KANISA GEORGE

TIS the season for money, spending money and crying over wasting money. Since the commercialisation of what some deem the holiest of all holidays, Christmas has become synonymous with overspending, online shopping and a grocery list that could rival your yearly food bill. Whether it's our obsession with big-screen TVs or the desire to have a well-stocked home bar, we spend far more than our disposable incomes allow, and some of us merely wait for the dreaded gloom of January to overcome us.

Come December, most of us will spend far more than we earn, and by the time Carnival swings around, some of us will have perpetual holes in our pockets. It is difficult to strike a balance between festivities and rational spending during Christmas, and perhaps we all deserve a little extra something in our pockets for the hard work we put in all year round. Wouldn't it be nice if we all benefitted from a financial bonus at the end of each year?

Luckily for some, there is a gem tucked away in their Christmas stocking, usually gifted with their December salary to make the season much merrier. So for a select few, Christmas is merrier, not just for the food, drinks and parang but also because of the much-awaited 13th-month pay.

Some of us might be familiar with the Christmas bonus - an extra payment that employers give to employees around the holidays to show appreciation for work done during the year. This bonus usually comes in the form of a percentage of the employee's salary and is given in addition to the employee's regular pay.

Unlike the Christmas bonus, the 13th-month pay is akin to being paid twice and, wait for it, this much anticipated year-ender bonus is mandatory in some parts of the world.

Well, isn't that nice?

In the Philippines, by virtue of the 13th month Pay Law, December means doubled blessings, as a double monthly salary is credited to every employee's account. The law is such that an employer is legally obligated to grant 13th-month pay to its employees. It follows that all employees, regardless of status, are entitled to receive this benefit if they have worked for at least one month in the company. Interestingly, it should be released by December 24 each year, in time for those last-minute Christmas deals. But it gets better. Resigned, separated, or terminated employees are entitled to a 13th-month pay, usually through a back pay system.

The law even provides redress by allowing employees to initiate court proceedings against their employers for failing to grant this bonus salary.

But it seems like the 13th-month bonus is a gift that keeps on giving as employers also have the option to pay employees their 13th month payment in advance. Instead of waiting to receive this additional salary for the Christmas holiday, the law allows employers to release one-half of the 13-month pay "before the opening of the regular school year," with the other half to be released before December 24. Not only can this bonus salary be used for Christmas gifts, but it can also be