June 30 and December 20 of each year are the dates on which workers in Colombia receive payment of the service premium.
This is in accordance with article 306 of the Substantive Labor Code, which stipulates that the premium is a social benefit that the employer is obliged to pay to its employee: “It will correspond to 30 days of salary per year, which will be recognized in two Payments”. If a worker has not worked the entire semester, the premium will be recognized proportionally to the days worked.
The formula to calculate the bonus is done by multiplying the salary by the days worked in the semester and, then, dividing the result by 360 days.
Example: service premium = (salary x days worked) / 360 days
Workers in the sector are also entitled to this social benefit. domestic service, family service drivers, daily workers or farm workers.
Although independent workers, those under a contract to provide services, temporary workers, those who receive a full salary and occasional or temporary workers are not covered by this benefit, if they can organize their finances and have a savings plan.
With the purpose of maximizing these savings, Clever Finance and the Porvenir Pension and Severance Fund have developed an Excel tool that allows you to simulate the value of the premium to be received and offers savings suggestions available for download on the Porvenir website.
Recommendations to take advantage of the service premium in Colombia
Although many allocate their premium for immediate expenses such as vacations, school fees or purchases, It is possible to get more out of this money by adopting savings habits.
Recommended: Which workers do not receive a service premium in Colombia?
Porvenir, through the Savings Academy, offers recommendations for using this income intelligently:
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Allocate part of the premium to pay off existing debts and reduce your financial burden.
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Consider making savings or investments with which you can grow the value of this income and obtain benefits in the future. Pension funds like Porvenir have more than 60 investment portfolios that will give savings greater profitability.
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Create an emergency fund that allows you to cover unexpected and urgent situations. It will help you cover unforeseen events such as an unforeseen medical bill or if you become unemployed. In times like these, your emergency fund acts as a financial buffer, preventing you from going into debt or having to resort to expensive interest loans.
Financial education experts emphasize the importance of promoting savings and financial planning habits so that people can have healthy finances.
