During this time of the year, most companies begin to scheduele the Christmas Bonus payment, a Benefit that, in terms of the article 87th of the Federal Labor Law, it must be paid before December 20th of each year and must consisto of an aumount not less than at least, fifteen days’ salary.
On the other hand, through 2020, most of employers in Mexico were forced to agree with their employees to reduce wages and workloads due to the pandemic caused by the Sars-CoV-2 virus (Covid-19).
Due to the above, some questions have arisen regarding the way in which the bonus should be calculated, for example, if it should be done based on the last salary that the employee has been receiving, or, where appropriate, the salary with the one he started the year, or if an annual average should be obtained or various other variables.
For this reason, in Vega, Guerrero & Asociados we consider it appropriate to share the legal analysis that we have carried out to correctly calculate and fulfill the payment of said labor benefit.
- First, it is important to point out that to make the payment of the bonus, the daily salary also known as ordinary salary [1] must be taken as the basis for its calculation, which, in terms of article 82 of the Federal Labor Law and its interpretations, it is established that it is the one that complies with the daily quota that includes all the benefits that the employee receives daily, regularly and invariably;
- On the ther hand, as noted above, the bonus must be calculated taking the basis of its payment, at least fifteen days of the aforementioned daily or ordinary salary, therefore, in general terms, if the employee throughout the year came receiving the same salary, the calculation must be made by multiplying that amount by fifteen.
- Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the case of those employees who agreed with the employer to reduce their salary during the year, and whether: i) at the end of the year they maintain that new salary different from the one they started; or ii) they have already received the salary that they had previously received, in both cases, the calculation must be made generating an apportionment according to the period in which they obtained the salary.
- It is important to consider that this bonus is a benefit that is accrued day by day throughout the year that the employee provides his services, that is, it is not a benefit that is accrued annually, but on the contrary, each day the employee renders his services for the employer, he acquires a proportional part of this benefit, which, in sum, is paid before December 20th of each year.
Therefore, the Christmas Bonus must be calculated each day that the employee renders his services in terms of the formula established in article 87 of the law and that has been mentioned in previous lines, that is, if the employee received during a certain period of the year a salary, that same period must be quantified for the purposes of the bonus with that same salary, and if during another period of the year he received a different salary, that period must be quantified with that other different salary, so that finally, the corresponding sum of the two, three or more apportions that may be given, and thus, obtain the final amount that the employee will receive as this bonus.
If any type of additional assistance for the purposes of calculating and paying this benefit in the correct terms that is required, do not hesitate to contact the team of the Labor and Social Security area of Vega, Guerrero & Asociados.
