Christmas bonus
Christmas bonus is additional pay that the employer can pay to the employee. There is no statutory entitlement to a Christmas bonus. The employee can only demand a Christmas bonus if it is stipulated in the contract. Like vacation pay, it is also a special payment and is therefore often referred to as a 13th or 14th salary.
Christmas bonus: Entitlement
As mentioned above, there is no entitlement to this. In general, the claim can arise from the following things:
- Collective agreement
- Company agreement
- Employment contract
- Voluntary benefit from the employer
- Claim arising from a company practice
- due to the principle of equal treatment under labor law
A company practice is understood here to mean that an employee can infer from the regular repetition of certain behavior from the employer that the employer will also behave in the same way in the future. This means that if the employer has regularly paid Christmas bonuses in the past, the employee can assume that they will continue to do so in the future and demand this accordingly.
More precisely: If the employer voluntarily pays the same amount of Christmas bonus for 3 consecutive years without reservation, an entitlement to this benefit arises.
Varying amount of payment
It is perfectly possible to pay the money only to certain groups. However, there must be a permissible reason for the so-called unequal treatment. If the unequal treatment is unlawful, the excluded employees are also entitled to it.
It is also possible that a different amount is paid out. The objective reasons for this are as follows:
- Length of service
- Employment relationship not terminated
- Marital status & number of children
- Amount of absenteeism
- Other reasons are possible
How it is calculated
As a rule, 6 months of service is a prerequisite for payment. The amount of money to be expected is also regulated in the collective agreements.
Time and again, special payments are included in collective agreements in graduated form, which we show here as examples:
- 6 months of service: 25 % of monthly salary
- 12 months of service: 35 % of monthly salary
- 24 months of service: 45 % of monthly salary
- 36 months of service: 55 % of monthly salary
Christmas bonuses are usually paid at the end of November.
Disclaimer
Please note that the texts on this website and the related contributions are provided for general informational purposes only and do not constitute tax or legal advice in the proper sense. For individual cases, we always recommend seeking specific legal advice tailored to the circumstances of the situation. The information is provided to the best of our knowledge and belief, without any guarantee of accuracy, completeness, or validity.
