What the thirteenth salary is
It is an additional remuneration paid once a year, usually at Christmas, on top of the monthly salary. In some countries it is set out in the law, in others in collective agreements and in others it simply does not exist. It is also called an extra payment, Christmas bonus, gratuity or year-end bonus, depending on the country.
What matters for the employer is that it represents a real employment cost: it is not a one-off gift, but an agreed part of the annual salary that must be budgeted for from the first contract.
Portugal: two mandatory extra payments
Portugal is the most generous case among Filnet's markets. Salary is paid in 14 monthly instalments: the twelve of the year plus the subsídio de Natal, paid before Christmas, and the subsídio de férias, paid before the summer holidays.
They are mandatory and do not depend on a collective agreement. With the minimum wage of 920 euros gross per month in 2026, the annual cost of a full-time worker is 12,880 euros, not 11,040. If you calculate payroll on twelve payments, you will fall short in Portugal.
Italy: the tredicesima is law
In Italy the tredicesima, the thirteenth payment, is mandatory and is paid in December. It is equivalent to one month's salary and accrues month by month, so if an employee leaves mid-year they are paid the proportional part.
Many collective agreements also add a quattordicesima, a fourteenth payment usually made in summer. In Italy, therefore, the norm is to receive thirteen or fourteen monthly instalments.
Spain, Germany and France: it depends
In Spain the most common practice is fourteen payments, with two extraordinary payments either prorated or not, although the collective agreement or the contract may set twelve. The minimum wage of 1,184 euros is announced in fourteen payments.
In Germany there is no legal right to a thirteenth salary. The Weihnachtsgeld, the Christmas payment, is set by the collective agreement or the individual contract, and not all workers receive it. In France the same applies to the prime de treizième mois: it is common, but depends on the collective agreement or company policy, not on the law.
Dubai and the rest of the world
There is no thirteenth salary in Dubai. What Federal Law 33/2021 does recognise is the end-of-service gratuity, paid when the employment relationship ends: 21 days' salary per year for the first five years and 30 days from the sixth year onwards. It is a final payment, not an annual one.
Outside Europe, in much of Latin America the aguinaldo is indeed mandatory and is paid in December, with amounts ranging from half a salary to a full salary depending on the country. It is not exclusive to Europe, but within Europe the rules vary considerably from one market to another.
