalla de Ayacucho (9 de diciembre) - Navidad del Señor (25 de diciembre)”

(New Year’s Day; Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, which move each year; Labour Day; Flag Day; Saints Peter and Paul; Air Force Day; Independence Day on 28 and 29 July; Battle of Junín; Saint Rose of Lima; Battle of Angamos; All Saints’ Day; Immaculate Conception; Battle of Ayacucho; Christmas Day.)

Older lists without 7 June, 23 July, 6 August or 9 December are out of date.

Article 5 adds that you also get paid rest on holidays set by another specific rule. One example is the domestic workers’ day, covered on our domestic workers page.

National holidays do not move. Article 7 says:

“Los feriados establecidos en el artículo anterior se celebrarán en la fecha respectiva. Cualquier otro feriado no laborable de ámbito no nacional o gremial, se hará efectivo el día lunes inmediato posterior a la fecha, aun cuando corresponda con el descanso del trabajador”

(National holidays are kept on their date. Any other local or trade holiday moves to the following Monday.)

If you rest: you are paid for the day

Article 8 says:

“Los trabajadores tienen derecho a percibir por el día feriado no laborable la remuneración ordinaria correspondiente a un día de trabajo. Su abono se rige por lo dispuesto en el artículo 4 de la presente Ley, salvo el Día de Trabajo, que se percibirá sin condición alguna.”

(You are entitled to one day’s ordinary pay for the holiday. It is paid under the rule in article 4, except Labour Day, which is paid with no conditions.)

Article 4 pays rest days “en forma directamente proporcional al número de días efectivamente trabajados” (in proportion to the days actually worked). In practice, if you missed days that week, the holiday pay can drop in proportion. 1 May is the exception.

If you are paid monthly, your payslip often has no separate line for the holiday. What matters is that the day is not deducted as an absence.

One special case: if 1 May falls on your weekly rest day, the regulation requires one day’s pay for the holiday “con independencia de la remuneración por el día de descanso semanal” (separate from the weekly rest pay) (D.S. 012-92-TR, article 9). The regulation says this only about 1 May.

If you work: the 100% surcharge

Article 9 says:

“El trabajo efectuado en los días feriados no laborables sin descanso sustitutorio dará lugar al pago de la retribución correspondiente por la labor efectuada, con una sobretasa de 100%.”

(Work on a public holiday without a substitute rest day must be paid for the work done, with a 100% surcharge.)

Together with article 8, this is what you get:

That is why people call it “triple pay”: three times your daily pay. The law does not use that word; it is the sum of the two articles.

The key condition is “sin descanso sustitutorio” (without a substitute rest day). If your employer gives you another day off in exchange, the surcharge does not apply. The law sets no deadline for that other day.

A detail for night shifts: “No se considera que se ha trabajado en feriado no laborable, cuando el turno de trabajo se inicie en día laborable y concluya en el feriado no laborable” (a shift that starts on a working day and ends on the holiday does not count as holiday work) (D.S. 012-92-TR, article 8).

If you also work beyond your normal hours, that is overtime and has its own rules. See overtime and working hours.

A public holiday is not a non-working day

A non-working day (día no laborable) is not in the paid-rest law. The Executive declares it by supreme decree, for the public sector. The 2026 example is D.S. 075-2026-PCM:

“Se declara día no laborable, para los trabajadores del sector público, a nivel nacional, el lunes 27 de julio de 2026. […] Las horas dejadas de laborar durante el día no laborable establecido en el artículo precedente se compensan en los diez (10) días inmediatos posteriores, o en la oportunidad que establezca el titular de cada entidad pública, en función de las necesidades de la entidad.”

(Monday 27 July 2026 is a non-working day for public-sector workers. The hours not worked are made up within the following ten days, or when the head of each public body decides.)

For the private sector, the same decree says:

“Los centros de trabajo del sector privado pueden acogerse a lo dispuesto en el presente Decreto Supremo, previo acuerdo entre el empleador y sus trabajadores, quienes deben establecer la forma como se hace efectiva la recuperación de las horas dejadas de laborar; a falta de acuerdo, decide el empleador.”

(Private workplaces may adopt the non-working day if the employer and workers agree, and they must set how the hours are made up; without agreement, the employer decides.)

What this means for you:

• At a private company, a non-working day is a normal working day unless an agreement says otherwise.
• If your company adopts it, it is not a gift: the hours are made up.
• The decree provides no surcharge for working that day, because it is not a public holiday.

Each decree sets its own dates and rules. Read the one for the date you care about.

Local or trade holidays

For a holiday in your city or trade, the regulation lets the employer close the workplace. The hours not worked “serán recuperadas en la semana siguiente, o en la oportunidad que acuerden las partes. A falta de acuerdo prima la decisión del empleador” (are made up the following week, or when the parties agree; without agreement, the employer decides) (D.S. 012-92-TR, article 7).

If you work for a small business (MYPE)

Public holidays are the same as under the general regime. See the MYPE labour regime.

What this page does not cover

Public-sector holidays and non-working days, specific regional holidays, cumulative shift schemes, and pay for working your weekly rest day. We also did not review Sunafil decisions or court rulings on when a substitute rest day must be given. If you are not paid, you can file a complaint with Sunafil.