Kasambahay 13th Month Pay: How to Compute It Correctly

TL;DR: A kasambahay's 13th month pay is the total basic salary she actually earned from January to December, divided by 12. Meals, lodging, overtime and Christmas gifts stay out of that total. It falls due on or before 24 December, and a kasambahay who started in March or left in September is still owed a pro-rated share. Check your figures in the 13th month pay calculator.

The law that changed the answer in 2013

Ask an older household employer whether a kasambahay gets 13th month pay and you will sometimes still hear no. That answer was correct for 38 years. It is now the most expensive thing a family can get wrong in December.

Presidential Decree No. 851, signed on 16 December 1975, created the benefit. Its implementing rules also listed who was excused from paying it, and paragraph 2 of the Revised Guidelines on the Implementation of the 13th Month Pay Law still carries that list today: "Employers of household helpers and persons in the personal service of another in relation to such workers" are not covered.

Congress closed the gap with the Batas Kasambahay. Section 25 of Republic Act No. 10361, approved on 18 January 2013, ends with one flat sentence: "The domestic worker is entitled to a thirteenth month pay as provided for by law."

Read the two in order and the confusion disappears. This guide says "she" because most kasambahay are women; every rule applies the same way to men. The 1975 decree excused household employers. The 2013 law grants the benefit to every kasambahay and points back to the older 13th month pay rules for the arithmetic. Both statements are true at the same time, which is why search results contradict each other. Anyone quoting the PD 851 exemption at you in 2026 stopped reading 38 years too early.

The rest of the employment relationship sits in the same statute. Rest days, contracts, leave and termination are covered in our plain-language walkthrough of RA 10361.

The formula, and the one number you have to track

The Revised Guidelines set the floor: the 13th month pay "shall not be less than one-twelfth of the total basic salary earned by an employee within a calendar year."

Written out for a household:

Total basic salary actually earned from 1 January to 31 December, divided by 12.

The phrase that carries all the weight is actually earned. Not the current wage. Not the wage on the contract. The peso total that landed in her hands as basic wage across the twelve months of that calendar year.

That distinction is why a kasambahay who was hired in March gets less than one month's wage, and why a kasambahay who received a raise in July gets something between her old and new monthly rate. Once you accept that the numerator is a running total rather than a rate, every scenario below solves itself with the same division.

Entitlement starts early. Under the Revised Guidelines, a worker qualifies "provided that they have worked for at least one (1) month during a calendar year." One month of service in the household is enough. There is no probationary carve-out, no minimum tenure of six months, and no rule that the kasambahay must still be employed in December.

What counts as basic salary, and what does not

For a kasambahay the numerator is almost always just the monthly cash wage, because the Batas Kasambahay keeps most other things outside the wage in the first place.

The Revised Guidelines define basic salary as "all remunerations or earning paid by this employer for services rendered," then exclude "the cash equivalent of unused vacation and sick leave credits, overtime, premium, night differential and holiday pay, and cost-of-living allowances."

| Item | In the 13th month base? | Why | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | Monthly cash wage | Yes | This is the basic salary | | Value of meals and the room | No | Section 6 of RA 10361 makes food and humane sleeping arrangements the employer's own obligation, not wage | | Overtime and premium pay | No | Named exclusion in the Revised Guidelines | | Holiday pay and rest-day premium | No | Named exclusion in the Revised Guidelines | | Cash equivalent of unused leave | No | Named exclusion in the Revised Guidelines | | Christmas cash gift or aguinaldo | No | A voluntary gift is not basic salary | | An allowance you have paid monthly for years and always called part of her salary | Usually yes | The Guidelines fold such items in when "by individual or collective agreement, company practice or policy, the same are treated as part of the basic salary" |

One warning on that last row. If you have paid a fixed ₱1,000 "allowance" every payday since 2023 and both of you treat it as part of her salary, do not suddenly reclassify it in December to shrink the base. That is the kind of move a DOLE conciliator sees through immediately.

Families sometimes try to credit the room and board against the wage. Section 6 of RA 10361 does not allow it, and neither does the wage order. The kasambahay minimum wage is a cash figure, and Wage Order No. NCR-DW-06 states plainly that wages "shall be paid in cash at least once a month" with "no deductions other than those mandated by law."

