14th-Month Pay
Last reviewed October 2026
Definition
14th-Month Pay — 14th-month pay is a second extra annual payment on top of twelve monthly salaries and a 13th-month payment. Where it exists it is set by statute in some countries and by collective agreement or custom in others.
14th-month pay is a second extra payment, on top of twelve monthly salaries and a 13th-month payment, that employees in some countries receive each year. In the countries listed below it is paid around a holiday or a mid-year date. It is often set by law only in part: a country may require a 13th-month payment by statute and leave a 14th to collective agreements or custom. For a business budgeting a hire abroad, the country-by-country position matters more than the label.
Why the label varies
The words “13th” and “14th” describe the number of payments, not a single legal rule. Some countries call the extra payments allowances, bonuses or supplementary salary, and a country can require two extra payments while calling them something else. The base for the calculation and the payment dates also differ. See 13th-month pay for the basic concept and 13th-month pay by country for a wider table.
Country snapshot
| Country | Statutory or customary | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greece | Statutory (Christmas and Easter bonuses) | Christmas bonus of one monthly salary or 25 daily wages for work from 1 May to 31 December; Easter bonus of half a monthly salary or 15 daily wages for work from 1 January to 30 April | Hellenic Labour Inspectorate |
| Spain | Statutory (two extra payments) | Estatuto de los Trabajadores art. 31: two extraordinary payments a year, one at Christmas and one in a month set by collective agreement; amount set by collective agreement; may be prorated across twelve monthly payments | BOE, Estatuto de los Trabajadores |
| Portugal | Statutory (Christmas and holiday allowances) | Código do Trabalho art. 263: Christmas allowance of one month’s pay due by 15 December; art. 264: separate holiday allowance paid before the holiday period unless agreed otherwise | Código do Trabalho text (secondary legal-text host) |
| Brazil | Statutory 13th only | Law 4,090 of 1962 institutes the Christmas bonus (a 13th salary) and provides for a 13th salary only; the one-twelfth-of-December-pay rule is as summarised in RemoteStaffingWiki’s Brazil guide | Câmara dos Deputados; RSW Brazil guide |
| Philippines | Statutory 13th only | Presidential Decree 851 requires the 13th-month pay; the decree does not provide a 14th | Presidential Decree 851 |
| Italy | Where provided | The 14th month (quattordicesima) is paid, around June, where provided (ove prevista); collective agreements (CCNL) govern pay calculation | Professional journal article, October 2023 |
| Argentina | Statutory supplementary salary (13th) | Ley 20.744 arts. 121-122: one-twelfth of remuneration earned in the year, paid in two instalments due 30 June and 18 December | InfoLEG, Ley 20.744 |
Examples in more detail
Greece
The Hellenic Labour Inspectorate lists both a Christmas and an Easter bonus for employees. The Christmas bonus equals one monthly salary, or 25 daily wages, for an employee who worked from 1 May to 31 December, and the Easter bonus equals half a monthly salary, or 15 daily wages, for work from 1 January to 30 April, with proportional amounts for shorter service. The Inspectorate states that non-payment of the Christmas bonus is a criminal offence.
Spain
Article 31 of the Estatuto de los Trabajadores gives workers the right to two extraordinary payments a year. One falls at Christmas and the other in the month set by collective agreement or by agreement with workers’ representatives. The amount is also fixed by collective agreement, which may provide for the payments to be prorated into the twelve monthly payments. Because of that option, a Spanish contract can show twelve, fourteen or other payment counts for the same annual pay.
Portugal
Portuguese law provides a Christmas allowance of one month’s pay, due by 15 December under article 263 of the Código do Trabalho, and a holiday allowance under article 264. The Portugal guide treats both as an extra cost beyond twelve monthly salaries.
Brazil, the Philippines and Argentina
The Brazil guide summarises the statutory 13th salary (Law 4,090 provides for a 13th only), and the Philippines guide describes 13th-month pay under Presidential Decree 851 without a statutory 14th. In Argentina the supplementary annual salary is statutory and paid in two instalments, which still counts as one extra salary overall; see the Argentina guide. In Italy the 14th month is paid where provided for, rather than under one national rule.
Budgeting for a 14th month
- Add the extra payments to annual cost. A second extra month roughly adds another one-twelfth of base pay to cost, before employer social-security contributions that may apply to it.
- Check the collective agreement. Where the 14th is not statutory, the agreement for the worker’s sector decides.
- Watch proration. Monthly proration changes cash flow, not the annual total.
- Use the Remote Hiring Cost Calculator to add statutory extras to a salary comparison.
Sources
- Hellenic Labour Inspectorate, Remuneration (English)
- Hellenic Labour Inspectorate, Christmas bonus press release, 5 December 2025
- BOE, Real Decreto Legislativo 2/2015, Estatuto de los Trabajadores
- Código do Trabalho, artigo 263: Subsídio de Natal (text from a secondary legal-text host, page marked as in force since 2009; payment rules for 2013 were temporarily changed by Lei 11/2013)
- Código do Trabalho, artigo 264: Retribuição do período de férias e subsídio (same secondary host)
- Câmara dos Deputados, Lei 4.090 de 13 de julho de 1962
- Presidential Decree No. 851 (Philippines)
- InfoLEG, Ley 20.744, Régimen de Contrato de Trabajo (texto ordenado)
- Consulenti del Lavoro, Le mensilità aggiuntive pagate mensilmente, October 2023
References checked on 31 October 2026
Related Terms
13th-month pay is a mandatory extra payment — usually equal to one-twelfth of an employee's total annual basic salary — required by law in the Philippines and much of Latin America (the aguinaldo). Unlike a discretionary bonus, it is a statutory entitlement with fixed calculation rules and legally set payment deadlines.
Statutory BenefitsStatutory benefits are employee benefits an employer must provide by law — typically social security, healthcare or insurance contributions, unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, paid leave, and pensions. They contrast with voluntary fringe benefits like gym memberships or extra PTO, which employers offer to attract talent but are not legally required to provide.
Total Cost of Employment (TCE)Total Cost of Employment (TCE) is the fully-loaded annual cost to retain one employee — base salary plus statutory employer contributions, benefits, equipment, software, and management overhead. TCE is higher than base salary in every market because employer-side costs add to what the worker receives. The exact ratio varies by country, employment model, and benefits structure, which is why TCE should be calculated from components rather than applied as a fixed multiplier. TCE is the correct basis for cross-country hiring comparisons — comparing base salaries alone produces misleading results.
Employer of RecordAn employer of record (EOR) acts as the employer for workers supporting a client business, administering employment and agreed services through a specified entity.