1. What the employer pays vs. what gets withheld from the worker
The most common confusion when hiring for the first time is assuming every contribution comes out of the same side. It doesn't: EsSalud is paid by the employer, out of the company's own pocket, on top of the salary. The pension contribution (ONP or AFP), on the other hand, is paid by the worker — the employer only acts as a withholding agent, deducting it from pay and depositing it with the corresponding entity.
2. EsSalud: 9% paid by the employer
The employer contributes 9% of the worker's pay to EsSalud, and that amount is not deducted from the salary — it's an extra cost for the company, not for the worker. In exchange, the worker (and their family, under EsSalud's rules) gets access to the public health system's coverage.
3. ONP vs. AFP: the worker chooses, you withhold
Every worker chooses, the first time they formally enter the labor market, between two pension systems:
- ONP (Sistema Nacional de Pensiones): a 13% contribution on pay, withheld from the worker. It's a pay-as-you-go system run by the State.
- AFP (Sistema Privado de Pensiones): the worker picks a specific AFP; the contribution includes a percentage that goes to their individual fund, plus the AFP's fee and insurance, also withheld from their pay.
The employer never contributes toward the worker's pension — its only obligation here is to withhold the correct amount under the chosen system and deposit it on time.
4. Gratificaciones, CTS, and the extraordinary bonus
Beyond the monthly salary, a worker on payroll is entitled to:
- Gratificaciones, in July and December, each equal to one month's pay. By law, these gratificaciones are exempt from the EsSalud contribution — but the employer doesn't keep that savings: it gets passed on to the worker as a bonificación extraordinaria equal to 9% of the gratificación.
- CTS (Compensación por Tiempo de Servicios), deposited in May and November into a bank account in the worker's name, equal in total to one year's pay. CTS is not subject to EsSalud or pension contributions.
5. Where all of this gets filed: PLAME
All of these items — pay, EsSalud, ONP or AFP withholdings, gratificaciones, CTS — are filed monthly in the Planilla Electrónica (PLAME) with SUNAT. It's the same filing that supports both the EsSalud payment and the correct deposit to whichever AFP or ONP applies to each worker.
6. What happens if you fall behind
Falling behind on filing or paying EsSalud generates fines and interest just like any other tax. But falling behind on depositing the pension contribution you already withheld from the worker is more serious: that money was never yours — it already left their pay — so not depositing it on time (or not depositing it at all) has consequences that go beyond a routine administrative fine.
7. How factsimil handles it
factsimil's Payroll module calculates EsSalud, the ONP or AFP withholding that applies to each worker, gratificaciones with their extraordinary bonus, and CTS — all from the same data for each employee, without having to recalculate each item separately in a different spreadsheet.
Check the details on the Accounting plan, which includes Payroll together with the rest of the accounting module.