The Christmas bonus began informally, more as a custom, in Central European countries (Germany, Austria, Hungary), when in the mid-19th century some businesses gave their employees additional sums of money during the Christmas period.
In Greece, it was institutionalized in 1942, during the Axis Occupation, as a response to the famine and as a means of discouraging citizens from joining the resistance movement, which was gaining strength.
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After the war, the labor movement included the bonuses (not only the Christmas one) in its demands, leading to their full legal establishment through legislative provisions in the 1980s.
This is how Greece adopted the model of 14 annual salaries, applied in both the public and private sectors:
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In Europe, it applies in Portugal, Italy, Spain and Austria. With the exception of Austria, these countries historically have:
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The Christmas bonus is not a performance bonus. It is part of the annual salary and essentially represents a different mechanism of wage distribution.
In practice, the annual salary is simply divided into more installments.
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In Greece, public-sector bonuses were initially reduced in May 2010, when the first Memorandum was passed.
They were fully abolished in November 2012 under the Medium-Term Fiscal Strategy Framework of the second Memorandum.
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Full-time employment:
If an employee worked from May 1 to December 31, they are entitled to one full monthly salary (or 25 daily wages for those paid on a daily basis).
If the employment relationship did not last for the entire period, the employee is entitled to a proportional amount*.
*The bonus is calculated proportionally: 2/25 of the monthly salary (or two daily wages) for every 19 calendar days of employment.
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According to the law, the deadline each year is December 21.
However, if December 21 falls on a Sunday, employers must pay it no later than the preceding Friday (this year: Friday, December 19).
