Thirteenth salary

• Armenia: paid before the New Year holidays
• Greece: 14th-month and holiday bonuses are paid on Christmas, Easter, and summer vacation
• Portugal: paid by December 15
• Spain: mandatory 14th-month bonuses (pagas extraordinarias) paid in summer and at Christmas. They can be prorated into the twelve monthly salaries.[7]

• Austria: End of June; a 14th-month bonus is paid at the end of November.
• Belgium: Paid at the end of the year; mandatory holiday bonus
• Croatia: Paid at Christmas or Easter
• Czech Republic, France, Luxembourg, Slovakia and Switzerland: Paid at the end of the year
• Finland: Paid in summer
• Germany: Paid before Christmas
• Italy: customary 14th-month bonus, both paid in December
• Netherlands: paid in November or December[1][3]

In Germany, a legal distinction is made between a thirteenth salary and a Christmas bonus; in most other countries, the terms are used interchangeably. The Christmas bonus (usually paid with the November salary) is intended to pay additional holiday expenses and retain employees.[8] The thirteenth salary is paid by an employer for ongoing work at the end of a calendar year. An employee is entitled to a prorated thirteenth salary if they leave their employer before the end of the calendar year, unless the parties to the employment contract have agreed otherwise.[9]

Special payments for regular work performance (a requirement fulfilled by the thirteenth salary, and the Christmas bonus in certain cases) can be counted towards the minimum wage.[10][11][12] For example, a person works full-time and earns €8.03 per hour until a minimum wage of €8.50 per hour is introduced. Their employment contract stipulates that they are entitled to a half-month Christmas bonus and an annual holiday payment, totaling one month's salary. To meet the minimum wage of €8.50 (required by law in Germany since January 2015), the employer consolidates the holiday payment and Christmas bonus and pays one-twelfth of the amount to the employee every month. The employee's hourly wage would increase to €8.69, meeting the minimum wage.[12]

The Christmas bonus is part of the other-remuneration category, in accordance with §39b Abs. 3 of the EStG.[13] The Christmas tax allowance was abolished with the Tax Reform Act of July 25, 1988.[14] Since July 2008, federal officials have no longer received Christmas bonuses; the special payments (Christmas and holiday bonuses), amounting to five percent of the annual salary, were integrated into the officials' base salary.[15]

Most Swiss employers pay their employees' annual salary in 13 instalments, rather than 12. An employee usually receives two months' salary in December, which helps pay end-of-year and holiday bills. Sometimes they receive half in July and half in December, however, similar to Germany's Christmas bonus and holiday payment. The thirteenth monthly salary is not a bonus, but a delayed payment. Whether or not a thirteenth salary is paid is part of an employment contract; some companies pay a higher monthly salary instead of the additional payment. In the first and last years of employment, the thirteenth salary is prorated for partial years.[16]

Some employers pay an additional annual bonus based on employee performance or employer profits. When an employee pays direct income tax and the 13th month's salary and bonus are paid in the same month, a higher tax rate is paid.[16]

• Argentina: two equal instalments, by June 30 and December 18
• Bolivia: tax-free, up to one month’s wages. A 14th-month bonus is mandatory as a holiday bonus if the GDP is over 4.5 percent.
• Brazil: paid in two equal parts, by November 30 and by December 20. A mandatory 14th-month bonus is a holiday bonus. It is one-twelfth of the wage paid in December per month worked previously (if the worker was hired less than one year ago), or equal to the December wage.[19][4][20]
• Colombia: two halves, paid during the first 15 days of June and the first 20 days of December
• Costa Rica: paid during the first 20 days of December
• Dominican Republic, Mexico: paid by December 20
• Ecuador: A mandatory 14th-month bonus is paid in parts or in a lump sum.
• El Salvador: Christmas bonus, based on years of service
• Guatemala: paid at mid-year. A mandatory 14th-month bonus is paid at the end of the year; both are equal to one month's salary.
• Honduras: paid in December. A mandatory 14th-month bonus is paid in July; both are equal to one month's salary.
• Nicaragua: one month's salary, paid by December 10
• Panama: paid in three equal parts on April 15, August 15, and December 15
• Peru: paid in July. A mandatory 14th-month bonus is paid in December.
• Uruguay: paid in two halves, on June 30 and by the end of the year
• Paraguay, Venezuela: paid at the end of the year

• Chile: paid in December or in two halves, in September and December[1][3]

• India: paid within eight months of the end of the financial year
• Indonesia: religious-holiday bonus, paid at least one week before the holiday
• Philippines: According to the Labor Code of the Philippines, it must be paid to permanent employees in December or in two installments (May and November). Sometimes 14th, 15th and other bonuses are paid.[21]
• Saudi Arabia: paid on Eid al-Fitr[1][3]

• China: paid during the month of the Lunar New Year or spring holiday.
• Hong Kong: paid at the Lunar New Year or the end of the year.
• Israel.
• Japan: a summer bonus, paid in June. A 14th-month winter bonus is paid in December.
• Malaysia: paid at the end of the year
• Nepal: paid with the last month's salary before the festival of Dashain.
• Singapore (Annual Wage Supplement),.[22]
• Taiwan: paid at the end of the year.
• United Arab Emirates: A 14th-month bonus is paid at the end of the year.
• Vietnam: paid the month before the Lunar New Year.[23]