Some employees receive a voluntary special payment from their employer in addition to their salary.
How much money is in it?
Many employees benefit from so-called special payments.
This includes, for example, the Christmas bonus.
Those affected can use this money to increase their salary.
In contrast to the classic wage payment, the special payment is a one-off period, as the
content.de
portal informs;
payment is made "typically once a year".
In addition to the salary: Possible special payments from the employer
From an income tax point of view, special payments would be booked as “other remuneration”, in social security law as a “one-off benefit”, according to the experts.
"They represent the counterpart to the ongoing wages, i.e. the regular remuneration from work within the wage payment periods such as Sunday work, overtime and ongoing sales commission."
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Not everyone can look forward to special payments from their employer.
This includes, for example, Christmas and holiday bonuses.
© photo booth/K.
Schmitt/Imago
In addition to the two special payments that are not unusual for many employees, such as Christmas and vacation pay, there is, for example, so-called birth allowance from the employer.
Find out more about the voluntary benefits of the employer and how much money can jump out of it for employees.
1. Christmas bonus
87.2 percent of all employees are entitled to a corresponding special payment at the end of the year.
This was reported by the Federal Statistical Office, according to the German Press Agency (dpa).
The average payment is 2,677 euros, an increase of 1.9 percent since the previous year.
Since the payments are agreed in the respective collective agreements, they are extremely different, as dpa further described: In the agreements examined, they range from 5,651 euros (coking plant and mineral oil processing) to the lowest value of 301 euros, which temporary workers receive on average.
In the hospitality industry, too, comparatively little Christmas bonus is paid with an average of 861.
According to dpa, high Christmas bonuses have also been agreed in the energy supply (5,171 euros) and in the chemical industry (5,369 euros).
However, without a collective agreement, the chances of receiving fixed special payments would decrease: according to a study by the trade union WSI collective bargaining archive, only around half of the employees were entitled to wages last year.
You can also find out here in which cases you are still entitled to a Christmas bonus after termination.
2. Holiday Pay
The so-called 14th monthly salary or vacation bonus is usually paid in June or July and is intended to enable employees to travel on vacation.
In Germany, however, only slightly less than half (46 percent) of all employees in the private sector receive holiday pay.
That was the result of an online survey by the portal
Lohnspiegel.de,
for which more than 66,000 employees were evaluated between the beginning of May 2021 and the end of April 2022.
"Whether employees receive vacation pay or not depends on several factors," the Hans Böckler Foundation announced in June 2022.
By far the most important factor is the collective bargaining agreement.
"For example, 74 percent of employees in companies in the private sector that are bound by collective agreements receive vacation pay, compared to only 36 percent of employees in companies without a collective agreement." Employees in the middle salary group will receive EUR 180 and 2,627 this year as holiday pay (without taking into account allowances/surcharges, based on the final level of the holiday period)."
3. Maternity Allowance
The so-called birth allowance is a "special benefit from the employer in connection with the birth or adoption of a child by the employee or his partner," reports the legal portal
Haufe.de.
It is to be treated in full as taxable wages or wages subject to contributions.
The childbirth allowance can be “in the form of cash wages” or “in the form of gifts in kind for the birth”.
"If the birth allowance is given as a gift in kind, it is a taxable benefit in kind that is taxable as a benefit in kind and is subject to the obligation to pay contributions," the portal describes the details.
"Gifts of up to EUR 60 on the occasion of a special personal event are considered courtesies and are not part of wages." In addition, the employer can also make additional donations in kind up to EUR 50 per month tax-free.
According to the experts, if the childbirth allowance is paid as a one-off payment, it is considered to be another reference in wage tax law.
"In social insurance, contributions are collected from the one-time payment of wages." In addition to childbirth allowance, there is also what is known as marriage allowance, for example.
The marriage grant is
According to Haufe.de,
this is a “taxable wage and therefore also a wage that is subject to social security contributions”.
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Who is eligible for one-off payments?
There is no statutory entitlement to special payments.
Rather, it is usually a voluntary service provided by the employer.
"Nevertheless, one-off payments can result from the employment or collective agreement or the company agreement," know the experts from
content.de
.
For example, with the Christmas bonus: If the employment contract does not contain any corresponding provisions on the Christmas bonus, a claim could still be derived from “company practice”.
The magazine "BAM" of the Bremen Chamber of Employees reports on this (issue 11/12 2021): "If the employer pays the same amount of Christmas bonus for at least three years, there is a right to payment of Christmas bonus from the so-called operational practice - unless he paid 'conditionally', the post says.
"Then legal advice would be advisable in individual cases of disputes."
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Possibly entitled to so-called special leave
What is also perhaps not known to everyone: special family events, which it is essential for employees to be present, can justify an entitlement to extra vacation days.
List of rubrics: © Fotostand/K.
Schmitt/Imago