Worked examples for real households

Every row below uses the same division. Only the numerator changes.

| Situation | Basic salary earned in 2026 | 13th month pay | | ---------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------- | -------------- | | Full year at ₱7,800 a month | ₱93,600 | ₱7,800 | | Hired 15 March at ₱6,500, still employed in December | ₱61,750 | ₱5,145.83 | | Resigned 30 September, ₱7,800 a month | ₱70,200 | ₱5,850 | | Paid ₱7,000 in January, then ₱7,800 from February | ₱92,800 | ₱7,733.33 | | Hired 1 November at ₱7,800 | ₱15,600 | ₱1,300 |

Hired on 15 March at ₱6,500

Assume the family paid a half-month wage of ₱3,250 for 15 to 31 March, then ₱6,500 for each of April through December. Her total for the year is ₱3,250 plus ₱58,500, or ₱61,750. Divide by 12 and her 13th month pay is ₱5,145.83.

The shortcut gives the same answer. ₱6,500 divided by 12 is ₱541.67 per month of service, multiplied by 9.5 months of service equals ₱5,145.83. If you paid March by exact days instead, 17 of its 31 days comes to ₱3,564.52, the year's total is ₱62,064.52, and the 13th month pay is ₱5,172.04, which is the figure the calculator returns for a 15 March start. Either method is defensible as long as it matches what the payslips show. Keep them so you can show your work.

One caveat on this wage. Since 7 February 2026 the kasambahay floor in Metro Manila is ₱7,800 a month, so ₱6,500 would be unlawful there. It may still sit at or above the floor in other regions. Check the current figure for your province in our regional kasambahay minimum wage guide before you set any rate.

Resigned on 30 September

She worked nine full months at ₱7,800, so she earned ₱70,200 and her 13th month pay is ₱5,850. This is not a courtesy. The Revised Guidelines are explicit that a worker "who has resigned or whose services were terminated at any time before the time for payment of the 13th month pay is entitled to this monetary benefit in proportion to the length of time he worked during the year," and that "payment of the 13th month pay may be demanded by the employee upon the cessation of employer-employee relationship."

So the money goes out with her final pay in October, not in December, if she asks for it then. Waiting until 24 December because "that is when everyone gets it" is a defensible habit only if she agreed to wait.

After a raise partway through the year

Suppose a Metro Manila family paid ₱7,000 in January and moved to ₱7,800 for the whole of February once the new wage order landed. Her total is ₱7,000 plus eleven months at ₱7,800, or ₱92,800. Divide by 12 and she is owed ₱7,733.33.

That figure is smaller than one month of her current salary, and this trips up most families. The 13th month pay is not "one month's pay." It only equals a month's pay when the wage did not change all year.

When to pay it, and whether you can split it in two

The deadline has not moved since 1975. PD 851 requires the benefit "not later than December 24 of every year," and DOLE reissues a reminder to private employers every December. Twenty-four December is a hard date, not a target.

Splitting is allowed, but not in the shape most people assume. The Revised Guidelines say an employer "may give to his employees one half of the required 13th month pay before the opening of the regular school year and the other half on or before the 24th of December of every year." The first half is tied to the school opening, which is when a kasambahay with children actually needs it. Paying half in June and half in December is fine. Paying half in December and half in February is not.

If cash flow is the real problem, set aside one twelfth of her wage every payday into a separate account. On a ₱7,800 wage that is ₱650 a month, and by November the money is already there.

Is kasambahay 13th month pay taxable?

Effectively never, and here is why in two lines.

Republic Act No. 10963, the TRAIN law, excludes 13th month pay and other benefits from gross income "provided, however, That the total exclusion under this subparagraph shall not exceed Ninety thousand pesos." The same provision reaches benefits received by employees "not covered by Presidential Decree No. 851," which describes a kasambahay precisely. The same law also sets the first tax bracket at "Not over ₱250,000: 0%."

A kasambahay on ₱7,800 a month earns ₱93,600 a year in wages and roughly ₱7,800 in 13th month pay. Both figures are far below the relevant ceilings. Do not withhold tax from her 13th month pay, and do not shrink the amount because someone told you the government will take a cut.

Her SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG contributions are a separate obligation under Section 30 of RA 10361, and they are not deducted from the 13th month pay either. The contribution mechanics are covered in our kasambahay SSS guide.

What families get wrong

Treating it as a gift. A ₱2,000 envelope with a ribbon is generous. It is also not compliance. The Revised Guidelines count a Christmas bonus as an equivalent benefit only if it amounts to "not less than 1/12 of the basic salary," and where the employer pays less, "the employer shall pay the difference." Give the legal amount, then give a gift on top if you want to.

Skipping it because "she is family." Long tenure and genuine affection do not convert an employment relationship into something else. Section 25 of RA 10361 applies to the kasambahay in your house regardless of how close you are.

