Colombia's December prima: how much and when

Article 306 of the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo (Substantive Labour Code), as worded by Law 1788 of 2016:

• The employer must pay a prima de servicios that "will correspond to 30 days of salary per year".
• It is paid in two instalments: "half at the latest on 30 June and the other half within the first twenty days of December at the latest".
• It is granted "for the whole semester worked or in proportion to the time worked".

Put another way: it is 15 days of salary for each full semester.

In 2026, 20 December falls on a Sunday. If your company pays on a working day, it will normally arrive earlier.

Law 1788 of 2016 extended the prima to people who used to be left out. The article expressly includes:

• domestic workers
• family drivers
• day workers
• farm workers

and, in general, anyone who meets the conditions of a dependent employee.

If you work by the day or you joined in the middle of a semester, you do not lose the prima. You are owed it in proportion to the time you worked.

The sum comes straight from the law: 30 days of salary for every 360 days worked.

Prima for the semester = monthly salary × days worked in the semester ÷ 360

For these sums the working year is taken as 360 days and each month as 30, so a full semester is 180 days.

Examples, own calculation:

If your salary changed during the semester or you receive variable pay, ask your employer which base they use. The law speaks of "salary" and does not go into that detail.

The prima de servicios is the private-sector one, regulated by the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo. Public employees have their own regime, with a different Christmas prima. If you work for a public body, the rule in this guide is not yours.

The prima is an obligation of the employer, not a gift. If the first twenty days of December pass and it has not arrived:

1. 1. Ask for it in writing from your company, stating the date and the semester you are claiming.
2. 2. Keep your payslips: they are the proof of your salary and of what you have been paid.
3. 3. Go to the Ministerio del Trabajo (Ministry of Labour), the authority that oversees compliance with labour rules.

It arrives just before the season when people spend the most. A simple way to divide it up before it disappears:

1. 1. First, expensive debts. What you owe on a credit card usually costs more than any savings earn.
2. 2. Then, a cushion. If you do not have an emergency fund, the prima is a chance to start one.
3. 3. The rest, with a name. Gifts, trips and January expenses count too: set a limit for them. In Neto you can create a savings goal and track your spending in pesos without connecting your bank.

To see how it fits with the rest of your money, work out your net worth. And if your account is with Bancolombia, here is how to download your statements.

• Law 1788 of 2016, which amends article 306 of the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo. The official pages are in Spanish.