Xmas bonus in Germany 


More than half (55%) of all German workers get an additional payment at Christmas, new research published by the German union-linked research body WSI shows. However, the figures also show that there is a big difference between employees covered by collective agreements and those who are not. 


Almost three-quarters (74%) of employees covered by collective agreements get the payments, compared with less than a half (44%) in workplaces that are not. Payments made as a result of collective agreements almost always guarantee a set level of Christmas bonus, generally a percentage of monthly pay. But in workplaces without agreements the amount paid can be decided unilaterally by the employer. 


The collectively-agreed payments vary between industries, but can be as much as a full month’s pay (banking and chemicals). In Germany’s largest agreement, metalworking, the typical payment is 55% of monthly pay.