Household Help in Peru

Updated 14 April 2014

You have to be very careful who you let into your house. If you're looking for a maid or nanny, ask around for recommendations. Lock up valuables. Also, make a photocopy of their DNI. (This is their Peruvian ID card, it's blue.) This guide on how to hire a nanny is definitely worth a read.

If you have workers come in to install or fix somethings, watch them the entire time. I've had doors installed and they only used 1 screw in each of the door brackets, when they should have used 3. That means that they pocketed the other two and the door was easy to remove.

Maids and Nannies
There are new SUNAT requirements for domestic workers, please see this thread. Many families have maids or nannies. If you are considering hiring one, please ask for references. Salary depends on the workload, minimum salary is 550 soles. (As a general rule, it's better to pay them a little higher, after all they have access to all your things. And a happy maid/nanny is less tempted to steal.)

If you expect your nanny or maid to live with you, you will have to provide them with all their meals, uniform, towels and bedding and their salary will be a bit higher. Live in maids get 24 hours off per week. Public holidays are given as well. If you need them to help you during public holidays, then you can give either extra pay or days off. Annual Compensation (CTS) is two weeks pay per year of service when they finish their service with you. Vacation is two weeks per year. Termination bonus can be paid if you wish to let them go without two weeks notice. You must also pay state health insurance and pension. Health insurance is 9 percent of their monthly salary.

The majority of nannies are not certified as they would be in other countries. They are simply women who have experience with children or young, single women who are willing to work with children. Many times they are natives from provinces. Please remember that work in hard to find in Peru and salaries are low, so be fair to your household help. Employees should be given a uniform. Maids usually use a white one in the summer and blue in the winter.


SUNAT Registration
You must register your hired help with SUNAT You need the name of the employer, their ID and utlitiy bill. This will get you a RUC, which is a tax payer’s number. Then you need the name of the employee, DNI. Also their spouse (if they are not already covered by insurance), copy of their DNI and marriage cert. If they have a common law marriage, then they need a sworn statement to this effect. If they have kids, they'll need to give you the names and birth certificates of their children.

When you leave, you must take them off your health insurance and let SUNAT know within 30 days. Monthly payment of the health insurance and pension is made with Form 1076 and you can pay it at most banks. When your employee needs medical treatment they must show a copy of the registration and a copy of the most recent paid form 1076.

Lastly, if you decide to get a new person to help you out, I strongly suggest you change all the locks. Even if you let them go on good terms, they or a family member might get mad at you and decide to get revenge by robbing you. Even if you made them return the keys, they could have easily had copies made. While it doesn't happen to everyone I know a couple of people who have been robbed when they let their employees go. So it's better to be safe than sorry.


Employment Agencies
Agencia de Empleos Boliva
Bolivar 172, Of 9, Miraflores 4442377

Baby’s Service
Torre Ugarte 268 A, Miraflores
2227386 or 9487522

Centro Evangelico de Evaluacion, Capacitacion y Comp SRL
Jr. Mariscal Luzuriaga 582, Jesús Maria
3304528 or 3327938 or 2611556

La Casa de Panchita
Av Republica de Chile 566, Jesús Maria 4245282

Construction and Repairman
Pierre Marcel (in Lima) works in the construction business. He has experience in fixing things, building furniture, painting, dry wall, carpentry, etc. He speaks fluent English, is reliable, comes on time and charges fair prices. You can contact him at pmarcel@hotmail.com or 992204138 or 988843683.

Ronald, the husband of an American expat, has 14 years of experience working with drywall (finishing and painting) in Florida. He is now freelancing here in Lima and gives free estimates and fair prices. If you are interested in building or remodeling please consider giving him a call for a quote - he is a native Peruvian but is fluent in English. Cell: 988-032-522. Nextel: 136 * 2810

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