Peru removes mandatory social worker requirement for large employers

At a glance

• The obligation to hire a certified social worker for companies with over 100 employees has been removed.
• The requirement had been in force since 1965.
• Companies must still comply with the social welfare function.

Through Supreme Decree No. 005-2025-TR, which entered into force on June 15, 2025, the Peruvian government repealed Supreme Decree No. 009-65-TR, which had required private companies with more than 100 employees to hire a certified social worker as part of their industrial relations service.

Consequently, employers are no longer legally required to include a certified social worker within their organizational structure. However, companies with more than 100 employees must still comply with the social welfare function.

Additionally, the Regulation of the General Labor Inspection Law has been amended to remove references to this obligation. The updated provision now sanctions only the failure to maintain an adequate industrial relations function or internal work regulations, where applicable.