Topic: Year-End Bonus and the Thirteenth Salary
How does Brazil mark Year-End Bonus and the Thirteenth Salary?
Décimo terceiro salário
- Local date
- December 20, 2026
Brazil's thirteenth salary was created by Law 4,090 of 1962, and Law 4,749 of 1965 split it into two instalments: the first by 30 November, the second by 20 December. It is not a bonus but part of the wage — a full year of work earns a month's pay, less than a year is prorated, and it must be settled on dismissal. The amount is calculable in law, lateness is penalised, and a worker can go to court over it. Because the timing is fixed at the end of the year, retail and travel show a predictable December peak: it is the month in which the whole country has one extra month of income at once.
What is this topic?
Taiwan's year-end bonus rests on Article 29 of the Labor Standards Act, which applies only when the business closes its year with a surplus — a condition, with no deadline and no penalty, so the amount is the company's call. Brazil is the opposite: the thirteenth salary has been a statutory obligation since 1962, first instalment by 30 November and second by 20 December, with fines for lateness. Indonesia's THR must be paid in full seven days before the religious holiday, never in instalments, with a 5 per cent fine if late. The same idea — extra money once a year — runs from binding law to pure custom across the seven markets, and that is what decides whether anyone can rely on it.
Sources and dates
Dates follow local time zones, calendars, and official notices. Check the source when a date is estimated or locally variable.