What Are The Public Holidays in Peru in 2026?

List of Public Holidays in Peru (2026)

Peru recognizes a set of nationwide public holidays that your company must account for when planning staffing, payroll, and leave in 2026. The table below lists the main national holidays that typically apply across the country.

Do Employers Have to Provide Paid Leave on Public Holidays?

Yes, Peruvian labor law generally requires employers to provide paid leave on official national public holidays for employees covered by the private sector labor regime. Full-time employees are entitled to a paid day off on these holidays, calculated based on their regular daily wage. Part-time employees are also entitled to paid holidays on a pro rata basis when the holiday falls on a scheduled working day.

If your business requires employees to work on a public holiday, they are typically entitled to both their regular daily pay for the holiday and additional premium pay for the hours worked. In practice, this often results in triple pay for work performed on a public holiday when no compensatory day off is granted, but you should confirm the exact formula with local counsel or your payroll provider to reflect the latest regulations and any applicable collective bargaining agreements.

When a holiday falls on a Sunday, it is usually observed on that calendar day rather than moved to Monday, although the government may occasionally declare “non-working days” adjacent to holidays for public sector workers. These additional days are not automatically mandatory for private employers unless expressly extended by decree, so you should review each year’s official government announcements.

Legal Penalties for Not Providing Paid Holiday Leave

Failure to grant or correctly pay public holidays can expose your company to inspections and sanctions from the National Superintendence of Labor Inspection (SUNAFIL). If SUNAFIL determines that you have not complied with holiday pay rules, you may face administrative fines that scale with the size of your workforce and the number of affected employees, as well as orders to pay back wages and associated social contributions.

Common employer mistakes include treating holidays as unpaid leave, not applying the correct premium when employees work on a holiday, misclassifying workers to avoid benefits, or failing to extend holiday rights to part-time or fixed-term staff. These issues can quickly accumulate into significant liabilities, particularly if they affect multiple years or groups of employees. To reduce risk, keep clear records of work schedules, holiday calendars, and payroll calculations, and ensure your local HR or payroll partner is aligned with current Peruvian regulations.

How Do Holidays Affect Overtime Thresholds?

In Peru, public holidays interact with overtime rules by triggering premium pay when employees work on days that should be fully paid rest days. Hours worked on a public holiday are generally compensated at a higher rate than ordinary overtime, reflecting both the holiday entitlement and the additional work performed. This is separate from standard daily or weekly overtime thresholds, which continue to apply based on the employee’s regular schedule.

In practice, you need to distinguish between three situations: employees who do not work on the holiday but receive their normal pay; employees who work some or all of the holiday and receive premium pay for those hours; and employees whose schedules cross midnight, where part of the shift may fall on a holiday. Because miscalculations are common, especially for shift workers, it is safest to configure your timekeeping and payroll systems to flag holiday hours separately and to verify the applicable premium rates with local legal or payroll experts.

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