Which countries require thirteenth-month or other extra salary payments?

Summary

Portugal, Spain, Brazil, the Philippines, Mexico and the Netherlands each require an extra salary payment or holiday allowance for covered employees, but the amount and eligibility differ. Two extraordinary payments in Spain do not automatically mean two full months of every employee's quoted salary: the applicable collective agreement sets their amounts.

Before adding extra pay, establish what the quoted annual salary includes. A twelve-month base plus required payments and a full annual gross already including them are different inputs. Adding them to the second figure again overstates the budget.

Who requires what

The ones that are commonly misread

Spain. Article 31 establishes two extraordinary payments; their amounts come from the applicable collective agreement. The agreement can allow them to be prorated across twelve monthly payslips. Prorating changes the payment schedule without removing the entitlement. Check both the agreement's pay basis and whether the monthly figure already includes that proration. Workers' Statute

The Netherlands. The general holiday allowance is 8%, but it is not unconditional at every salary. A collective agreement can provide no separate allowance if pay is at least 108% of the statutory minimum wage. For an employee earning more than three times the statutory minimum wage, employer and employee can agree in writing to a lower allowance or none. It is usually paid in May or June; an alternative schedule requires the employee's written consent. Government business guidance

The Philippines. The statutory entitlement described here covers rank-and-file employees. It is based on basic salary earned, not automatically every component of remuneration or every managerial employee's annual package. Salary-related benefits enter the base if the applicable agreement or practice treats them as basic salary. The handbook lists exclusions for purely commission, boundary or task-based arrangements and treats piece-rate work separately; check the employee's pay method. DOLE handbook, thirteenth-month pay

India. An annual statutory bonus is a separate eligibility question. The Code on Wages, 2019 provides bonus rules, and the labor codes took effect on November 21, 2025. Do not assume that an old Payment of Bonus Act threshold is the current answer for every employer. Ask local payroll counsel to identify the appropriate government's applicable wage threshold, calculation base and coverage for the accounting year. This article does not give a newly verified universal Indian threshold. Code on Wages, Chapter IV and section 69, Ministry implementation review

Why it changes the country ranking

Extra pay increases a budget based on twelve months of salary, but a fixed number of "extra months" is useful only when each payment equals the same monthly base. A country ranking can be misleading if one annual salary includes the required payments and another excludes them.

For a hypothetical EUR 60,000 twelve-month base with two additional payments of EUR 5,000 each, gross pay is EUR 70,000. The extra EUR 10,000 is 16.67% of the base, or 14.29% of the EUR 70,000 total. Calling that a "16.67% shortfall" in the total would use the wrong denominator.

Those formulas describe equal-month arithmetic, not a guarantee that every country's legal wage base matches the assumed base.

What to check in an offer

Write down the twelve-month base, each required additional payment and the full annual gross. Identify which components enter each payment's legal or collectively agreed calculation base.

If the offer is expressed as a full annual gross, list how it will be distributed across the year. Do not treat "paid in fourteen installments" as proof that fourteen identical installments are legally required.

Extra pay and contributions interact

The extra payment and the contribution base are separate checks. In Spain, Article 147 requires non-monthly payments to be prorated through the year when determining the social security contribution base. The ordinary contribution ceiling and the above-ceiling solidarity contribution still need to be applied. General Social Security Law, Article 147, 2026 contribution rules

That rule cannot be applied automatically to every contribution in every other country. Ask payroll to show which payments enter each base and which pay period's limit applies. An annualized ceiling can conceal timing rules for a payment made in one particular month.

The calculator lets you distinguish a twelve-month base from full annual gross. Its country notes identify the assumed extra-pay amount and coverage; Spain's two equal extra months are a model assumption, and the Dutch allowance has the exceptions described above. Those inputs do not establish the collective-agreement amount, eligibility or contribution treatment for a particular employee. Use the offer's actual payment schedule and payroll calculation before approving a budget.

The cash flow question

Brazil's advance is payable between February and November, with the balance due by December 20. Describing the law as requiring a November first installment is too narrow. Lei 4.749, Articles 1–2

Mexico's aguinaldo must be paid before December 20. Portugal's Christmas subsidy is due by December 15; its holiday subsidy is normally paid before leave begins unless a written agreement provides otherwise. Philippine thirteenth-month pay is due no later than December 24. PROFEDET, Portugal, Articles 263–264, DOLE handbook

A team spread across those countries can need a larger year-end payroll reserve. Budget the actual due dates rather than spreading all cash payments evenly over twelve months.

What to check before the offer goes out

Confirm whether the agreed annual number includes the required extra pay, which agreement or statutory rule sets the amount, and whether service dates require proration. Then reconcile the payroll schedule with the offer's full annual gross.

Use the country pages and what the number leaves out to inspect the site's assumptions. A simple extra-month model needs adjustment where the legal base or agreement differs from the employee's ordinary monthly pay. India's older bonus fields are retained as historical records and excluded from model totals; exclusion does not establish that an employer owes no bonus.

Where the extra month does not apply

A payment can be outside the statutory rule described here but still be required by the employment contract or collective agreement. Conversely, a statutory payment can have an eligibility condition that the employee does not meet. Ask which obligation covers that employment rather than infer the answer from a country's name.

Sources

The table and relevant paragraphs link to the governing statutes or official guidance. Last verified October 12, 2026: the selected countries' payment bases, eligibility and timing stated here. Indian bonus thresholds and the site's separate contribution model are not certified by this review.

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