The compensation that workers receive in relation to maintenance in December corresponds to the thirteenth salary or Christmas bonus.

The item was calculated taking into account one twelfth of the salary that the worker would have received from December 1 of last year to November 30 of this year.

This bonus law, which was initially known as aguinaldo, was implemented in 1962 to benefit workers during Christmas. During the presidency of Rodrigo Borja (1988-1992), it was called the Christmas bonus, to distinguish it from the fourteenth salary, which was called the school bonus, which is received in March on the Coast, and in September in Sierra.

According to data from the Ministry of Labour, In the period of 2022, more than 1.7 million people received their thirteenth salary; Of these, 1.1 million are men and 590,286 are women.

In addition, 1.6 million citizens received this capital on a full-time basis, and 73,790 citizens on a part-time basis. And only 30,905 were persons with disabilities. Compared to 2021, there are fewer workers who received compensation. A total of 1,581,097 people. In 2020, it was also low: 1,524,686 people.

Earning $450 or more? This is what you will get as your thirteenth salary in Ecuador

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, i.e. in 2019, the amount of this tithe payment was close to that of 2022. Four years ago, there were 1,695,016.

This economic benefit is being phased out by December 24, 2023. If not, the company could be sanctioned, according to labor expert Vanessa Velásquez.

“I think it’s time for Ecuadorians to think about savings and preparation because you have several crises ahead of you, energy, security, employability. We will have to see what knowledge the new government will use to improve the situation in the country. Employers are also faced with a situation where they have to comply, and if they cannot comply, they seek dialogue with their workers because what happens is non-payment and waiting for fines and sanctions to arrive,” explains Velásquez.

How is it calculated?

A calculator is available on the website of the Ministry of Labor that will know the value that the worker will receive until the next month.

Article 111 of the Labor Law establishes that every worker has the right to the thirteenth salary, i.e. the Christmas bonus. “Workers have the right to have their employer pay them compensation in the amount of one twelfth of the compensation they received during the calendar year by the twenty-fourth of December every year. The fee from the previous paragraph will be calculated in accordance with the provisions of Article 95,” the article says.

Article 95 refers to wages or salary: “For the purpose of payment of damages to which the worker is entitled, wages shall be considered to be everything that the worker receives in money, services or in kind, including what he receives for overtime and supplementary work.” piece work, commissions, profit share, individual contribution to the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute when taken over by the employer or any other remuneration customary in the industry or service. Exceptions to the legal percentage of profit are the monthly reserve payment, travel expenses or occasional subsidies, thirteenth and fourteenth incomes, economic compensation for the minimum living wage, parts of the salary in the process of incorporation into receipts and compensations representing social order services.