Deducting cash advances without written consent. This one lands families in conciliation more than any other. Section 25 of RA 10361 says the employer "shall make no deductions from the wages other than that which is mandated by law" unless the domestic worker allows it "through a written consent." An informal vale arrangement from August is not written consent for a December deduction. Write it down when the advance is given, with the amount and the repayment schedule, and have her sign.

Paying it as goods. The same section bans paying wages "by means of promissory notes, vouchers, coupons, tokens, tickets, chits, or any object other than the cash wage." Groceries and a new phone are not 13th month pay.

No paper trail. Section 26 requires a payslip every payday showing the amount paid and every deduction, and requires you to keep copies for three years. If you cannot prove what she earned each month, you cannot prove the 13th month pay was correct.

Your December checklist

• [ ] Pull twelve months of payslips and add the basic wage lines only
• [ ] Exclude meals, lodging, overtime, holiday premium and any cash gift
• [ ] Include any allowance you have always treated as part of her salary
• [ ] Divide the total by 12 and round to the nearest centavo
• [ ] Check the result against the 13th month pay calculator
• [ ] Confirm nothing is being deducted without her written consent
• [ ] Release the money on or before 24 December, in cash or to her account
• [ ] Issue a payslip showing the 13th month pay as a separate line
• [ ] Keep your copy for three years, as Section 26 requires
• [ ] Set a reminder to save one twelfth of her wage monthly next year

What a kasambahay can do if the money never comes

Withholding the 13th month pay is not a private disagreement. Section 28 of RA 10361 makes it unlawful for an employer "directly or indirectly, to withhold the wages of the domestic worker," and Section 37 sends labour disputes to the DOLE Regional Office covering the workplace, which must exhaust conciliation and mediation before deciding.

The practical door is the Single Entry Approach, a 30-day mandatory conciliation and mediation process created by Republic Act No. 10396. A Request for Assistance "may be filed by any aggrieved person such as employer, worker, including kasambahay," and the word kasambahay is in the rule by name. Filing is free and is done at a DOLE regional or provincial office, at an NCMB regional branch, or online. No lawyer is required, and the worker keeps her job while it runs.

A kasambahay preparing to file should bring her payslips, any written contract, and a simple written record of dates and amounts. If a family in your barangay warns her that filing will get her blacklisted, that is intimidation and it is the exact behaviour Section 28 is written against. Nobody should ask her to surrender her PSA birth certificate, passport or original IDs as security for anything, and nobody legitimate charges a kasambahay a fee to claim wages she already earned.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a kasambahay entitled to 13th month pay?

Yes. Section 25 of Republic Act No. 10361 says the domestic worker is entitled to a thirteenth month pay as provided for by law. That grant is newer than the rule most people remember, because the guidelines under Presidential Decree No. 851 had excused employers of household helpers. Any kasambahay who worked at least one month during the calendar year is covered.

How do you compute 13th month pay for a kasambahay?

Add every peso of basic monthly wage the kasambahay actually earned from January to December, then divide the total by 12. A kasambahay paid ₱7,800 for all twelve months earned ₱93,600, so her 13th month pay is ₱7,800. Meals, lodging, overtime and cash gifts stay out of that total.

What if the kasambahay started in the middle of the year?

Use the same formula on the shorter period. A kasambahay hired on 15 March at ₱6,500 who was paid ₱3,250 for the half month and then nine full months earned ₱61,750, so her 13th month pay is ₱5,145.83. There is no separate pro-rating formula to learn.

When is the deadline for paying 13th month pay?

On or before 24 December each year. Presidential Decree No. 851 has set that date since 1975 and DOLE restates it every December. You may release one half before the regular school year opens and the balance on or before 24 December.

Is kasambahay 13th month pay taxable?

In practice, no. The TRAIN law excludes 13th month pay and other benefits of up to ₱90,000 a year from gross income, and annual taxable income up to ₱250,000 is taxed at zero percent. A kasambahay wage sits far below both ceilings.

Do the arithmetic in November, not on 23 December

The families who get this right are not the ones with the best lawyers. They are the ones who kept payslips all year, so the December computation takes ten minutes instead of turning into an argument nobody wins.

If you are hiring now, decide the monthly wage with the 13th month cost already in your budget. A ₱7,800 wage really costs ₱8,450 a month once you spread the benefit across the year, before contributions. Build that in from the start and December stops being a surprise. When you are ready to look at candidates and see current rates, start your search on Helpers.

Already have a kasambahay and want the paperwork tidy before December? Create a family account, keep her wage history and payslips in one place, and let the year-end number compute itself.