Avoid these seven mistakes when paying the Christmas bonus in your company

The final stretch of the year 2020 has already begun, including sale season, and the employees of the companies await the payment of the Christmas bonus (aguinaldo) to make their purchases, make payments that they plan or must make in the coming weeks or enjoy some vacation days and festivities.

Given that companies will also have to be aware of tax obligations, poor management in the cancellation of the so-called thirteenth month could involve unnecessary complications, therefore the following errors should be avoided:

1. Skip the deadline

The maximum deadline for canceling the bonus is December 20 and one of the most common mistakes is to postpone it beyond that date.

“The bonus (aguinaldo) must be paid within the first twenty days of December,” stressed Erika Barrantes, Sfera Legal labor director.

Write down the dates and obligations that you must comply with Taxation from December 2020 to March 2021

2. Exclude remuneration

To calculate the bonus that corresponds to each worker, both the ordinary and extraordinary salary and the salary in kind must be taken into account, if applicable.

"A very common mistake is not to count for the purposes of the bonus the extraordinary remuneration that employees receive," warned José Luis Campos, director of the Batalla labor area practice. "For example, overtime pay and commissions, in the case of salespeople, for example, that make up the variable portion of wages along with a base salary."

3. Wrong period

It is also a very common mistake that the calculation of the bonus is made from December of the previous year to December of the current year.

Campos said that the law is clear in the calculation, it must be made with the salaries received from December of the previous year to November of the current year. "The confusion comes because the payment of the bonus must be made no later than December 20 of the current year, but it should not include the salary for that month," Campos said.

4. Bad calculation

Salaries received from December 1 of the previous year to November 30 of the current year are added. After: this total must be divided by 12 to obtain the amount that corresponds to the worker for the Christmas bonus.

Remember the different situations that arose this year in operational and labor matters, which you must consider when making the calculations.

5. Not having proof

In labor matters, the burden of proof falls on the employer, so it is important to ask the worker to sign a receipt of the Christmas bonus payment.

Thus, in the event that the collaborator alleges that the bonus was not paid, the employer has evidence that the corresponding payment was made, thus avoiding being condemned to pay this item again.

6. Evade claim

If the collaborating person has a question or complaint, do not evade it.

Remember that a worker can go to the same employer, either to the payroll manager and the same employer or to the human resources department, if there is one. But it is not mandatory.

In this matter, there is no way to exhaust, since the worker can present his claim directly to the Ministry of Labor or the courts if he so wishes.

This is all you have to take into account for the Christmas bonus and other employment decisions in your SME now in December

Now: if the collaborating person went to the companies and was not answered, they also have the right to continue their claim in other instances.

"If your claim cannot be resolved within the company, you can present it directly to the Ministry of Labor," Barrantes recalled.

In the Ministry you have the option of requesting a conciliation hearing, which is voluntary and the employer may decide not to attend. If he attends and the parties reconcile, the conflict is definitively resolved and it cannot be continued or discussed further.

Even as a last resort to enforce their rights, the collaborating person can file the respective claim before the Labor Courts, initiating the judicial process against the company.

This is the option that may be the least favorable for the worker, since the workload of the labor courts is very large, which can affect response times.

7. Christmas bonus is not optional

The bonus is an inalienable right for the collaborators, so it would not be possible to agree with the employer to receive less than what the law indicates or not to receive the payment of this benefit at all.

In the same way, the right to the bonus does not prescribe while the employment relationship remains in force, so it is possible for workers to claim against possible breaches of the employer even if a long time has elapsed.