Peru sets make-up non-working days for the papal visit, 11 to 16 November

Peru sets make-up non-working days for the papal visit, 11 to 16 November

23 October 2026: Peru's government has declared compensable non-working days in seven departments and the Constitutional Province of Callao for Pope Leo XIV's visit from 11 to 16 November, through Supreme Decree DS 020-2026-TR. The days are not public holidays: every hour not worked has to be made up, and in the private sector each workplace decides by agreement whether to stop at all.

Not yet independently verified. We read the Ministry of Labour release that announces the decree, not the decree text in El Peruano. The dates and rules here are quoted from that release; the full list of essential activities is in the decree itself. We will update this when it can be confirmed, and remove this note.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion (MTPE) says the decree was published in the official gazette El Peruano on 22 October, and that it applies differently by territory and by sector.

A different calendar for each department

The schedule runs across a working week and a weekend, so a company with staff in several regions faces three different patterns:

• Lima (the whole department) and Callao: Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 November from 1:00 p.m. to midnight, and all of Monday 16 November, for the public and private sectors.
• Cajamarca, La Libertad, Lambayeque and Piura: all of Friday 13 and Saturday 14 November, public and private sectors.
• Cusco and Ucayali: all of Sunday 15 November, private sector only.

The ministry expects more than a million people in Lambayeque and 850,000 in Cusco for the visit, which is the reason given for freeing workers and spreading travel.

Private employers choose, then agree how hours come back

For private workplaces the measure is optional. A company may adopt the days by prior agreement between the employer and its workers; where there is no agreement, the employer decides. The ministry stresses that the declaration does not mean an automatic stop in every business in the departments named.

The same agreement should set how the hours not worked are recovered, and if the two sides cannot agree, the employer decides how compensation is done. Only the time actually not worked has to be recovered. Gestión, which spoke to labour lawyers, notes that the rule sets no legal deadline for private-sector make-up time.

Firms in activities of special relevance to the community may name the posts and workers who keep working. The ministry's list includes health, cleaning and sanitation, water, electricity and fuel supply, transport, communications, security, financial services, hotels, restaurants and food retail, among others set out in the decree.

Public bodies have ten days to recover the time

In the public sector the hours have to be made up within the ten days immediately after each non-working day, or when the head of each entity decides. Public bodies must also keep essential services running on the dates.

For tax purposes the dates remain working days, so filing and payment deadlines with the tax authority do not move, even where a workplace is closed.

What payroll and attendance systems need

The practical work falls on scheduling and time records rather than on pay rates, because these are not holidays. A company that adopts the days needs the half-day pattern for Lima and Callao, the separate weekend dates elsewhere, a record of the agreement or the employer's decision, and a way to track the hours each worker owes until they are recovered. Our payroll software category lists 13 products and our workforce management software category lists 18.

Related on TrustList:

• Australia changes gender-equality reporting: public-sector employers move to April to March, large employers get a gap between target cycles
• India raises the EPFO wage ceiling to Rs 25,000 a month: employees earning Rs 15,000 to 25,000 now come under mandatory PF
• UK confirms the October dates: tribunal claims get six months from 1 October, the harassment duty tightens on 30 October

Sources

• Ministerio de Trabajo y Promoción del Empleo (gob.pe): Gobierno establece días no laborables compensables por la visita del Papa León XIV al Perú, 23 October 2026
• Gestión: Gobierno declara días no laborables por visita del papa León XIV, qué fechas rigen, 24 October 2026