On 22 July 2019, Supreme Decree No 014-2019-MIMP approving the Regulations of Law No 27942 on the Prevention and Punishment of Sexual Harassment was published in the Peruvian Official Gazette ‘El Peruano’.
The main aspects of the Decree are set out below.
- Organisations must guarantee the rights of all individuals who report acts of sexual harassment and adopt other measures that will prevent new cases of harassment and further incidents.
- Organisations must carry out annual evaluations to identify possible situations of sexual harassment or where there are risks of sexual harassment occurring that are within their scope of intervention.
- Organisations should train their employees to prevent situations of sexual harassment.
- Workplaces with 20 or more employees must ensure they introduce an Intervention against Sexual Harassment Committee. In workplaces with fewer than 20 employees, an anti-sexual harassment Delegate will assume the role of the Intervention Committee.
- These provisions apply to all employment relationships subject to the private labour regime, including individuals hired through training contracts, contractors, employees of special services and outsourcing companies. If an incident of sexual harassment involves an outsourcing or intermediation company, the complaint should be filed with the main company or user, which must carry out the investigation procedure through its Intervention against Sexual Harassment Committee.
- The investigation procedure can be initiated by an involved party, at the request of the victim or a third party, or ex officio.
- Organisations with 20 or more employees must approve internal policies to prevent and punish sexual harassment, within a maximum period of 90 calendar days following the entry into validity of the Regulation.
The Decree modifies and incorporates infractions in labour relations matters relating to sexual harassment that are minor, serious and very serious into Supreme Decree No. 019-2006-TR (Regulations of the General Labour Inspection Law).
