No later than December 21, 2024, the Christmas 2024 bonus must be paid.

Calculation of Christmas Bonus – Payments to beneficiaries

Calculating the Christmas Bonus can be done easily, quickly, and correctly, as long as attention is paid to certain parameters.

So to the question “How is Christmas Bonus calculated, the answer is directly linked to when the employee’s employment with the company began.

Initially, the period for calculating the amount to be credited to the private sector employee’s ATM is May 1, 202,4 through December 31.

Employees can use the online application created by the KEPA to calculate for themselves the Christmas Bonus to which they are entitled by entering the link below: http://kepea.gr/calc-doro-xristoygennon.php.

The basis for calculating the Christmas Bonus is the remuneration paid to the employee on 10 December. Therefore, the calculation of the final amount needs to clarify the way the employee is paid, i.e. whether they are paid on a daily wage or a salary. If the employment relationship with the employer has been terminated earlier, the amount is calculated based on the wages paid on the day employment with the company ceased.

As paid wage or salary is the total of regular earnings. The concept of regular remuneration includes wages or salary, as well as any other benefit (in cash or in kind, such as food, housing, etc.) if paid by the employer in return for the work performed by the employee, regularly every month, or repeatedly, periodically, at certain intervals during the year.

It is noted that all employees employed in the private sector under a dependent employment relationship, contract of indefinite or fixed term with any employer are entitled to a Christmas Bonus.

How Christmas Bonus

is calculated.
Employees who were employed for the entire period from 1 May to 31 December are entitled to the full Christmas Bonus. This amount is equal to one month’s salary for those paid on a salary and 25 days’ pay for those paid on a daily wage.

Private sector employees who were not employed for the entire period mentioned above, which is the basis for the calculation in the Christmas Bonus, will receive a portion of the Christmas Bonus. Attention! The termination of the employment relationship must have occurred either because the employee voluntarily left employment (resignation) or because he/she was removed by the employer’s decision (dismissal). Therefore, those who are entitled to a portion of the Christmas Bonus must take the following into account when calculating the money:

-2/25 of monthly salary or 2 days’ pay (depending on how they are paid) for every 19 calendar days of employment.

Even employees who have worked for less than 19 days are entitled to a proportional fraction of the Christmas Bonus.

When is the Christmas Bonus

paid?
Traditionally, the Christmas gift is paid by December 21 each year.

The employer may pay the gift earlier than the above date and in no case may it be paid in kind.

This year, however, December 21 falls on a Saturday therefore the 2024 Christmas bonus will be paid earlier!

Precision Check

Meanwhile, on December 20, the accuracy cheque will be paid on December’s OPEKA and regular December benefits.

The categories of beneficiaries who will receive the assistance just before Christmas are:

1. The 767,000 beneficiaries of the OPEKA child benefit will receive an additional tranche of child benefit.

2. The 220,000 beneficiaries of the OPEKA’s disabled person’s allowance and the beneficiaries of the extra-institutional allowance and other disability allowances of the e-EFKA will receive an aid of 200 euros.

3. The 35,000 uninsured elderly beneficiaries of the corresponding OPEKA benefit will receive a 200 euro aid.

4. The 205,000 beneficiaries of the minimum guaranteed income will receive an additional 50% of the monthly benefit in December.

Delayed payment of the Christmas gift to the unemployed – What changes and why

On December 20, the Christmas gift for the unemployed who are registered in the registers of the DYPA will finally be paid, i.e. on the same date as the increased January pensions and extraordinary payments to vulnerable citizens.

According to the decision expected to be taken by the board of the institution today or tomorrow, the payment of the gift has been decided to be delayed this year compared to the previous 4 years in which the gift was prepaid in the first week of December ( last year it was credited on December 4) to facilitate the unemployed in order to cope with the accuracy.

Officials of the DYPA point out that the date change is for “better fiscal management,” adding that again the gift is being advanced since it should normally be credited to the unemployed in early January.

Read also: “Running up” tax obligations – Deadlines for ENFIA, income tax and road tax

The gift will only apply to those receiving unemployment benefits between May 1 and December 31, not the long-term unemployed. The Gift amounts will be automatically deposited into the beneficiary’s bank account without the need to take any action beforehand. It should be clarified that the amounts of the Gratuity depend on the employment status (part-time or full-time) that the unemployed person was working in until the end of their employment. In detail:

The full Gift will be paid to unemployed persons who worked full-time until the end of their employment relationship. In this case, the Gift corresponds to 509 euros, which is the same as the monthly unemployment benefit.

The Gift will be less than 509 euros for unemployed persons who worked part-time until the end of the employment relationship. In this case, the Gift will amount to 382.25 euros.

On the same date, the prepayment of the Christmas gift for the beneficiaries of the special maternity protection benefit and the beneficiaries of the parental leave allowance is expected to start.