The thirteenth salary is paid to employees according to different terms of law or contract of employment. Mostly, it is equivalent to one full monthly salary and paid in December (the 12th month) around Christmas and is traditionally called a Christmas bonus. The following examples show some differences:
In Armenia, thirteenth month pay is not mandated by law, but usually paid to employees by enterprises at the same time as the payment of the last month of salary before the New Year Holdidays.
In Argentina, the thirteenth salary is paid in two semestral instalments; at the end of June and in mid-December, before Christmas.
In Brazil, the law mandates the thirteenth salary.
Germany and Austria have no unitary regulation, and the thirteenth salary is mostly regulated in the collective agreement.
In Italy, the thirteenth salary was regulated by law after its introduction during the 1930s. This is featured in Where to Invade Next.
In the Philippines, a thirteenth salary, known as thirteenth month pay, is mandated by the Labor Code of the Philippines to be given to (permanent) employees often on December. There is also an option to give in two installments, first in May and then November. The rationale is so that the first tranche in May can aid for the upcoming predominant school year of June to March/April. Some institutions practice adding a "fourteenth", "fifteenth", and successive bonuses for higher pay grades.
In Singapore, it is called Annual Wage Supplement (AWS) and is not mandated by the law.
In Mexico and Costa Rica, it is known as aguinaldo in Spanish, translated as bonus, and paid on December, it is mandatory by labor law, and if the work relationship ends before December, the worker receives a proportional payment of the bonus as calculated from the beginning of the calendar year.
In Nepal, despite not being mandated by law, thirteenth month pay is usually given to employees by enterprises at the same time as the payment of the last month of salary before the festival of Dashain.
