The 13th month: why Italian salaries come in more than twelve parts

In Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen and Helsinki, an employee gets twelve salaries a year. The summer bump comes from holiday pay rules, not from an extra salary. So when an Italian candidate mentions “tredicesima” and “quattordicesima”, Nordic managers often hear “bonus”. It is not a bonus. It is part of the agreed annual pay, paid in extra instalments.

What they are  

The 13th month (tredicesima) is an extra instalment of salary on top of the twelve monthly payments. Every Italian national collective agreement (CCNL) provides it, and it is usually paid in December.

The 14th month (quattordicesima) works the same way but exists only in some CCNLs, such as Commerce and services, and is usually paid in June or July.

The key point for an offer: Italian candidates negotiate a gross annual figure, the RAL. That figure already includes the 13th month and any 14th. It is divided into thirteen or fourteen parts, not twelve.

So under a 14-instalment CCNL, the monthly gross is the RAL divided by fourteen, not by twelve. Same annual pay, a smaller monthly number. Get this wrong in a conversation and the candidate thinks you are offering less than you are.

Not discretionary  

Because it is part of pay, the 13th month cannot be skipped in a weak year or tied to targets. It accrues month by month: an employee who joins in July has earned half of it by December, and an employee who leaves in March receives the share earned to that date.

Like any pay, it carries employer contributions and counts toward the TFR.

Why the structure exists  

The extra instalments come from Italian bargaining tradition and are now fixed in the CCNLs. Employees plan around them: Christmas, summer holidays, school costs, tax payments. Do not expect an Italian employee to see them as optional.

The cash-flow problem  

A Nordic finance team is used to an even payroll. With lump-sum 13th and 14th payments, Italian payroll is uneven: December and June or July are heavy months, and the employer contributions on those instalments come with them.

There is also an accounting issue. The cost builds up during the year even though the cash goes out later. If you book only when you pay, the first months look cheaper than they are and December looks expensive.

Two ways to flatten it  

Accrue monthly. Book one-twelfth of the annual extra instalments every month and mark the heavy months in the treasury forecast. This works if you employ through your own Italian company.

Pay pro rata. Where the CCNL or an individual agreement allows it, the 13th and 14th month can be paid in twelve equal parts with the monthly salary. The employee receives the same annual amount, in even payments. Your monthly cost is flat.

In our Employer of Record (EOR) quotes, the 13th and 14th month are paid pro rata in each monthly payslip by default. Combined with the TFR paid monthly into a fund, every invoice is the same size, and nothing builds up for December or for an exit.

Talking to the candidate  

Be explicit:

• state the RAL and the number of instalments;
• say whether the 13th and 14th are paid as lump sums or spread over twelve months;
• if you think in monthly salary, convert carefully and show both numbers.

Explain the structure to your own leadership too. A Nordic CFO reading an annual figure will divide by twelve unless told otherwise.

Checklist  

• Confirm the CCNL and whether it has a 14th month.
• Decide lump sum or pro rata.
• Budget on annual cost including employer contributions on the extra months.
• Include the accrued share in any exit planning.

Questions we hear from Nordic companies  

Can we just pay twelve larger salaries instead? Only where the CCNL or an individual agreement allows the 13th and 14th to be paid pro rata. The annual amount stays the same; what changes is the timing. We check the agreement before proposing it, and we write the choice into the contract so the payslips are consistent from the first month.

Does the 13th month count for holiday pay or the TFR? It counts toward the TFR, like other regular pay. Holiday in Italy is paid as normal salary while the employee is off, so there is no separate holiday-pay percentage to apply on top, which is a common double count in Nordic models.

What happens if the employee leaves in October? They receive the share of the 13th (and any 14th) accrued to the leaving date in the final payslip. If the extra months were paid pro rata, most of it has already been paid and the final settlement is smaller.

The cost calculator shows the twelve invoices both ways. For other pay differences, see Italy vs Sweden .