By next Wednesday, May 1 at the latest, all private sector employers must have paid the Easter Gift to all dependent employees of the country, who are employed between January and April 2024.
The Easter Gift amounts to up to half of the April salary to which each employee is entitled, while non-payment by the aforementioned date constitutes a criminal offense on the part of the employer.
For the calculation of the amount of the Easter Gift, the method of remuneration of the employees is taken into account, i.e. if they are paid a daily wage or a salary. The time period for which the Gift is calculated starts from January 1st to April 30th of each year.
Therefore, if someone works the entire above period of time, he is entitled to receive half a month’s salary if he is paid a salary and 15 days’ wages if he is paid a daily wage. Thus, employees whose employment relationship with the employer lasted without interruption throughout the mentioned period, i.e. from January 1 to April 30 of each year, are entitled to the entire Gift which is equal to half a monthly salary for salaried employees and with 15 days wages for daily wage earners.
However, in the event that the employment relationship of an employee with his employer did not last the entire aforementioned period, either because he voluntarily left his job, or because he was fired, he is entitled to receive a proportion of the Gift which is calculated as follows:
In the case of a salaried employee, an amount equal to 1/15 of half the monthly salary or one day’s salary according to the agreed method of remuneration, for every eight calendar days. In case someone works less than eight days, he is entitled to a corresponding fraction for Easter Gift.
When is the Easter Gift paid?
The Easter Gift is paid on Holy Wednesday, of course it is understood that the employer can pay the gift earlier than the above date. For the Easter gift contributions are withheld in favor of the IKA and Wage Tax. The Easter gift may in no case be paid in kind, but only in money.
Times included in the Easter Gift
It is not deducted but taken into account for the calculation of the Easter Gift:
The time of compulsory abstinence from work for women before and after childbirth.
The period of time during which a working student received a study permit in order to participate in exams.
The time of spa therapy leave, if there is an opinion from an insurance organization.
If the employee fell ill during the above period, only the days he received sick pay from the insurance company will be deducted.
Example: If an employee was absent from work due to illness for 60 days and only received sickness benefit from his insurance fund for 40 days, only the 40 days for which he was subsidized and not the 60 will be deducted from the period of employment.
Times that are not included in the Easter Gift
The days on which the employee was absent from work without reason or due to unpaid leave are not counted. The period of absence of employees due to trade union activity (ie time on trade union leave) is not taken into account.
Regarding the strike, the judicial jurisprudence accepts that the days of the strike are not counted in the duration of the employment relationship because the abstention of the employee is due to his own will and therefore cannot be characterized as an excused absence. By analogy, the same applies to work stoppages, since they also constitute a strike in reality.
